Gluckstadt firefighter becomes paramedic
GLUCKSTADT — Firefighter Andy Divine Jr., comes from a family of first responders so he has been around fire houses most of his life.
With the Gluckstadt Fire Department for three and a half years, the 26-year-old Divine recently became the department’s first home-grown paramedic.
Divine passed his finals last month, which means he can administer more advance life support in the field than a basic EMT.
“It meant the world to me,” Divine said. “It was a weight lifted off my shoulders. It felt great.”
The training takes about a year and includes weekly classes, a written test and a skills test as well as approximately 50 unpaid 12-hour shifts working on an ambulance or in a hospital’s emergency room.
Divine joined his older brother, Josh Harris, and younger sister, Sissy Divine, in becoming a paramedic. They both work on ambulances in Jackson.
“I wanted to join the club,” Divine said with a chuckle.
Firefighting is in his blood. His father, Andy Divine, Sr., is just a year or two shy of 20 years with the Canton Fire Department and his mother, Amy Divine, recently left the Madison Police Department after about 17 years to go to work for the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Divine said he likes “everything” about the job.
“There really isn’t anything I don’t like,” he said. “I like being able to help people when they need it the most.”
Divine grew up outside of Canton and went to Canton Academy. He continued his education at Holmes Community College and Mississippi State University but found his true calling working with the Farmhaven Volunteer Fire Department after high school before pursuing a career with the Gluckstadt Fire Department.
Capt. Dustin Perry said Andy Divine Jr. is the first paramedic that began his or her career with their department. Perry said the milestone is the first step in making sure they can have a paramedic on staff for every shift.
“We are proud of Andy and this means we are progressing in the right way,” Perry said. “Our goal is to have a paramedic on each shift so that we can offer the same level of advanced medical treatment at every call.”
Paramedics, under the direction of an ER doctor, can administer life-saving heart drugs in the field, for example.
Divine said this was a path he would have pursued on his own but was encouraged along the way by Perry and GFD leadership.