Captain Mike McCoy of the Tukwila Fire Department passed away on Wednesday, April 22, while teaching for the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in Anniston, Alabama. In a career filled with helping those in his own community, Captain McCoy also assisted people around the world. While with NDMS, he was a Team Commander of the International Medical Surgical Response Team – West and a member of the Incident Response Coordination Team – West.

He joined the Tukwila Fire Department in 1987 when King County Fire District 1 was annexed into the City of Tukwila. While working for Tukwila, he also found time to work for Puget Sound Ambulance as an emergency medical technician from 1988 until 1990, for American MedTech from 1990 until 1994, and for American Medical Response as a dispatcher from 1994 until the present.

His accomplishments were not limited to emergency responses. Captain McCoy was the lead advisor for the Tukwila Fire Explorer Post of the Zone 3 Fire Explorers, a Boys Scouts of America branch for young people interested in a career in public safety.

As a member of the Seattle – King County Disaster Team, Washington One Disaster Medical Assistance Team, and Washington Task Force One, Captain McCoy responded to many national and international disasters including the Oklahoma City bombing and Super Storm Sandy. During the Haiti earthquake, and in response to the Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Irene, and Charlie hurricanes, Captain McCoy served as the Type One Operations Section Chief. At the Katrina hurricane, he was responsible for the largest patient evacuation in U.S. history. This is only a partial listing of Captain McCoy’s professional life.

Captain McCoy is survived by his wife Mary, sons Corbin and James, grandson Hunter, brothers Pat and KC, his father Earl, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his mother Midge and his son Charlie.