Cody Gibbs responds to emergency calls at the Beaverdam Volunteer Fire Department almost daily. But no amount of first-response experience can prepare someone for a call like the one Gibbs received on April 3.
That day, he learned his older brother, Jimmy, died in a motorcycle accident in their hometown of Perry, Georgia.
In most cases, a family tragedy such as this would warrant time off work, and certainly time away from a volunteer position. But Gibbs responded to a cardiac arrest in Oglethorpe County the next day.
He put the patient on LUCAS, a medical device that provides mechanical chest compressions, loaded them into the ambulance, and assisted with starting a line to push fluids, following them all the way to the hospital.
“I don’t want to leave the community without a responder,” Gibbs said. “You know, I feel like one of the things that I need to do for the people that live in the county is to be a part of it and respond.”
Gibbs, the assistant fire chief, plays an integral role in responding to the county’s emergencies. In fact, Gibbs responded to 90 calls in 2022.
“One of the things that I’ve had to accept from a very early start of my public safety volunteer career is that death is just part of it,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs moved to Oglethorpe County with his wife, Sarah Gibbs, in 2019. On his daily drive to his full-time job, Gibbs drove past Station 10: Beaverdam. By that Octo- ber, he decided to walk in and ask about getting involved.
“The reason I do it is because this is a passion for me, I enjoy helping other people, I enjoy being a part of the community,” he said.
Shortly after he completed training, Gibbs was elevated to a leadership position.
Gibbs, who graduated from the University of Georgia in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture specializing in poultry science, works full-time as a breeder flock supervisor for Fieldale Farms.
He works from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the farm, and nights and weekends for Oglethorpe County Emergency Medical Services. He also dedicates around 10 hours a week to the fire department.
“I think Cody is one of the most dedicated and hardworking members of the fire department,” his wife, Sarah, said. “It’s definitely more than just a hobby for him. He’s got a true passion for it.”
As assistant chief, Gibbs man- ages incident reports, inputs training records and plans train- ing activities for new volunteers. To ensure the resources for the fire and rescue department volunteers, Gibbs said he’s even put his name on loans for expensive equipment, including a new fire truck.
He said he pays special attention to training new members of Station 10, which has 18 members. Gibbs started a business developing training plans for fire and EMS, which he hopes will eventually be shared with smaller departments. The business is called 1019, a tribute to his badge number.
“If you are looking at your team codes, 1019 means ‘return to,’ ” Gibbs said. “And so the idea was to return to training and get back to the training aspect of it.”
Every scene has the potential to leave the responding personnel with trauma or stress. Despite this reality, Gibbs said when his wife proposed he take a brief leave of absence following his brother’s death, he told her that he “can’t do it.” “I don’t see myself getting out of it unless I just can’t do it any longer,” Gibbs said.
This story is written by the Covering Poverty project, which is part of the Cox Institute’s Journalism Writing Lab at the University of Georgia.