Named Chief of Indianapolis EMS in 2019, Dr. Dan O’Donnell served as IEMS chief medical director since 2014 and deputy medical director from 2007 to 2014. He is an associate clinical professor of emergency medicine at the IU School of Medicine and the division chief of EMS for the school’s Department of Emergency Medicine. He is also the medical director of pre-hospital care at Eskenazi Health. In addition to his work with IEMS, Dr. O’Donnell also serves as medical director for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department as well as a medical specialist for Indiana Task Force 1, and previously served as medical director for Indianapolis Fire Department.
Dr. O’Donnell’s work has had a strong impact in the community beyond EMS. He has been a champion in the fight against the opioid epidemic in Central Indiana through his work with Project POINT, which intervenes to connect overdose patients with addiction and recovery services, and also helps provide and train police officers on Naloxone administration. For these efforts Dr. O’Donnell received the Hulman Health Achievement Award in Medicine and Public Health in 2015.
In 2016, Dr. O’Donnell led an effort that placed more than 70 automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the city of Indianapolis and delivered training to the public on how to operate them. The effort is aimed at helping to increase the survival rate of people suffering cardiac arrest. In 2018, Dr. O’Donnell was recognized as one of the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Forty under 40.