Thomas Lardaro, MD, MPH

Dr. Lardaro serves as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Section Chief for the Department of Emergency Medicine and system medical director for the Office of Emergency Preparedness in the Yale New Haven Health System. He was appointed chair of the national EMS Committee at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in 2024.

Dr. Lardaro previously served as an EMS medical director overseeing the EMS response system, including the 9-1-1 dispatch center, for the nation’s 15^th largest metropolitan area while in Indianapolis. He served a term as EMS Commissioner through a gubernatorial appointment for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. In addition, he was a leader on the team that built one the largest and most comprehensive regional EMS healthcare delivery entities in the Midwest, IU Health LifeLine. During his time in leadership, LifeLine grew to 39 ambulances deployed regionally, including five helicopters, a call center handling interfacility transports for over 88,000 requests annually, and emergency response and transport at every level of care. Dr. Lardaro was the recipient of the IU Health Values Leadership Award for this and other contributions through the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a faculty member at Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Lardaro was the recipient of the Indiana University Trustee Teaching Award and the Kevin G. Rodgers Excellence in Clinical Education Award. He did moonlighting work as a full crew member and flight physician for UC Air Care and Vanderbilt LifeFlight while in training which led to his interest in EMS.

He currently works clinically as an emergency medicine physician and enjoys teaching, learning, and being a part of compassionate teams that help people.