About Andy Schultz

Andrew T Schultz, CEO, began his EMS career in 1985 as a volunteer with the rural Win-Bur-Sew fire department in Winnebago, Illinois. He soon learned that the largest percentage of the fire service was running medical calls and loved the idea of making a difference to the people in his district and went to EMT-A (current EMT-B) class. Realizing that there was more he could do, he went on to become an Intermediate EMT (EMT-I) and quickly on to the Paramedic program where he graduated top of his class in grade point average.

Andy went to work for a private ambulance service (Ginders-Graham) in Rockford in the late 1980’s as well as advancing his rank at Win-Bur-Sew, which allowed him to shape the department’s progress. “I really felt that running at the Advanced Life Support level was important to the rural areas because the ambulances we relied on were coming from 15 minutes or more away. I upgraded the department to a non-transporting ALS service which was a great achievement because the patients could get the care they needed while waiting for the ambulance.”

Andy moved on to two larger private ambulances in the Chicago area and obtained his Critical Care Paramedic (CCEMTP) training through the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Loyola Medical Center, and spent several years providing critical-care transports throughout Chicagoland. He served for a time as Manager for one of those Chicago companies when they branched into Rockford.

This became the catalyst for Andy to start his own ambulance service. Frustrated with this Chicago-based company’s lack of concern for their patients and customers, and seeing the same from the local entities, Andy launched ATS Medical Services, Inc. on April 26th, 2005. “I decided early on that ATS would have only the best equipment and personnel to treat our patients. We purchased 12-lead heart monitors with biphasic defibrillation technology and end-tidal CO2 monitoring capabilities that no one else was using locally.”

Andy started ATS with one ambulance and now runs six ALS ambulances and six Medivans for wheelchair transports. He was instrumental in pressing to become one of the first local services to be licensed by the State of Illinois for expanded-scope practice which allows the use of Critical Care Paramedics on special interfacility transports utilizing IV pumps, ventilators, and medication infusions which used to require nurses to ride along on the ambulance.

Andy has stressed customer service since day one and remains accessible to those customers by a single phone call day or night. Providing this service is his driving force. “I was frustrated by the things the large companies did that were detrimental to their patients. I wanted to change things. ATS has been very successful and I believe that is because our customer service and patient care is second-to-none and that is what has given us an edge over our competition.”