MISSOULA — Missoula paramedic Scott Munoz is receiving national recognition after dedicating more than 40 years to helping Western Montanans in crisis.
Next week, the American Ambulance Association will honor Munoz and dozens of other Emergency Medical Service (EMS) professionals at the annual Stars of Life celebration in Washington, D.C.
Munoz, now a critical care paramedic with Missoula Emergency Services, started his career as a first responder in the early 1980s.
He has worked all around Western Montana, including time with the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office, as a flight EMT with St. Patrick Hospital Life Flight and as a volunteer paramedic with Frenchtown Fire.
“I never would've predicted that I'd be doing it this long. But, it either gets in your blood and you enjoy it and you find it a challenge, or you move on to something else,” Munoz said. “I don't know why I’m still doing it. I’ll probably do it as long as I'm physically and mentally able. I look forward to coming to work most days and I'm grateful to be healthy enough to still be doing it.”
As part of the three-day ceremony, Stars of Life awardees receive medals, and plaques, and get to meet with members of Congress and their staff. While he is humbled by the honor overall, Munoz is especially excited to talk with lawmakers and push for more support for EMS providers.
“We need people and it's a hard job to attract people to because a lot of them are actually volunteer positions. Most of Montana's are volunteer,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to do this as a professional and paid job. But, the recognition really needs to go to everybody because there are people that do this for free, and they leave their jobs to go do this for their neighbors. And those numbers are down quite a lot.”
Munoz thinks often about the next generation of EMS workers. He trains new paramedics and tries to encourage people to volunteer their time or get a basic EMT certification.
His biggest piece of advice for those interested is don’t talk yourself out of it.
“Almost anybody could do it so don't be afraid to try,” he said. “This is a great place to get some experience and it's a great place to find out what you're made of and it's a great place to help some people out.”
Munoz has influenced the careers of countless EMS professionals, including two of his children. He hopes the attention from the Stars of Life in Washington will spotlight EMS needs back home in Montana.
“I’m surprised and I'm honored and I'm proud and I am taken aback,” Munoz said “Because I'm not gonna be here forever. I like running the calls and I like doing all of this, but part of my role is to start passing it on or keep passing it on to the next group.”