Doug Moffett was born in Keosauqua. His father was a ranger while the family lived at Nine Eagles State Park as Doug grew up. Doug learned a lot about nature and safety while living at the park and realized at an early age that he would like to be in the medical field in some capacity. Doug’s focus turned to emergency medicine as he became a First Responder after graduating high school and went on to earn his EMT-B and later his EMT-I.

Doug put his training to work part time in Leon at Decatur County Hospital (DCH) in 1994, while working full time at other jobs.  He worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) for the casino in Osceola and as head custodian at the high school in Leon. He became full-time at DCH in 2004, working well above and beyond his requirements as an EMT and helping other departments when needed.

In March 2011, DCH staff was called to the scene of a motor vehicle accident with seven people involved and serious injuries.  Now as the fire chief in Leon and the surrounding community, Doug was preparing an old house to burn down for teaching purposes for the volunteer firefighters when the call came. Doug canceled those plans and volunteered to go to the scene and help with this accident. He managed four patients coming back to the hospital and took excellent care of them.

Doug also is involved in a lot of community activities and does volunteer teaching for fire prevention at schools, the sheriff’s department, Family Place (a child care facility) and Boy Scouts.  He is a certified diver and does scuba diving for rescue and recovery. Doug was awarded the Above and Beyond Honor Award from Mercy Health System for the wonderful job he did at the March accident.

Doug continues to serve Decatur County by doing a lot of volunteer work for his neighborhood, such as mowing and snow removal for the elderly, and volunteers as an EMT at the youth rodeos.  In so many ways, Doug’s hard work and dedication have made the community safer, healthier and more enjoyable. We are fortunate to have this Hospital Hero in our midst.