County Executive Aisha Braveboy Appoints Thelmetria Michaelides Fire Chief
Largo, MD – County Executive Aisha Braveboy today, made a new appointment in Public Safety leadership, appointing retired former Battalion Chief Thelmetria Michaelides to lead the Prince George’s Fire & EMS Department as its new Fire Chief.
Chief Michaelides retired in 2013 after 26 years at the Department. County Executive Braveboy also announced that Retired Chief Tiffany Green will serve in the administration as Assistant Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (ADCAO) for Public Safety, under Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (DCAO) Melvin D. Powell.
In her remarks, County Executive Braveboy emphasized Michaelides’ extensive experience from her start as an Emergency Dispatcher, saying,
“During her career, Meme served as an Emergency Medical Technician, a Cardiac Respiratory Technician, and an Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic.”
The County Executive also mentioned Michaelides taking on the major challenge of becoming an Explosives Technician or “bomb tech” in the Department, making her the first female bomb tech in Prince George’s County, the first African American female bomb tech in the County and in the State of Maryland, and only the 2nd female bomb tech in the State of Maryland.
On being appointed Chief, Michaelides expressed gratitude for the County Executive’s confidence and congratulated retiring Fire Chief Tiffany Green for her years of service and for making history as the first female Fire Chief in the County. Michaelides said her journey in the Fire Department that led to her becoming Fire Chief had not been a traditional path, but she believed it had prepared her to serve well.
Post-retirement, Michaelides was the Community Affairs Director in the State’s Attorney’s Office, serving during County Executive Braveboy’s tenure as State’s Attorney. Chief Michaelides said the work was familiar work because it allowed her to do the work she loves – working with, supporting, and helping the people of Prince George’s County. Michaelides later served as Chief of Operations for the COVID-19 Recovery Team and Vaccine Equity Taskforce under former Governor Hogan – in collaboration with the Maryland Army National Guard under Major General Janeen Birckhead.
“As Fire Chief, I know there is a great deal of work ahead for everyone -even as I fully understand that the work of the agency is done full-out every day, without hesitation, by the dedicated and brave men and women of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department,” she said. Pledging cooperation across the service, Michaelides said, “I want to put an emphasis on the word “everyone,” because we are career, volunteer, sworn, civilian, at every level of experience and pay. We are all connected in our mission, and together, we will advance this department, regardless of any challenge.”
Chief Michaelides said her goals in the first 100 days include aligning command staff, conducting a full review and evaluation of the department’s needs – what the department does well and where it can do better. She said she wanted to evaluate the department’s outreach and the quality of its relationships with citizens and community partners, and municipalities. “This will serve as our starting point for building a strong foundation for the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Services,” she said.
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