Neighbor Spotlight: Plum graduate’s desire to help people leads to EMS leadership role
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Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would like to nominate someone as a Neighbor Spotlight, see plumadvanceleader.com, select the “Post Story” button in the upper right corner and complete the form to publish your nomination. Questions? Email Neighborhood News Network editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com.
Plum EMS administrative director Joe Festa quickly learned his future would be all about helping people.
The lifelong Plum resident felt the calling as a senior in high school in 1999 after observing Plum EMS crews in action.
Then paramedic Bob Moran got him to come to the station through the district’s job shadowing program.
“They were able to allow me to come during school hours, shadow the paramedics and EMTs and see if I liked the actual job before getting into it,” said Festa, 40. “I went on these ambulance calls with these folks, and I saw what they were doing out in the field.
“They were helping people. They were changing lives. They were helping people in their time of need. It was something I immediately gravitated toward. I wanted to make a difference in somebody’s life.”
Company officials saw the young man’s potential and put him on the payroll as a wheelchair van driver even before graduation. Festa shuttled senior citizens to and from doctors’ visits and later earned EMT certification through Community College of Allegheny County’s Boyce campus.
“It still gave me a sense of accomplishment that I was helping somebody,” Festa said of his van trips.
When not focused on his studies, Festa played trumpet in the marching band.
In the early 2000s, Festa worked as an exterminator in Ecolab’s pest elimination division for about four years while serving as a full-time EMT for Plum EMS.
He decided in 2006 to devote more time to the ambulance company. However, his time in the private sector gave him a feel for how to run a business.
Festa pursued a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Pittsburgh while continuing his EMS training. He became a paramedic in 2012 and got his Pitt diploma in 2013.
“I’ve devoted my life to something that I truly believe is a great place to live and work,” said Festa, who lives in Plum’s Renton neighborhood.
Leadership
Festa continued to climb the ladder at Plum EMS and was named its administrative director in 2015.
From answering any and all calls to managing an estimated $1.6 million annual budget and 32 full- and part-time staffers, one challenge surfaced above all.
“I would say the biggest challenge would be going from somebody’s friend here to being their boss,” Festa said. “That was a little bit of a difficult transition. You have to obviously nurture those friendships, but transition those friendships into people that have to be managed. Some of those people now have to be colleagues in the administrative world.”
His colleagues expressed their appreciation in many ways over the years. Among them are a framed piece of artwork complete with numerous signatures and compliments for Festa’s 20th anniversary a few years ago, as well as a 2015 Plum EMS Olympic Bobsled Award for Festa’s quick reflexes on a cardiac arrest call in icy conditions.
Holiday Park Volunteer Fire Department’s Chief Jim Sims, a former borough police officer, has known Festa for more than 20 years.
“He’s two things,” Sims said. “One, he’s dedicated to Plum. Even when he was doing the other job he was still at Plum EMS. He’s concentrated his whole time outside of high school to the borough.
“The second thing is he makes sure, in his business, that the staff of Plum EMS is able to provide the best possible care to citizens of the borough.”
Festa’s future plans include being on the board of directors once retiring from his administrative position.
Plum EMS recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. There was no major party to mark the occasion due to the pandemic.
Finding love
Festa not only found a career at the Plum EMS station, he found love.
He met his wife, Jenny, about 11 years ago when she was volunteering and earning field experience to become a physician’s assistant. She studied at Seton Hill University and is a medical assistant and basic emergency medical technician with the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
She is also a Plum High School grad. The two have been married since 2013 and have a son, Enzo, 4.
Festa said he never really thought of the EMS station as a romantic place, but “it’s been a central part of my life.”
At least two other paramedics have also found spouses through the station during its 30-year history.
Other interests
A few years after hanging up the exterminator gear, Festa changed his stance on at least one type of insect.
Festa became a beekeeper after Penn Hills paramedic Paul Huska introduced him to the activity.
He developed a honey bee farm and began selling honey through Festa Family Farms.
Festa said they had the best production this year, jarring 700 pounds of honey. They also sold more than 100 packages of bees.
He plans to hand down the family business to his son, who already has his own beekeeping suit.