Longtime director of operations for Buchanan County EMS dies

By Jenna Wilson

Community members and law enforcement agencies are showing support after the death of Buchanan County EMS director of operations Steve Groshong.

Groshong, who died on Nov. 24, had 45 years of experience in the EMS field.

“Steve was one of those people who never told anyone ‘no’ and was always stepping up to help anyone — anywhere with a smile on his face — he didn’t see problems but how to solve the issue,” Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett said in a social media post. “Steve did all of this while trying to remain in the background without fanfare or recognition. Steve was always the first in and one of the last to leave.”

Buchanan County EMS Director Wally Patrick spoke about Groshong on Monday, describing the passion he had for his job and putting the well-being of others first.

“Last night, the community as a whole lost a very big advocate for health care in our region,” Patrick said. “For over 30 years, his whole philosophy was to take care of the people that are in our community as much as we possibly can and that even extended outside of our community.”

EMS crews thanked the community and partnering agencies for the support showing them Groshong’s loss isn’t something they have to go through alone.

“It’s an emotional blow, and it’s not one that we take lightly,” Patrick said. “But in introspect, this is what we do. We deal with these situations with other people and their families and we hope that we help them in some way deal with this. Now we’re using those experiences to help us deal with this.”

Buchanan County EMS members are discussing starting a scholarship for paramedics to honor Groshong.