Service awards presented at Dec. 21 City Council meeting

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Posted December 31, 2021 |

James Peal was given a Service Award on Dec. 21, celebrating 15 years of service. Peal joined Ocala Fire Rescue in 2006, as a Firefighter/ EMT.

Throughout his career, Peal has focused on expanding his skillset through continuing education. His dedication to professional development was clearly noted when he pursued his Paramedic Certification shortly after his employment.

By February 2008, Peal was a Paramedic. Earlier this year, he was promoted to Fire Equipment Operator. He is now focused on advancing to the next step in his career–becoming a Fire Captain.

Peal has been married for 20 years. On his time off he enjoys spending time with his three children, golfing, and target shooting.

Jesse Blaire was given a Service Award on Dec. 21, celebrating 20 years of service. Blaire began his career with the city of Ocala in 2001. That year, Ocala Fire Rescue found itself in a precarious position–for the first time in the department’s history, they had a shortage of paramedics. Given this predicament, the department offered to pay paramedics without fire certifications to complete fire standards. Blaire was one of those medics.

Within three months, he obtained his firefighting certification. The proud father of six hasn’t looked back since. Given his affinity toward emergency medicine, Blaire moved through the ranks, always focusing on medical functions.

In 2018, Blaire was promoted to Captain. He developed and implemented Ocala’s first Community Paramedicine program with his newfound title and desire to extend OFR’s reach into the community. Through CP, Blaire devised ways to assist another at-risk population–opioid users. Using knowledge from the processes for successful paramedicine relationships, Blaire developed a plan to offer recovery services to people struggling with addiction.

In 2020, with COVID-19 in full swing, Blaire worked with partner agencies to stand up public COVID testing stations around Ocala and a program to test City Employees on demand.

His latest achievement is setting up a monoclonal antibody administration site for City employees and their families.