Wake County Names Kirkwood New EMS Director

3/8/2005

Skip Kirkwood, executive director and chief Emergency Medical Services (EMS) officer for Area Ambulance in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been named director of Wake County EMS, County Manager David Cooke announced today.

Kirkwood will begin work with Wake County on April 4, 2005. As EMS director, he will lead the County agency of 170 full- and part-time personnel responsible for providing advanced life support (ALS) pre-hospital medical care 24 hours a day.

In Cedar Rapids, Kirkwood supervised transition of Area Ambulance, a regional ALS ambulance provider, from a hospital department to a local government authority. In addition to leading Area Ambulance, Kirkwood advises public safety organizations and specialized consulting firms in the areas of operations analysis, weapons of mass destruction, bio-terrorism and related subject matter.

"Skip brings a wealth of knowledge and management experience to the County’s EMS operations," Cooke said. "Amid the constant change in the field of emergency medical services, he has earned the respect of his colleagues for his leadership and dedication to quality – skills that will serve Wake County citizens well."

Prior to Area Ambulance, Kirkwood served as director of EMS for the Munroe Regional Healthy System in Ocala, Fla., and as battalion chief for EMS Quality Improvement and Operations for Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue District near Portland, Ore. (a fire department comparable in size to the City of Raleigh Fire Department). He holds a bachelor’s degree from State University of New York, a master’s in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University, and a law degree from Rutgers University.

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