Neti Redelman has some big shoes to fill as she steps into the role of education coordinator for Jackson County Emergency Medical Services this month.
Hugh Garner, the current education and quality assurance coordinator, had planned to retire May 31, but no one had been hired to succeed him at that time.
“Then Annette Redelman was hired, but she couldn’t start until July 19, so I extended my retirement date to Aug. 20 to give me about a month to work with her,” Garner said. “Annette is a very energetic young lady.”
He said Redelman is a primary instructor, which is part of the responsibility, and one of the things he has done in the past that she’s going to pick up on is offer emergency medical technician classes to the community.
A resident of Westport, Redelman, 43, said she was drawn to the profession of emergency medicine on her first day of class at Indiana University.
“I really liked it and ended up taking an EMT class at Decatur County Hospital and had an amazing career in EMS,” she said.
Redelman earned her EMT license in 1998 and worked in that field for several years before switching careers to a job outside of health care and raising five kids.
She never gave up on her dream and earned her paramedic license in March 2020 through the National Medical Education and Training Center in Boston after completing the center’s tough program.
Allen Redelman, Neti’s husband, is a lieutenant at Letts Fire Station and three years ago, three of their teenage kids, Terry, Paige and Tyler, signed up for Letts Community Volunteer Fire Department cadet training program.
“I am very proud of the kids and their interest in fire/EMS volunteerism,” Neti said. “I help with the Letts Community Volunteer Fire Department, as well, when the fire department has runs.”
Neti helps with the training of those firemen, too, and sometimes goes along on the runs just to take care of the firefighters, such as when there is a fully engulfed house and the firemen are there for hours because they could get injured.
“I’ve been working as a paramedic for Columbus Regional Hospital for the last two years and did a lot of education at Columbus and taught EMT classes,” she said. “I worked really closely with the person that is Hugh’s counterpart for Bartholomew County.”
Redelman likes having to think fast on her feet when assessing a patient in various situations. Emergencies can be very scary for patients, so she wants them to feel calm and cared for. Redelman said she absolutely loves taking care of patients and loves emergency medicine.
The first day of training for her new position at Jackson County EMS was July 19 at the station located at 616 W. Brown St., Seymour.
“I’m stepping into this wonderful role that Hugh has done such a good job at all these years,” she said. “I’ll spend a couple weeks with him to transition in, but even after he retires, we’ll have that relationship where I can contact him.”
She said mostly, she loves the education part of it.
“I’m excited to take up the next steps after Hugh leaves and ensure Jackson County EMS and firefighters are some of the best well-trained in the area,” she said. “I’m excited to grow and be a part of this Jackson County EMS team.”