Brian Hathaway Honored with First Ever OAMTA Spotlight Award

Some honors recognize a title. This one recognized a lifetime of showing up.

Brian Hathaway, President and CEO of Spirit EMS in Greenville, was presented with the first ever OAMTA Spotlight Award, a fitting tribute to a career built across nearly every corner of emergency services. For those who know Brian, the award is more than a professional milestone. It is a public thank-you for decades of service, leadership, teaching, and commitment to the people who make EMS possible.

The recognition came with a simple but powerful message: Brian has not led from a distance. He has worked the calls, answered the phones, taught the classes, supported the crews, and built systems that help people serve their communities well.

That is why this moment matters.

A career that began with service and never left it

Brian’s path in fire and EMS began in 1996. Since then, he has built a career marked by steady service, practical experience, and a willingness to keep doing the work even as his responsibilities grew.

He has spent 27 years with the Union City Fire Department. In 1999, he started as a 911 dispatcher for the Darke County Sheriff’s Office. Even now, after years of leadership and business growth, Brian still takes shifts on the console.

That detail says a great deal.

Dispatch is where emergencies first become real for responders. It takes a calm voice, quick judgment, and an understanding of both the person calling for help and the crews being sent. For a leader to continue working in that space shows a connection to the heart of public safety that cannot be learned from reports alone.

Brian’s credentials also reflect the range of his experience. He is an:

• Advanced EMT

• EMS instructor

• Certified ambulance coder

• Certified ambulance compliance officer

• Certified emergency medical dispatcher

  
  

Each role demands a different skill set. Field care requires speed and compassion. Instruction calls for patience and clarity. Coding and compliance require precision. Dispatch requires focus under pressure. Very few people understand all of those functions from the inside.

Brian does.

That broad view has shaped how he leads. It has helped him understand that EMS does not run on one department, one shift, or one decision. It runs when every part supports the others.

Spirit EMS grew from a small operation into a regional presence

In 2006, Spirit EMS began as a small transport operation with three ambulances and eight part-time employees. That was the starting point.

Today, Spirit has nearly 140 team members, six stations across western Ohio and eastern Indiana, and a fleet of more than 80 vehicles.

Growth like that does not happen by accident. It takes vision, but it also takes care. It requires understanding budgets and billing, but also understanding what crews face at 3:00 a.m. It takes planning for the next station while still paying attention to the next patient.

Brian’s leadership helped build Spirit EMS into what it is today because he has lived the work from so many angles. He knows the field. He knows the dispatch center. He knows the billing office. He knows the classroom.

Most of all, he knows people.

That people-first approach has become part of Spirit’s identity. The organization’s motto, “Our Family Taking Care of Your Family,” is not just a line on a wall. It reflects the culture Brian has worked to build, one where employees, patients, families, students, and community members all matter.

“Our Family Taking Care of Your Family.”

Those words carry weight because Brian has led in a way that gives them meaning.

Built on training, opportunity, and the next generation

One of the clearest examples of Brian’s leadership is Spirit’s emphasis on education.

Spirit runs a no-cost EMT training program with a goal of four classes each year. That kind of program lowers barriers for people who want to enter EMS but may not know where to start. It also helps address a need felt across the profession: finding and preparing the next generation of responders.

Training is not just about filling schedules. It is about opening a door.

For someone who has the heart to serve but not the resources to pay for class, a no-cost EMT program can be life-changing. It can turn interest into action. It can give a student confidence, structure, and a path into meaningful work.

Spirit also runs an EMT Boot Camp for high school students, helping young people learn about EMS before they choose another direction. Reaching students early matters. Many people are drawn to helping professions, but they need someone to show them what those professions look like in real life.

Brian and the Spirit team have made that introduction part of their mission.

This summer, Spirit opened the John and Iris Hathaway Education and Community Center, named for Brian’s parents. The center serves as both a training space and a gathering place for the community. Naming it for his parents adds a personal layer to the project, but the purpose is outward-facing. It creates room for learning, connection, and service.

That is the kind of legacy that lasts beyond one award.

An ambulance can be replaced. A station can be renovated. A policy can change. But when people are trained, encouraged, and mentored, that impact spreads far beyond one organization.

Leadership rooted in every part of the job

The OAMTA Spotlight Award was created to shine attention on someone whose work deserves to be seen. Brian Hathaway is a fitting first recipient because his story reflects the full weight of EMS leadership.

In emergency services, leadership is often measured during the visible moments: the major incident, the public event, the hard call, the award ceremony. But lasting leadership is usually built in quieter ways.

It shows up when someone stays late to help a student understand a skill. It shows up when a leader understands why a dispatch decision matters. It shows up when a billing process protects the future of the service. It shows up when a crew member feels seen as a person, not just a name on a schedule.

Brian’s career includes all of those spaces.

He has done the front-line work. He has helped train others to do it. He has learned the administrative and compliance side that keeps an EMS organization strong. He has answered emergency calls from the dispatch console. He has remained connected to the communities Spirit serves across western Ohio and eastern Indiana.

That combination is rare.

Many leaders understand one part of the operation very well. Brian’s strength is that he understands how the parts connect. He knows that patient care depends on training. Training depends on resources. Resources depend on sound operations. Operations depend on people who believe in the mission.

When those pieces work together, communities benefit.

The stories behind the award matter most

Awards often come with a list of achievements, and Brian’s list is long. Years of service. Certifications. Growth at Spirit EMS. Education programs. A new community center. A regional footprint. A team that has grown from eight part-time employees to nearly 140 people.

Those facts matter, but they only tell part of the story.

The deeper story is the way Brian has carried those responsibilities.

The recognition shared by the Board pointed to something many people around him already know: Brian’s work is personal. The motto of Spirit EMS is personal. The education center named for John and Iris Hathaway is personal. The continued shifts in dispatch are personal. The attention to training is personal.

There was also mention of a moment during a FEMA deployment when Brian and his team were on the road and one of their vehicles broke down in Florida. Even without needing to retell every detail, the story points to a larger truth. EMS is unpredictable. Service does not always happen in clean, planned lines. Vehicles break down. Weather changes. Calls come in. Plans shift.

In those moments, character shows.

For Brian, the pattern has been consistent. Stay present. Take care of people. Solve the problem. Keep the mission moving.

That is the kind of leadership people remember.

Why this first Spotlight Award feels right

Being the first recipient of any award adds meaning. It sets the tone for what the honor stands for.

By choosing Brian Hathaway for the first ever OAMTA Spotlight Award, OAMTA recognized a leader whose career reflects dedication across the full EMS field. He is not being honored for one role alone. He is being honored for the way all of those roles have come together in one life of service.

The award highlights:

• Commitment

  Nearly three decades in fire and EMS, with continued service in dispatch.

  
  

• Professional range

  Field care, instruction, coding, compliance, dispatch, and leadership.

  
  

• Organizational growth

  Building Spirit EMS from a small operation into a multi-station service with a large fleet and team.

  
  

• Investment in people

  No-cost EMT education, high school outreach, and a community-centered training facility.

  
  

• A culture of care

  A belief that EMS is about families, both the ones providing care and the ones receiving it.

  
  

Those are not separate achievements. They are connected. Together, they show why Brian’s recognition is so well deserved.

A well-earned congratulations to Brian Hathaway

The first OAMTA Spotlight Award could have gone to someone with a strong title or a long resume. In Brian Hathaway, it recognized something more complete: a leader who has served from the ground up and never lost sight of the people around him.

From his start in fire and EMS in 1996, to his years with the Union City Fire Department, to his continued work as a dispatcher, to his leadership at Spirit EMS, Brian’s career has been defined by action. He has answered calls. He has taught students. He has built an organization. He has created opportunities for others to enter the profession. He has helped shape a culture where service is treated as a family responsibility.

That is what makes this honor meaningful.

Congratulations to Brian Hathaway on receiving the first ever OAMTA Spotlight Award. It is a well-earned recognition of your service, your leadership, and your lasting impact on EMS in the communities you serve.