Paul DiCicco officially tapped as new Manatee EMS chief

Manatee County Emergency Medical Services officially has a new chief.

Paul DiCicco, who was acting chief for six months, was promoted to permanently lead the division on Aug. 18, according to Bob Smith, the county’s public safety director.

“When I tapped him as the acting chief, my goal for him was to pretty much run the show and keep the boat afloat until we had a permanent chief,” Smith said. “He went above and beyond that. He is a 100 percent hard charger and he immediately made some improvements, both operationally and personnel wise that drastically improved things for the division.”

There was no formal search for a new EMS chief, Smith said.

“In the six months that he was acting chief, I learned much more about him than anything I could have learned in an interview,” Smith said.

DiCicco was the clear choice to be the permanent division chief, Smith said.

“He was excelling and I needed to give him the free reign,” Smith said. “It was very clear that he was the man for the job.”

DiCicco has worked his way up through the division, beginning as a volunteer. He has worked as a full-time employee in EMS for a little more than 11 years.

“He got the benefit of working his way up through the ranks,” Smith said. “It was pretty clear that he was the best person.”

DiCicco’s creativity and innovation were also pluses for Smith.

“He is also pretty innovative and likes to think outside the box, which is a big thing for me,” Smith said.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Paul DiCicco officially tapped as new Manatee EMS chief."