Since the end of February, former Warren County Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Sharp has been working as the operations chief for the Marthasville Community Ambulance District. 

Sharp said while he enjoyed his time working in emergency management, he wanted more opportunities to work in the field and saw a chance to make a change. 

“In emergency management, where I spent pretty much my entire adult life, very rarely do we get to see the ‘get better’ part of it,” said Sharp. “By the time the communities are recovering, or people are recovering, we’ve probably moved on to whatever has gone wrong next.”

He said he began working as an EMT in Marthasville part-time just over a year ago and being able to see the “get better” part of the job was a difference maker for him. 

“In EMS, we get to see the getting better side of it, and it’s not such a long term process,” said Sharp. “For the most part, within 10 or 15 minutes, our patient is far more often than not, better off than they were when we got there.”

That difference was part of what spurred his departure from the county. 

“It was a much different way to help people,” said Sharp. 

The current salary for the emergency management director at the county is $58,531.20 according to the Warren County Clerk’s office. Sharp said his salary at the ambulance district now is $65,000. 

Currently, former EMA Director Mike Daniels is serving as interim director part time until the county can find a replacement. Daniels worked as the EMA director from 2003 until his retirement in 2020. 

Sharp served as the director of the Warren County EMA for four years, and in that time he was able to contribute to the community at schools and municipalities while also handling the emergency situations the agency is responsible for. 

The most recent of those situations was a fire at the Universal Galvanizing Plant in Wright City on Jan. 21. The EMA was involved in communicating to the public about what dangers the fire may pose to the community as there were many harmful chemicals used in the steel galvanizing process. 

During that fire, the Warren County EMA issued a half-mile evacuation order. Thankfully all runoff from the fire was contained and there were only a few residences included in the evacuation order that were sheltered from the fire by wind coming off of Interstate 70. 

“Not every emergency management director in every county gets that opportunity to do that, and I’m very grateful for those folks who invited me to be a part of that command structure,” said Sharp. 

Outside of immediate emergency management, Sharp spent much of his time in the role educating the public on what they can do to protect themselves and their loved ones in the event of an emergency. 

He often spoke at schools in the area and worked with local municipalities to establish emergency plans to ensure if something were to go wrong, everyone was prepared. 

One of those municipalities was Wright City, where Sharp worked with elected officials and city staff to establish roles for all personnel so that if something were to go wrong, work could begin to manage the situation right away. 

Sharp was recognized for those efforts at the April 10 Wright City Board of Aldermen meeting where Mayor Michelle Heiliger read a resolution honoring him for his efforts. 

“You know, if something happens here, step one, step two, step three, and then we’re all on the same page. Everybody knows their job,” said Heiliger. “That’s the biggest part of being prepared, so we thank you for that. Your guidance has made us better as a city.”

Sharp said he was humbled by the experience, and was just glad his work could potentially help to improve the lives of residents there in case of an emergency. 

“It was so very humbling to know that you had that positive effect on people, and that’s really, I think, what I tried to do over the years was just make sure things are better,” said Sharp. “Sometimes it’s a little bit better, sometimes it’s a lot better.”