Michael Dolan’s long career in emergency services led to him receiving the Dave Massengale Memorial Instructor of the Year Award at NAVIGATOR 2024 in Washington, D.C.
His background is impressive. Dolan was a paramedic in New York (USA) for 36 years and a New York State Police trooper for 24 years. As a trooper, he worked two days a month in one of the state police communication centers. Dolan learned the state police were using a homemade medical protocol book from the 1980s/1990s to help callers.
In 2003 he was tasked with updating the medical protocol book including CPR standards, etc. This was a huge undertaking—every word needed to be justified—and Dolan started to wonder why the state police didn’t implement the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®) rather than reinvent the wheel.
They were soon convinced to do just that and as part of the process, they realized they needed two in-house medical instructors to train 400 communication specialists across New York. Dolan, not one to shy away from trying something new, became one in 2005.
Once he retired in 2013 as a paramedic and a state trooper, he went from being a volunteer firefighter for Cranberry Lake, New York, to its chief of department. Six years later he retired and moved to New Orleans (Louisiana, USA). Dolan’s experience and perspective gave him the background needed to become a triple IAED™ instructor. “I never tried to teach what I didn’t do,” he said.
Almost 20 years after he became an instructor, Dolan was announced as the 2024 Dave Massengale Memorial Instructor of the Year Award recipient at the Opening Session of NAVIGATOR in April. Eric Fayad, IAED Associate Director of Instructor Services, shared a few highlights about Dolan’s catalog of experience and his contributions to the Academy.
“He has instructed more than 500 courses,” Fayad said. “He has done a lot.”
Not all the courses Dolan has taught have been in person. He started teaching online in 2020 to the tune of 47 remote courses in the past four years.
“I wish I had the energy level that he exudes on screen,” Fayad said. “If you watch him on a remote course, you will understand. The clarity and energy he brings into the classroom is contagious!”
But it wasn’t completely natural for Dolan when he first transitioned to remote courses. Carole Massengale, wife of the late Dave Massengale who taught more than 35,000 Emergency Dispatchers during his career, became Dolan’s mentor and problem solver for his first remote course for Darwin, Australia.
“I learned so much from her on how to handle stuff,” he said. “We hit the ground looking so professional. I owe her big.”
Dolan became comfortable with the required technology and the need to continue looking at the camera throughout the course to be “in the room.” “You get a chance to connect with people all over the world,” he said.
But in spite of the flexibility of remote courses and being able to bypass travel, Dolan prefers on-site courses. What’s his favorite part? “Meeting everybody,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to really connect with the next generation.”
Dolan is used to being sent out on tri-implementations, teaching all three certification courses. He’s taught 172 EMD courses, 182 EFD courses, and 166 EPD courses. Impressive numbers, but to Dolan it’s doing what he enjoys.
As for something outside of his comfort zone? Being called on stage to accept the award.
“I was shocked,” Dolan said. “It hit me completely on the blind side. There’s no greater accolade than the compliment of a respected colleague. That’s what makes this very special.”
On stage, he had this message for the room full of his emergency dispatch colleagues.
“You never really understand how much ripple effect there is,” Dolan said. “We all have the same impact every day. It’s important to keep in mind that we always do. And that’s an accomplishment we can all share.”
