City of Ottawa hires its security manager as new paramedic chief

Ottawa has hired anew chief for its paramedic service, after its former chief retired earlier this year.

Pierre Poirier, who was most recently the city's manager of security and emergency management, immediately takes over as the permanent chief of the Ottawa Paramedic Service, according to a city memo Tuesday to the mayor and council.The role has been temporarily filled by the service's deputy chiefPeter Kelly

Myles Cassidy was hired as the city's paramedic chief in 2017.

"After 30 years of distinguished service in the field of paramedicine, Myles Cassidy retired as chief of the Ottawa Paramedic Service in February 2020," the city said in an emailed response to CBC.

The memo, signed by the city's general manager Anthony Di Monte, says Poirier is trained as a paramedicand holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Alberta. He's also the executive director of the Paramedic Association of Canada, and was a former deputy chief of the city's paramedic service.

"Together these attributesdistinguished Pierre from other applicants from across Canada, which were identified through acompetitive selection process led by an external recruitment firm," reads the memo.

Amanda Mullins, currently a program manager, will temporarily take over Poirier's security manager job, states the memo.

Mullins has experience working with the city's emergency operations centre control group, which according to Di Monte, will help with a "seamless transition in command with respect to the co-ordination of the city's ongoing response efforts to COVID-19."