Boston EMS' Joe O'Hare: All hazards incident management

O'Hare joins the podcast to discuss training and lessons from his role in the Boston Marathon bombing response

In this edition of EMS One-Stop, Rob chats with Joe O’Hare, superintendent of EMS field operations at Boston EMS. O'Hare served as the commander of dispatch operations during the Boston Marathon bombing and offers insight into the preparation put in place by the city of Boston to create an all hazards incident management environment for all of their major city events.

O’Hare discusses the need to establish good working relationships with both first responder and hospital care leaders before disaster strikes. He also identifies the training program used to familiarize all staff with response to major incidents.

Read Rob's article on lessons identified from the Boston Marathon bombing after-action report and listen to the discussion below.

Inside EMS · The key to saving more lives in a mass violence incident: EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence

This article was originally posted Nov. 16, 2020. It has been updated.

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About the author

Rob Lawrence has been a leader in civilian and military EMS for over a quarter of a century. He is currently the director of strategic implementation for PRO EMS and its educational arm, Prodigy EMS, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and part-time executive director of the California Ambulance Association.

He previously served as the chief operating officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority (Virginia), which won both state and national EMS Agency of the Year awards during his 10-year tenure. Additionally, he served as COO for Paramedics Plus in Alameda County, California.

Prior to emigrating to the U.S. in 2008, Rob served as the COO for the East of England Ambulance Service in Suffolk County, England, and as the executive director of operations and service development for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust. Rob is a former Army officer and graduate of the UK's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served worldwide in a 20-year military career encompassing many prehospital and evacuation leadership roles.

Rob is a board member of the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) as well as chair of the American Ambulance Association’s State Association Forum. He writes and podcasts for EMS1 and is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. Connect with him on Twitter.