Editor’s note: On November 8 it was announced five members of the Amboy Fire Department received promotions. The Nov. 29 edition of The Amboy News featured the first promotion story. This is the fifth and final story of the series where we had the opportunity to get to know each of the promoted individuals a little better. We thank them and all members of the AFD for their service and show gratitude for what they do for Amboy.

AMBOY – Wes Shaw’s Amboy Fire Department polo shirt reads W. Shaw.

Being everyone calls him Wes; one would think Wes is the name on his birth certificate.

However, his legal name is William E. Shaw Jr. His father is William E. Shaw, referred to as Bill, and his uncle is Willy. With the William names already being used, the Shaw family began calling him by his initials as Wes means William E. Shaw. The J for junior was dropped because Wesj would be weird.

Wes Shaw grew up in Amboy and graduated from Amboy High School in 1992 with an idea of what to do next, but without a concrete plan.

“I didn’t have much direction and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do in life. I ended up going into the military, the Air Force, a year after I graduated, 1993, and enlisted as a medic,” Shaw said. “I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field. My dad was an EMT for the Amboy Fire District at the time and I really liked being involved in this area as a young kid and watching them go on calls.

“I was a surgical scrub technician initially, so passing instruments sterilely in the operated room. I specialized in orthopedics. I did that job in the Air Force for 10 years. While I was enlisted and all over the place, I got my undergraduate education for the Physician Assistant (PA) Program and I applied and got accepted to the Air Force’s PA program.”

Shaw got through the two-year program, close to 99 credit hours in one year, and wound up with a physical assistant master’s degree and a PA national certification in the Air Force. 

Before retiring from the military in 2015, he was a commissioned officer who had been to Las Vegas, Germany, California, Boston, San Antonio, Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County in Illinois, South Dakota, Honduras, and Missouri.

After retirement, he got back into orthopedics, which he’d done before PA school, and currently works at KSB Hospital in Dixon.

But once a multi-faceted Shaw, always a multi-faceted Shaw, and he added Amboy Fire Department to his resume in 2020; right around COVID-19.

“When COVID-19 kicked off, I talked to Jeff about my training and background, and how I could help the Amboy Fire Department,” Shaw said. “I offered my assistance to him to help guide the department through that COVID time. It kind of morphed into me coming on board as a full-time member. At first, I was going to serve as an advisor. Jeff encouraged me to learn how to drive a fire truck and next thing you know, I’m a full-time firefighter and doing EMS stuff as well.

“You would think with my military training as well as being a PA, I could come on board and help out medically on the ambulance. However, the state doesn’t recognize the background. Even as a PA, I had to go back and get my EMT certification. I had to go to Sauk Valley Community College and take a class so I could ride along and provide care in the ambulance. Since then, Jeff helped push for Senator Dick Durbin to change the Illinois rules, which modified state training and bylaws for career physician assistants and registered nurses.”

Shaw came on as a chief medical advisor. He still is, but in November, he was given a promotion to dual titles as he is now the EMS director.

His entire family is involved with the Amboy Fire Department as his dad is on the board, his uncle and aunt Les and Betty Shaw are lifetime members, his brother Nathan Shaw was promoted to captain in November, and Wes’ wife Kerry and their children Keegan, 25, Liam, 22, and Alison, 18, have all been part of the department at one time or another.

“Do I have to do this? No. I do this because I want to help the community,” Wes Shaw said. “I know the men and women at the station and want to help them. I think everyone who does this is kind of an adrenaline junkie. We like the urgency. You almost have to to want to do this job.

“I want to make sure people get treated the right way. I hope I can pass that along to the new EMTs coming aboard. You want to give the right environment for a young EMT to foster the desire to be in medicine and maybe go to PA school or RN school down the road.

“Plus, it’s a family thing. My dad and my brother are here. I have to stick around.”