30-year-old Kacy Kunst says she changed her major twice before deciding to become an EMT. She’s one of just 55 female firefighters in the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department where there are currently 521 uniformed firefighters.
“There’s definitely runs and calls and people you meet and it’s hard to get over that lump,” says Kunst, who admits the mental aspects of the job can be tough, but that there is no job she’d rather be doing. “The people I work with, my crew, they are just great and they are always there for you, and so it really helps.”
“She has a wonderful personality,” says Kacy’s mom, Charlene, who nominated her daughter for First Responder of the Week. “I’m jealous of her. She’s always helping people. It’s just one of her things that she does.”
Kunst says she wants to be an example to other young women who might not see themselves as firefighters, and that’s why she is 13abc’s First Responder of the Week.