Former OL chief Kinney named state EMS director

Kraig Kinney

INDIANAPOLIS — The man who spent 10 years at the helm of Putnam County Operation Life is now the state EMS director for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

IDHS made the announcement Tuesday morning via its Facebook page that Kraig Kinney will take over for the retiring Mike Garvey.

Kinney was executive director of Operation Life, the non-profit predecessor of the newly-formed and county-owned Putnam County EMS, for 10 years beginning in 2005.

The veteran EMT and paramedic spent a total of 24 years with OL.

When Kinney left OL in 2015, it was to become supervisor of EMS education at St. Vincent Hospital.

More recently Kinney, who is also an attorney, has worked for IDHS.

“Kinney has a long history of EMS qualifications and service and has most recently served as deputy legal counsel for IDHS where his work regularly involved EMS policy and certification issues,” IDHS announced in the post. “He has held several certifications (EMT, paramedic and primary instructor) since beginning his career and worked as ambulance operator, field EMT/paramedic, training coordinator and former executive director of EMS operations in Putnam County.”

At Operation Life, Kinney was replaced by E.J. Claflin as executive director. Claflin remained in the position through early this year, overseeing the transition from the non-profit OL to the county-run Putnam County EMS on Jan. 1.

However, Claflin accepted a position in North Carolina shortly after the first of the year and the county continues the search for his replacement.

The Putnam County Commissioners hope to fill the position in March.