SCARBOROUGH — North East Mobile Health Services, the largest emergency paramedic rescue and medical transportation service in the state, recently announced it has promoted Lori Rice to the position of division commander and Susan Downes to the position of supervisor.

According to a news release, the positions are in the Topsham response division, serving Richmond, Dresden, Bowdoinham and the greater Bath- Brunswick area.

Rice has more than 11 years of experience in Emergency Medical Services, and has been employed by North East Mobile Health Services since 2003. She has served as acting division commander since last June.

“Division Commander Rice is not only a role model as a paramedic, caring for patients and their families, but has also proven to be an effective leader of the first-rate EMS professionals operating from our Topsham and Dresden bases,” said Kevin McGinnis, chief of North East Mobile Health Services. “We are very pleased to have her expertise as part of the North East leadership team.”

Rice lives in Durham with her husband and their three children.

Downes began her career in EMS at Winthrop Ambulance Service in 1993. After completing her EMT training, she also worked at Delta Ambulance in Augusta, as well as Community Emergency Service in Livermore. Her employment at North East began in 2002, after achieving her paramedic certification. For a number of years she worked a rotating shift at the NEMHS Topsham base, along with a full-time position at Winthrop Ambulance.

McGinnis said, “It has been my pleasure to work in the past with Supervisor Downes as a colleague at Winthrop Ambulance Service, where I grew to appreciate her command of EMS patient care and ability to lead by example as well as by intelligence. She has served not only as a paramedic crew chief there, but also as a captain in a supervisory position for years. This, combined with her successful tenure as a paramedic at North East in Topsham, made her a logical choice for the position. We are most fortunate to have her on our leadership team.”