The town of Wilton welcomed their new ambulance director on Sunday.
Community members and first responders from Wilton Ambulance Service gathered to congratulate Danielle Gardiner, 36, of New Boston on her new position at the department. Captain Allen Peck passed down the torch to Gardiner after serving as the Interim Director for the last four months.
Gardiner is a lifelong resident of New Hampshire, and served 18 years as a first responder in communities across the state, including Amherst, Jaffrey and Rindge.
In addition, Gardiner served as a Field Supervisor for MedStar Ambulance in Leominister, Massachusetts for the last three years before coming back to her New Hampshire roots.
After serving as a first responder in cities like Leominster, Gardiner said she is looking forward to working in a small town once again.
“I’m really excited to get to work,” said Gardiner. “[Emergency Medical Services] is a small community. Being able to work with people I grew up with is exciting.”
With staffing shortages, Peck stepped into the role while the department searched for their newest director. Peck, who has served in the Wilton Ambulance Service for the last 20 years, said Gardiner will be a great fit for the job.
“She has a lot of the same goals as me, she’s into more training,” said Peck. “She has a good head on her shoulders… she’s going to do really well.”
Gardiner will be in charge of handling day to day operations of the department, including upkeep of facilities, scheduling, and leading EMT training courses for community members and her team of first responders. Her first official day in the new role was on Monday.
Gardiner said one of her first priorities as the ambulance director is to develop more education programs related to CPR, Stop the Bleed, and babysitting to benefit the community.
“We hope to make these programs free or have them be low-cost to the community,” said Gardiner. “It’s very important in our communities, those critical minutes could save a life in a crisis.”