State EMS Office Names New Leader

An interim leader becomes a permanent one at the state Office of Emergency Medical Services. Melissa Kinnaird was named interim director more than a year ago, and served as deputy director for the Center for Threat Preparedness before that. She’s been central in crises like Hurricane Sandy, the 2012 derecho, the 2014 Freedom Industries chemical spill, and for the first Boy Scout Jamboree event in West Virginia, according to Dr. Gupta, commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health and the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The hope is that Kinnaird will bring continue stability to the state EMS office.