David Loftin was named Georgia EMS Pioneer of the Year at the Georgia EMS Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 17 at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, Georgia.

Loftin was employed by the Georgia Office of EMS for thirty years as the Regional EMS Program director for 16 counties in northwest Georgia including Floyd County.

He began his career in Emergency Medical Services working for Floyd Medical Center EMS in 1974 and became the first paramedic in 1978.

He assisted with the training of the other employees.

He was hired in 1980 to write a federal grant to fund the creation of a regional EMS system which resulted in all EMS Services in 16 counties having paramedics on all emergency calls.

He implemented specialized training in cardiac, trauma, pediatrics and stroke in both initial training courses for all EMS personnel. He was one of the first six paramedic instructors in Georgia and taught in Whitfield, Chattooga, Pickens, Cherokee and Floyd counties. He also started the Safe Kids program in Floyd, Polk and Haralson counties and ran a child car seat loaner

program through Health Departments in a 10-county area. He served in command centers during the Atlanta Olympics and Hurricane Katrina evacuation.

He retired from the Office of EMS in December 2010.