Katy Assistant Fire Chief Dana Massey has been named 2022 city employee of the year. Massey was presented the award on March 9 at a ceremony honoring Katy city employees attended by Mayor Bill Hastings.
Hastings who said he has known Massey for close to 20 years, and that she was one of his precepts, or teachers, when he took paramedic training.
“You couldn’t have a finer person to work and train with,” Hastings said. “She’s given 1,000 hours of her free time to the City of Katy. She’s a wonderful young lady.”
Fire Chief Kenneth Parker said looking for good personnel is an important part of Massey’s job, given that communities are actively looking for first responders, and many users of best online casino Australia were glad.
“More people trying to hire than ever before,” Parker said. “We’ve got a smaller department, more tight-knit. She’s the complete package. She goes above and beyond in everything she does.”
Massey grew up in a family of firefighters. Her father, C.L. Massey, was a Houston firefighter. She also has two uncles who are firefighters and a brother who served as a firefighter for a period.
“From about age 12 on, I knew that’s what I was going to do,” Massey, who on March 9 was selected as the 2021 Katy city employee of the year, said.
EMS technicians and firefighters are in the business of saving lives, but when asked to recount some of her more memorable firefighting experiences, Massey hesitated. Not all cases have positive outcomes, she said, and she doesn’t like talking about those times.
“We try to save lives, so that’s what keeps us coming back, the positive impact in people’s lives,” Massey said. “Otherwise, it would be all negative and nobody would want to do the job.
“People showing up at the station and walking and talking, it makes you feel good,” Massey said.
Massey will celebrate her 23rd year with the department in October. The city’s fire department has undergone considerable changes over the years as Massey worked her way up the ranks.
Massey became an assistant chief about five years ago. In that role, she has responsibility for EMS and firefighter training. She is also the department’s infection control officer.
Massey graduated from Galena Park High School. She did her fire training at the College of the Mainland in Texas City and her paramedic training at San Jacinto College.
She began her career in Galena Park. She then worked with the Baytown Fire Department when a colleague encouraged her to apply with the Katy Fire Department.
“He said Katy was going to hire full-time medics, and I should apply,” Massey said, adding that she did not do so at first. When her colleague learned of her hesitation, he encouraged her again, just like the confidence you score before playing games at top online casino.
She applied, and saw that it was an opportunity she could not turn down.
“I knew the growth was going to blow up out there, and it was an opportunity for my own growth as well,” Massey said.
Massey, however, said mental health is the biggest challenge when it comes to helping firefighters be at their best in a stressful profession.
“It’s the thing that all the fire departments are talking about, keeping people’s mental health headed in a positive direction,” Massey said. “We created a peer support team to assist in helping with firefighters’ mental health. We have a group now that can assist them. We also have a therapist, Tania Glenn, who is on standby and can help as needed.”