Board hears new Lowell General EMS clinical manager and plans to change ambulance storm postings

Adam, a staff member, introduced Dan Cardona as the new clinical manager for Lowell General EMS operations. Cardona told the board he has two decades of EMS experience and said, "My goal here is to just expand emergency services to Lowell." He added that he still lives in Lowell and wants to broaden the hospital care that local medics provide.

In a related briefing on opioid responses and ambulance operations, Adam said April was an "average month" for opioid calls but cautioned that the coming season typically brings an increase in overdoses. Staff described operational changes intended to improve response times during extreme weather: currently, with five ambulances the department posts three at Dutton Street and two on Westford Street; the proposed plan would leave two ambulances out on the streets and rotate crews hourly, staging vehicles at locations such as Aiken and the VFW so crews can rest and equipment won’t overheat or freeze.

Adam summarized the rationale: "So our plan going forward is we'll leave, 2 out on the streets and we'll just do, like, hour rotations." Board members had no objection and thanked staff for the briefing. No formal vote or policy change was adopted at the meeting; staff said the modifications are planned operational changes for the next year.