Copyright 2006 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
By KATHERINE ULLMER
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
BELLBROOK, Ohio - Some nights, Maureen “Mo” Flaute can be found driving a medical vehicle, a rescue truck, or one of two fire engines as a volunteer EMT for the Bellbrook Fire Department.
Other days, she packs her lunch and a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun as a part-time Germantown police officer. She works on the road crew, dealing with traffic stops, accidents and whatever else comes up.
The 33-year-old Bellbrook mom, who grew up in Kettering, has always put helping others high on her list.
On Jan. 7, she found herself high on the list of winners at the annual awards dinner of the Bellbrook Fire Department at Bellbrook High School. Nominated and selected by her peers, Flaute was honored with the group’s Larry Gosnell Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award.
Bellbrook Fire Chief Scott Hall said Flaute was more than just an EMT.
“She is a mentor to the younger department members, a problem solver and a true leader within our organization,” he said.
She’s also active in the Southwest Ohio Critical Incident Management Team, the Bellbrook Firefighters’ Association, and in other department programs, he said.
After graduating from Kettering Fairmont High School in 1989, Flaute became a full-time police/fire dispatcher for Bellbrook.
She had considered radio broadcasting, but enjoys working as a dispatcher. She also met her husband, Rick, while dispatching.
He worked as a volunteer firefighter in Bellbrook while working in his family’s business, Supply One, where he’s now president, Flaute said.
When Flaute turned 21, she went through the police academy, becoming an auxiliary and then a full-time police officer for the Germantown Police Department.
“I liked the behind-the-scenes work, but I wanted a change of pace,” she said. “I wanted to be out there doing what they were doing to help people. It sounded exciting - dealing with people face to face.”
From 1994-98, she worked fulltime for the Germantown Police Department, but when her son, Dylan, now age 7, came along, she cut back to part-time police work. Now she works only about eight hours a week for the police department.
Her decision to train as an EMT was spurred by an inability to help out in medical emergencies while doing road work for the Germantown Police Department. Their rescue squad was volunteer and often “we were on the scene first,” she said. But without emergency medical training, her hands were tied in helping out.
Despite her extensive firefighter training, she has no plans of ever becoming a firefighter.
“I don’t mind chasing bad guys, but I would not go into a burning house,” she said. “It scares me.”