Senator Michelle Hinchey Announces Appointment of Greene County’s Aidan O’Connor to State’s Rural Ambulance Services Task Force

GREENE COUNTY, NY – Senator Michelle Hinchey today announced that her nominee for the 12-member New York State Rural Ambulance Services Task Force has been formally selected as the Senate’s appointee. Senator Hinchey’s nominee, Greene County EMS Leader Aidan O’Connor, will serve as a member of the task force, which was created by legislation (S3503C) authored by Hinchey in 2021. The New York State Rural Ambulance Services Task Force will study and evaluate the challenges that have accelerated EMS closures in recent years and make recommendations to the State Legislature regarding policies, programs, funding, and legislation to ensure emergency medical services are not only available in rural communities but well-equipped to meet local needs.

As an EMS professional with over a decade of experience, O’Connor has served in many roles across upstate New York, including EMS Coordinator for Greene County, Chairperson of the Greene County EMS Council, President of Greene County Paramedics, National Association of EMTs Advocacy Coordinator for New York State, on the Board of Directors for the Regional Emergency Medical Organization, a member of the State Emergency Medical Advisory Committee and Co-Chair of the Greene County County Ambulance Task Force. Clinically, O’Connor has served as a Critical Care Flight Paramedic for LifeNet of New York, providing air medical care and transport via helicopter to patients throughout rural New York State, and currently works as a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Air Methods as well as a Paramedic for Greene County EMS.

“Rural EMS services across New York State are in crisis due to decades of systemic underinvestment, which is why I authored the legislation to create the Rural Ambulance Services Task Force so that we could bring together some of our state’s most experienced first responders, like Greene County’s Aidan O’Connor, to help us illuminate the detrimental challenges and solve the root causes before it’s too late,” Senator Michelle Hinchey said. “I was incredibly proud to nominate lifetime EMS professional Aidan O’Connor to serve on the Rural Ambulance Services Task Force, and I thank Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins for accepting my recommendation and officially assigning Aidan to this critical task force.”

Aidan O’Connor, Senior Leader for Air Methods and Paramedic for Greene County EMS, said, “I am honored for the opportunity to serve at a time so vital for our EMS providers, EMS organizations, and the patients and communities we serve. It will be imperative that we provide our elected officials with the data and recommendations that will both fix and provide the transformational change we need for our rural EMS system. I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of transport medicine. We know that EMS in New York State can, and will be, a best practice model for the nation.”

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