MUNCIE, Ind. (NewsLink)- Kim Hiatt is a lifelong Muncie resident. She has spent the past six months working as an EMT with Delaware County EMS. However, serving the community that she grew up in is not the only reason Kim has significant ties to DCEMS.

Hiatt was involved in a fatal car accident in May 2001. The accident took the life of Kim’s then-fiance. First responders from Delaware County EMS were able to save the lives of Kim and her niece Taylor. Kim is able to channel this hardship into motivation to serve the community.

"I can really relate,” Hiatt said. “I can remember after the accident just being hurt and really down. Just knowing that you can relate to somebody and know that you can help them is a really good feeling.”

Kiely Culberson currently serves as the Administrative Training Captain for DCEMS. It was her husband who took the call to respond to the accident that Hiatt was in. After training Hiatt as a EMT, Culberson made the arraignments necessary to bring the two groups together.

"We introduced my husband to Kim's niece and said okay she's going to be your patient, and by the way, this is Jim, he was the paramedic on your call,” Culberson said. “Then there was a little bit of tears, and then a little bit of joyful, and then there were thank yous. It was just a really cool story to see everybody at the end because we never see that side of the story."

Culberson has had the opportunity to watch Hiatt grow as a part of the team for DCEMS in just six months with the department.

“She has only been an EMT for a short period of time, but was instantly eager and wanted to be part of the team,” Culberson said. “She wanted to be one of us. She asks a lot of questions which is phenomenal for an EMT.”

Hiatt hopes to continue to grow as part of Delaware County EMS. Moving forward, she has aspirations to become an Advanced EMT within her first year with the department.

"I've learned a lot,” Hiatt said. “It’s a very rewarding job."

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