OES director leaving

Scott Sampey, the director of Flathead County’s Office of Emergency Services, will be leaving the Flathead for a job in LaCrosse, Wis. Sampey gave his 30-day notice on Feb. 17, commissioner Jim Dupont said.

“He’s joining a med-evac squad,” Dupont said. “I expect he missed the excitement. He’s also getting better pay.”

Sampey took over OES in June 2010 when it was going through a difficult time, with three committees overseeing the creation of a new 911 dispatch center combining the sheriff’s office with the three cities and numerous rural fire and emergency departments.

Sampey was director of STAT MedEvac Co. in Pennsylvania and served on a critical incident stress management team in Pittsburgh.

He was one of the responders to the crash scene of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania when the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place.

Dupont said he was surprised by Sampey’s announcement and said the county might look at filling an interim director position internally.