Brothers retire together from aviation division of Maryland State Police

It’s been 22 years since brothers Jimmy and Bobby Harsh joined the Maryland State Police, both earning awards and recognitions along the way. They celebrated their retirements with a joint party at the Potomac Fish and Game Club on Nov. 17.

“I probably have one of the best jobs in the world,” Jimmy Harsh, 48, said.

“Without a doubt. It was an honor — to actually make a difference in people’s lives,” said Bobby Harsh, 45.

The brothers, along with their older brother, Dwayne Harsh, grew up with a father who volunteered with the Williamsport Ambulance Service in addition to farming a 300-acre farm.

Dwayne runs County Medical Transport, the private ambulance company their parents, Robert “Bob” and Shirley Harsh founded in 1982.

Initially, Jimmy didn’t want anything to do with emergency medicine.

Their father “would drag us along to all those calls. He really had to twist my arm to get involved. I was bitter about the ambulance hall and fire hall taking him away so much,” Jimmy said.

Jimmy got his CPR certification at age 15 and went on his first official ambulance call near Sharpsburg to assist with a small plane crash with one survivor.

“That was the day the bug bit me,” Jimmy said.

The three Harsh brothers often accompanied their father on ambulance and Bobby was on that particular call as well.

Jimmy became an emergency medical technician at 16 and if there weren’t enough volunteers available, he and another Williamsport High student would be excused from school to go on ambulance calls.

They would wait at the school’s flagpole for the ambulance to pick them up. In 1982, Jimmy became a cardiac rescue technician and graduated from high school.

Bobby earned his CPR certification.

The two brothers’ careers were similar, but different.

The brothers worked for County Medical Transport in Williamsport during and after high school.

In 1986, Jimmy took a job with Anne Arundel County Fire Department, followed two years later by Bobby.

They also volunteered and worked part-time with Community Rescue Service. 

Both had long been interested in working for the Maryland State Police.

Bobby was accepted into the March 1990 class at the Maryland State Police Academy and Jimmy the July 1990 class.

Straight out of academy, Bobby completed field training and transferred into aviation command in Frederick, where he was for 19 years.