By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
There is a new executive at the Moapa Valley Fire District headquarters in Logandale. Brian Young was appointed as the district’s first full-time Assistant Chief on Feb. 6.
An experienced paramedic, Young has been living and working in Las Vegas, with his wife Janell who works as a nurse. But the new position with MVFD is bringing the family to reside in Moapa Valley.
“It wasn’t really hard to twist my arm to move out here,” Young said in an interview with The Progress. “This feels like home.”
Young grew up in the small town of Norco, California. He had an interest in the field of firefighting and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) from a young age. As a teenager, he joined a Fire Explorer program where he learned about becoming a firefighter.
“I ran on my first fire at age 14,” he said.
Young served in the U.S. Army for almost eight years. He went to paramedic school, graduating in 1990. He moved to Las Vegas in 1998 where he worked for a time. Later he moved away and worked for fire departments in Missouri and Kansas, before returning to Las Vegas again more recently.
Last fall, the Assistant Chief position became available at MVFD. The district had received a federal SAFER Grant from FEMA to fund a full-time position at 100 percent, including benefits, for a period of three years.
This was a much needed position at the district. MVFD Chief Stephen Neel explained that he had been the only full-time staffer at the district for several years now.
“This position is something that we needed out here,” Neel said. “I needed to have somebody respond to calls when I am off or out of town on business. So Brian will be stepping in to provide a little relief there.”
Neel stated that Young’s position is, in essence, to be a “right-hand man” to the Chief.
He will also be in charge of the EMS Division at MVFD, Neel said. “His primary job is to respond to calls and provide paramedic coverage for our valley,” Neel said.
This will elevate the level of care available in the community, Neel added. It will allow for more in depth emergency medical treatment to be offered locally and reduce some of the need to transport patients out.
“We fly about 75 patients per year,” Neel said. “Some of those don’t need to be flown. But our volunteer EMTs are kind of limited in what they can do because they are not fully trained as paramedics. Now I would expect that we will fly out less patients based off of that expertise, training and higher level of care.”
In addition, Young will be providing support and supervision to the more than 75 volunteers working in the trenches at MVFD. That will include making sure that the district’s equipment and apparatus is in a state of constant readiness. It also includes filling a training role to continue developing the volunteer force, Neel said.
“The volunteers are the backbone of the operation,” Neel said. “We are just here to support them.”
Young said that he was already impressed by the MVFD volunteer force. “They are fantastic,” he said. “Everyone I’ve met has been welcoming and made me feel right at home. Their dedication to this community is second to none. I have never experienced this kind of dedication from any department I have worked at that staffed volunteers.”
