Nuts & Bolts Staff
Joey Gemza, III, and his fiancé, Morgan Gruna, are the future of local emergency services.
Gemza, 25, is a SPASH graduate who now works as a full-time firefighter/paramedic at the Stevens Point Fire Department. Gruna, 23, graduated from Rosholt High School. She began her career as a full-time police officer at UW-Stevens Point Police and Security Services in September.
The two shared with Nuts & Bolts why they chose their professions, and why they enjoy their work.
Q: What inspired you to go into your field?
Gruna: “Jokingly, I always say that the amount of Scooby-Doo that I watched as a kid really drove me to
and prepared me for a career in law enforcement. I’ve always been really into problem-solving
and helping people come up with solutions to issues they may be having. I felt that this career
would allow me to do both.”
Gemza: “My dad is a firefighter/paramedic and I thought he had the coolest job in the world. I remember as a kid, coming to see him at work and getting to play in the firetruck.”
Q: When did you begin your schooling, and how long did it take?
Gruna: “I started some college classes in my junior year of high school. The college general course classes I took were honestly easier than some high school classes and counted as credit for high school and college. There were some really helpful programs that paid for the college classes that I would’ve had to pay for anyways after high school. I did the EMT program at Northcentral Technical College that lasted for one semester, Forensic Science Associate’s Degree Program at Fox Valley Technical College for two years, and then completed the Law Enforcement 720-hour academy at Midstate Technical College that lasted 1 semester. After all was said and done, I was done with college before my friends who went into a four-year college.”
Gemza: “I began my schooling in 2015 at Fox Valley Technical College for firefighting, which took two
years. Then I did the paramedic program at Midstate Technical College for one year. All together, it only took me three years.”
Q: Before going to tech school, did you try any Explorer programs, job shadowing, internships, etc., related to firefighting/paramedic/law enforcement? If so, how did it help you?
Gruna: “I knew I had to get my name out there, so I started volunteering at the Stevens Point Police Department as an auxiliary officer and eventually began working as a community service officer
there as well. I also did a ride-along with a few different departments that I had an interest in working
for to see how their departments functioned. I spent time doing a short internship for a detective bureau, which was extremely interesting. I also held a job as a Mental Health Technician, which is a huge part of Law Enforcement. All of the things I did to prepare me for the field were very eye-opening and just validated my interest.”
Gemza: “Yes, I was an Explorer Scout at Stevens Point Fire Department and was on the Rosholt Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter. I did my EMT Basic ride-alongs with Stevens Point. I did my firefighting internship with Oshkosh Fire Department and I did my paramedic internship with Stevens Point. It helped me figure out if I could do the job with the trauma we see.”
Q: What, specifically, do you like most about your job?
Gruna: “The adrenaline rush when going to a call is like no other. The feeling of thinking, ‘Alright, this is
what we trained for, we know what to do, let’s go help someone,’ is so exciting to me. Calls don’t always end the way we want them to, but knowing that I put my all into it and did all that I could is very fulfilling to me.”
Gemza: “I like that it’s not the same thing every day and I get to meet new people on calls.”
Q: What, specifically, do you dislike about your job?
Gruna: “There are a lot of different opinions about law enforcement, and that is fine. I always tell people
that everyone is free to have their own opinions, but not everyone has to agree with them. I always allow people to voice their opinions to me and I commend them for having the voice and confidence to express their opinions. It is hard for me to see people be afraid or hesitant around me when they have not had the chance to meet me and understand that I have the best intentions as an officer.”
Gemza: “It can be hard when we lose a patient.”
Q: What advice do you have for today’s teenagers who may be interested in your line of work?
Gruna: “It can be a lot of hard work to get in the field and work in the field, but it is so rewarding! I love
going home after every shift knowing that I was able to help people (and sometimes even animals) in some way or another. A lot of times, people call for law enforcement assistance when they are at their lowest and/or need help in some way or another. I love the fact that I am able to be the person they look to for guidance or to make them feel safe.”
Gemza: “Do it. I only went to school for three years and am making more money than some people who went to school at a four-year university.”
Q: What’s it like running into your fiancé on calls? Are there pros/cons to having a life partner who is also in the emergency services field?
Gruna: “It is honestly so weird! We act almost like we don’t know each other. When we are working, we
are partners, but in a professional manner. If we are both called to a scene, it’s usually a more serious situation where someone is in need of medical help or there is some other type of emergency that needs to be dealt with professionally. However, it is extremely helpful to have someone to come home to that can relate and/or understand how stressful, emotional, educational, or even satisfying a call can be. I always have my amazing family to lean on, but there are some things that I’m unable to tell them and/or are hard for them to completely understand, without having the experience in the field. However, there is a con to both being on the same call sometimes and it’s that we can make fun of each other for silly mistakes we made on the call.”
Gemza: “I love running into her on calls. It’s great having a partner in this type of field because she understands the stress of the job. A con would be seeing her disrespected by people because she’s a cop. Everyone loves a firefighter, though.”
- To learn more about Fire Explorer Program at SPFD, contact Lt. Shane Westphal at (715) 344-1833.
- For more information on careers in local police and fire departments, go to https://www.mstc.edu.