Council Hires New EMS Director
A new EMS director for Council Valley Ambulance has been hired. Paramedic Cody Murphy, from McCall, has been selected by the Adams County Commissioners to fill the role left by Dan Huter, who recently retired after serving the community for 47 years.
Cody Murphy was born and raised in Boise. Both his father and grandfather were firefighters in the departments that later became North Ada County Fire Department (later incorporated into Boise Fire Department). Murphy also started his career in the same department and earned his Firefighter 1 certification before leaving for the army, where he served eight years as a refueler and later as a medic. Murphy moved to Louisiana for an accelerated paramedic program and in Louisiana he met his wife, who happened to be from McCall.
Murphy has worked in a variety of different EMS departments all over the country, including Northwest Paramedic Associates and Elmore Ambulance Services in Idaho, and as a travel paramedic in Texas, as well as a critical care and flight paramedic. Most recently, he was the Regional Director for a company called EMS Unlimited out of Colorado. When he first started they were looking to expand operations into Kansas, and he oversaw the expansion into Kansas and helped grow the company in the state.
In 2024, Murphy and his wife decided to move with their four children back home to Idaho, and settled in McCall. Murphy was still working for EMS Unlimited, but shortly after they moved the company asked him to come to Kansas. Having just relocated back to Idaho, Murphy wasn’t willing to move his family again, and decided to part ways. His father in law owned a concrete business in McCall, Morell’s Concrete, so Murphy decided to jump into concrete as well and bought his first concrete truck last July. Something was missing though, and when Murphy saw the job posting for the EMS Director in Council he decided to apply. “My heart is in EMS and wanting to see growth and expansion and providing a service to the community,” he said. The commissioners thought he was the right person for the job and he started mid February.
Cody Murphy knew little to nothing about Council before starting as the EMS Director of Council Valley Ambulance, but has been learning quickly. “I have learned that there are hardworking community members here that love Council and want to see it succeed,” he said, “I think it says a lot for the community to have those members here.” Council, like many ambulance districts in the state, is seeing a drastic rise in call volume. Last year they had 430 runs, up almost a hundred from the year before, and this year they are already on track to meet or exceed that number. This unprecedented rate of change in call volume has been a significant stressor for the district and districts across the state.
Murphy thought that one reason he was chosen for the role was the commissioners wanted someone who was progressive rather than reactive to the growth. Murphy oversaw a large expansion of services across Kansas while working for EMS Unlimited and thinks he can help manage the growth in Adams County as well. “We were also trying not to just expand and grow so fast where we lost who we were,” he said about his time at EMS Unlimited, “and I think that will transition well for here because we need the same mindset.”
Murphy also wants to expand training for Adams County EMS personnel. “I think we could have a great opportunity for, not just growth for the community and EMS world, but for each individual here,” he said, speaking about the ambulance staff. He would like to see Council provide more advanced levels of care in the future, and to start down that path he is aiming to put together and host an Advanced EMT class for fall that could be available to both Council Valley Ambulance and EMS personnel from nearby communities. “I would love to see Council become an ALS service,” he said, “because of our geographical location we could serve basically all of 95 as an Advanced Level care service.”
The main constraint? Funding. “We have to keep in mind that we are such a small rural community and we have to be financially and fiscally responsible,” said Murphy. From what he has seen of the finances so far, there is definitely a shortfall, especially with the increased call volume of the last few years. “In a small community when you have an influx of calls and you’re a ‘paid per call department,’ that will put stress on the budget for sure.”
Classes for continuing education and many upgrades could be funded through grants or workplace funding. However, grants cannot typically be used for payroll, and according to Murphy’s understanding after a preliminary dive into the budget, they are looking at being in the red this year strictly based on payroll. “I really hope that we can be transparent with the community so they understand where we have been and where we have been operating,” said Murphy. He said he still doesn’t have a complete understanding of the past budget, but so far it appeared to him that the ambulance had been operating at a deficit for the last several years. “I think it’s a shock for a county to expect an ambulance to operate on close to $200,000 a year,” he said and was worried there might be some hard decisions in the future. “Truly I don’t think there’s a spot to connect all the dots, truly, without a levy.” He said that they would be looking into every option, but wanted to be completely transparent with the community.
Cody Murphy is personable and shows a strong interest in the individuals who make up the ambulance and community. He wants people to feel like they can come to him with comments, questions, ideas, and complaints, and is seeking a greater understanding of the community and their values. Currently, he is having one on one conversations with everyone to help him understand the department and learn from the people who have been there. He preaches transparency and wants to build bridges and connect with community members. Currently, he is in office at the ambulance building on Mondays and Wednesdays and encourages anyone wishing to have a conversation to stop by or call or email him at cmcvaems@gmail.com.
So far, Murphy says the ambulance advisory board and ambulance crews have been “nothing but great.” He has been establishing open lines of communication between the commissioners, advisory board, and crew and for the most part everyone has been very positive and excited about having someone new to help guide the ambulance forward to new chapters. “I think people are ready for change and potentially a new direction,” he said. Murphy said the previous director, Dan Huter, created a great product with Council Valley Ambulance, “we’re just trying to continue the greatness and his legacy and make him and the community proud of it.”
Cody Murphy wants Council Valley Ambulance to be a leader in the EMS division in the state, and for people to be proud to work there. He has a goal to make things 1% better every day, and has big plans for the future. “It’s not a large company, but I have large aspirations for where Council Valley Ambulance…can potentially go.”
