“ There was a lot of things happening in a very short amount of time … and I saw early on that the department needed to protect itself and all patients ,” Wyatt said . “ The only way we could do that was to wear PPE , ( personal protective equipment ), masks , gloves , eye protection , and sometimes a gown , on virtually all patients that had any symptoms . It was a total shift of what was done in the past where we wait to see if someone has symptoms .”

Wyatt ’ s keen awareness alerted him to the possibility of severe shortages . “ So we started buying what we could before the shelves were bare . We were able to get through that storm initially ,” he said , adding he ’ s happy to report his entire department has remained Covid free .

In his nearly four decades as a first responder — twenty-five years with the San Jose Fire Department — Wyatt made his way through the ranks , retiring in 2011 from his position as Battalion Chief from the San Jose Fire Department . But he didn ’ t stop there . In 2014 he joined the Gilroy Fire Department as a part-time EMS coordinator . Four years later he was promoted to Battalion Chief in addition to his role as Emergency Medical Services Division Manager . The opportunity to work at his local fire house was a dream come true .

“ I get to actually work in the community and make it better in the very place that I live ,” he said . “ To me it just added to the passion . I ’ m not just doing it for today , but I ’ m doing it for the future after I ’ m gone . So that my family and the generations that come after me reap that benefit .”

His wish for 2021 is for an effective Covid vaccine , and with it , a return to normal activities for his department . He ’ s also anticipating the addition of a fourth fire station at Miller and Santa Teresa .

“ We definitely need the fourth station if we want to meet the future needs of the community ,” Wyatt said , adding , the station will serve the underserved southern part of Gilroy .

With a 20 percent increase in fire calls and a 12 percent increase in EMS calls in 2020 , the need is already evident .

“ As the needs grow , the fire department wants the ability to meet those needs ,” Wyatt explained . “ Before Covid it was growing around three or four percent annually , and you couple that with the increase in call volume , we definitely need to step up and address some of the concerns . We need to expand our abilities if we ’ re going to keep up with the population .”

Reflecting on his career , Wyatt is grateful for the countless “ fantastic ” people he ’ s worked with who have educated him on how to manage people and resources . “ I took their wisdom and applied it to what I needed to do to help the department get through its tough times ,” Wyatt said .

GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN WINTER 2021 gmhtoday . com

41