Chief Poole is a 31 year veteran of the department. He began his career in 1974 as an Emergency Medical Technician working in a small rural county approximately 30 miles north of Nashville. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Critical Care Program, Paramedic Training and Volunteer State Community College, Allied Health Program and has been licensed as a Paramedic in Tennessee since 1975. He began his career with the Nashville Fire Department in 1976 as a field paramedic; promoted to Training Coordinator for the Emergency Ambulance and Rescue Service Division in 1979. In October 1981 he was promoted to District Chief and in February 1991 to Deputy Chief in charge of the Emergency Medical Service Division.

In January 2001 he transferred to his current position as Deputy Chief in charge of the Services Bureau. He states “ It has been a real challenge to make the shift from dealing exclusively with Emergency Medical Service issues to the diverse issues in the Services Bureau. I didn’t know, what I didn’t know about the operation of this Fire Department. There has been a real learning curve; a challenging yet enjoyable experience. I work with the best people in the industry and without them, I could not accomplish my mission.”

Currently, he has the overall management responsibility for the Fire Training Academy, the Operating Capital and Capital Improvements Budget, all Fire Department Construction projects (including special projects such as the current project to computerize many Fire Department record keeping functions), Uniformed Personnel hiring practices, Human Resources Coordinator, liaison with other government agencies and other duties as may be assigned.