Noltensmeier is ‘mom’ to many at EMS

Office administrator adds therapist, fighter and devoted grandmother to many duties

  • Julie Noltensmeier laughing while trying to work in her office at the EMS station on Athens Road on Sept. 3, 2026. Noltensmeier describes EMS as a second family that hangs out and chats while not on call, often causing her to shut her door and put in earbuds when she needs to focus on her work. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
    Julie Noltensmeier laughing while trying to work in her office at the EMS station on Athens Road on Sept. 3, 2026. Noltensmeier describes EMS as a second family that hangs out and chats while not on call, often causing her to shut her door and put in earbuds when she needs to focus on her work. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
  • A bag with the word “mom” on it pinned to Julie Noltensmeier’s corkboard in her office at the EMS station on Athens Road on Sept. 3, 2026. On the board are notes, photos and graduation notices she has saved throughout the years. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
    A bag with the word “mom” on it pinned to Julie Noltensmeier’s corkboard in her office at the EMS station on Athens Road on Sept. 3, 2026. On the board are notes, photos and graduation notices she has saved throughout the years. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
  • A card with the word “mama” on it next to a breast cancer awareness ribbon in Julie Noltensmeier’s office at the EMS station on Athens Road on Sept. 3, 2026. Noltensmeier is a survivor of breast cancer as well as a mother-like figure to the EMS workers. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
    A card with the word “mama” on it next to a breast cancer awareness ribbon in Julie Noltensmeier’s office at the EMS station on Athens Road on Sept. 3, 2026. Noltensmeier is a survivor of breast cancer as well as a mother-like figure to the EMS workers. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)

    Although they don’t call her mom, Julie Noltensmeier is the center of Oglethorpe County’s EMS family. Being older than most of her co-workers, she keeps the door to her office open for anyone.

     

    “Questions, problems, and we’ll bring a chair and sit in my office and say ‘Hey, I need help,’” Noltensmeier said. “It gives me a different aspect of not just having to deal with insurance companies or payment.” 

     

    November will mark her 18th year as the administrator and billing specialist at the EMS office on Athens Road. She answers questions, emails and manages the payments that come after a visit from EMS. 

     

    Noltensmeier previously worked at the Board of Commissioners office. She continues to assist the county with her knowledge, answering phone calls and coming in when needed.

     

    “The county is very fortunate to have somebody like her that has so many skill sets and is very adaptable,” county clerk Amy Forrester said. “She’s just one of those people that you just feel very comfortable with. Feel like somebody you’ve known since you were a child.”

     

    EMS director Josh Robinson has worked with Noltensmeier ever since he started at EMS in 2007. 

     

    “Everybody develops their own relationship with her, and she’s always willing to talk. Sometimes the crews may have bad calls, she sort of is a shoulder, to an extent, that they lean on,” Robinson said. “Instead of coming to me, they’ll go to her to just sort of vent sometimes.”

     

    In fact, the dynamic of EMS is like a family. They celebrate everyone’s birthdays on shift, plan events, such as baby showers, and watch movies with everyone between calls. 

     

    “We agree like a family. We fight like a family,” Robinson said. “When you’re working with somebody for 24 hours, you get to see them on their good days, their bad days. You know their routine.”

     

    When Noltensmeier was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, she said her EMS family was just as important as her biological family in her recovery. Robinson described the diagnosis as a shock to everyone.

     

    “We knew the type of person that she was, and we knew that she was going to fight it, and we knew that she was going to win it, and we were all behind her to support her to do that,” Robinson said.

     

    During her recovery, her coworkers would help by cooking meals, running errands and supporting her like a family member. They also supported her with a T-shirt fundraiser, an idea that sprouted from a kitchen table conversation. 

     

    According to the EMS facebook page, $1,150 was raised from the fundraiser, and was given to Noltensmeier as a check after her last chemotherapy treatment.

     

    Since 2020, EMS has had the breast cancer awareness ribbon on every emergency vehicle, located on the sides of the ambulances and on the back windows of the new quick response vehicles. 

     

    The ribbon shows support for the multiple EMS members who have fought breast cancer.

     

    “I came back to see it, and it kind of made me tear up a little bit,” Noltensmeier said.

     

    She loves her job and doesn’t see her time at EMS ending any time soon. 

     

    “We joke about it, and I’ve always said, ‘I’ll die sitting in my chair, and you’ll just have to pry me out and just move the next person right on in,’ ” Noltensmeier said.