OUTSTANDING FACULTY REPRESENTING REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE

Pinnacle 2011 gathered the most experienced and knowledgeable faculty on the topics presented. Faculty included:

EVELINE BISSON is director of Northwest Medstar in Spokane, Wash. Medstar provides rotary, fixed wing and ground critical care transport services. She formerly served as Director of Critical Care Transport at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, N.C.

SCOTT BOURN, PhD, is vice president of clinical affairs at AMR. He has over 30 years of experience as a paramedic, emergency department and critical care nurse, EMS system coordinator and director of a university EMS degree program.

PHILIP COCO is national information technologies director at AMR and is based in New Haven, Conn. He also serves as Deputy Fire Marshall, Branford (Conn.) fire department and is active with the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch.

DARRYL COONTZ is the executive director of Taney County EMS, Branson, Mo. He served as chief operating officer for MAST in Kansas City and is a past president of the National Emergency Medical Services Management Association (NEMSMA).

NORMAN DINERMAN, MD is medical director of Transport Medical System and Access Management System at Eastern Maine Medical Center. He is a former state EMS medical director and served in many leadership capacities for the profession. He has consistently challenged physicians, EMS leaders and providers to expand their horizons.

BRUCE EVANS is EMS chief of the North Las Vegas Fire Department. Co-author of “Crew Resource Management: Principles and Practices,” he has served as a committee member of the EMS section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He is also former chair of the Health and Safety Committee of the National Association of EMTs.

RAY FOWLER, MD is an associate professor, emergency medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; and the deputy medical director for operations, Dallas Area BioTel (EMS) System. He previously served as medical director for Fulton County’s (Atlanta) Fire/EMS program as well as Mid-Georgia Ambulance Service.

SCOTT FREITAG is director of fire communications and public information for the city of Salt Lake Fire Department. He also serves as president of the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch. He has over 20 years experience in emergency services.

JOSEPH (JAY) FITCH, PhD, is the founder of the leading EMS/public safety consulting firm, Fitch & Associates. Jay has been an innovative advocate for improved EMS systems and concepts for over 30 years. He is internationally recognized for his role in advancing modern EMS.

GUILLERMO FUENTES is chief administrative officer of the Niagara Regional Police, Niagara, Canada. He has been at the forefront of advanced deployment concepts for EMS and public safety and serves as a senior consultant with Fitch & Associates.

DIA GAINOR is Idaho’s state emergency medical services director, past president of the National Association of State EMS Officials, and is the current chair of the National EMS Advisory Council within the U.S. National Traffic Highway Safety Administration.

DEBBIE GILLIGAN is the systems integration manager for FirstWatch Solutions, Inc. She began her career as an EMT and has spent the previous two decades working in the telephony and CAD industries focusing on strategic development and process improvement.

FRANK GRESH is chief information officer for EMSA in Tulsa/Oklahoma City. He is an expert in using technology for both communications and administrative applications.

MICHAEL GREENE is a senior associate at the EMS/public safety consulting firm Fitch & Associates. His air medical career spans 25 years, from volunteer search and rescue experience to program director of a five-state air medical transport service.

TROY HAGEN is director of Ada County Paramedics in Boise, Idaho and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National EMS Management Association (NEMSMA). He was the 2010 Pinnacle Leadership Award Winner.

CRAIG HAIGH is chief of Hanover Park (Ill.) Fire Department and a field staff instructor with the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute. He has managed volunteer, combination and career departments, implementing intermediate and paramedic services.

A.J. HEIGHTMAN is the editor-in-chief at the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) and an editorial director for Elsevier Publications. He is a former paramedic and ambulance corps director and regularly lectures on EMS issues.

DOUGLAS HOOTEN is vice president of AMR and provides strategic direction and management for operations. He has over 30 years of EMS experience, most recently serving as the CEO for the Metropolitan Ambulance Services Trust in Kansas City, Mo.

TOM JUDGE is board chair of the Association of Critical Care Transport and serves as the executive director of LifeFlight of Maine. He has served as a subject matter expert for the National Transportation Safety Board and has a special interest in assuring rural access to quality emergency healthcare.

RICK KELLER is a partner at the EMS/public safety consulting firm Fitch & Associates. He has developed and reviewed many major EMS system designs in North America. With nearly 25 years of consulting experience, Rick specializes in the economics of high quality air and ground EMS.

LARA O’LEARY is the public information officer for the Emergency Medical Services Authority in Oklahoma City, Okla. Previously, she served 15 years as an on-camera reporter for NBC affiliates covering the Oklahoma City bombing and the trials of both Timothy McVeigh and O.J. Simpson.

SHERRY MCCOOL is director of transport at Children’s Mercy Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo. She previously served as a respiratory therapist and frequently lectures on safety for specialty transport teams.

SARAH MCENTEE is executive director of the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services. Previously, she served as program director for the New England EMS Institute in Manchester, N.H. Sarah has more than 20 years clinical and leadership experience with a broad range of EMS systems.

TAZ MEYER is the operations coordinator for St. Charles County Ambulance District in St. Peters, Mo. He has over 30 years experience serving in EMS as a paramedic, educator and administrator.

JOAN MELLOR manages the HeartRescue Project for the Medtronic Foundation, a health grant program with the primary goal of saving more lives from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) with an innovative, leading-edge approach to patient care and measurement. Since 1997 she has led the effort to partner with more than 300 communities worldwide with leadership, support and more than $15 million in funding to initiate or enhance sudden cardiac arrest survival initiatives.

MIKE MOFFITT is president of Gold Cross Ambulance Service. With a staff of 350 and over 65 units, Gold Cross is the sole ambulance provider for Salt Lake City and serves a wide variety of communities throughout the valley.

ERIC OSSMANN, MD, is an associate professor and vice-chief of EMS and Out-of-Hospital Medicine in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Duke University. He previously served as medical director of the 911 ambulance provider for the city of Atlanta.

JERRY OVERTON leads the clinical advice board for the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. He previously served as director of the Richmond Ambulance Authority and as a member of the National Academies of Science IOM/EMS Committee.

EDWRD M. RACHT, MD is the chief medical officer of American Medical Response, the largest EMS provider in the nation. He recently served as the chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs for Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Atlanta. Previously he was the full-time medical director for the Austin/Travis County EMS system, where he established himself as an innovator, leader and persuasive advocate.

MIKE RAGONE is a senior associate and fire service practice leader at the EMS/public safety consulting firm Fitch & Associates. He is the author of the “2011 JEMS 200-City survey.” His career spans more than 30 years in EMS and the fire service, including 10 years as a vice president at American Medical Response.

DANIEL PATTERSON, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He has developed an EMS-specific Safety Attitudes Questionnaire and regularly podcasts safety topics at emsarn.org.

ED RACHT, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer of AMR, the largest EMS Provider in the U.S. His career path includes medical leadership in volunteer, Municipal 3rd, Fire- based, Public Utility and Private EMS systems. He has extensive experience at local, state & national levels in various leadership roles and served for nine years as the first Chair of the Governors EMS & Trauma Advisory Council for the State of Texas. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at UT Southwestern.

THOMAS D. REA, MD, MPH is medical program director for King County Medic One and associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center. Dr. Rea has a career interest in evaluating prehospital emergency care to establish evidence-based practice for best clinical care and has been the lead author on numerous scientific studies.

MARK RECTOR has served for over ten years on the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED) Board of Accreditation. He has managed a large communications center, earning the NAED Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) designation.

AARRON REINERT is the executive director for Lakes Region EMS in rural Minn. He has served as a member of the National EMS Advisory Council and is a subject matter expert for numerous states as they developed statewide EMS data collection systems. He is a pioneer for the use of the Balanced Score Card within ambulance services.

MICHAEL R. SAYRE, MD is associate professor of emergency medicine at The Ohio State University. He is the chair of the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee and was the co-chair for the Basic Life Support Task Force for the 2010 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) Consensus on Science process. Dr. Sayre is active with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest research and is medical director for the HeartRescue Project.

JANET SMITH, CEO of On Assignment, has more than 20 years of experience in EMS, helping agencies and major associations with public relations, video production and business development.

KEVIN SMITH is deputy director of EMS for the Region of Niagara, Ontario, Canada, which responds to over 75,000 requests annually and covers the largest tourist attraction in Canada. He recently completed a LEAN healthcare certification.

TODD STOUT, CEO of FirstWatch, has worked in a variety of EMS systems at just about every level. A member of the board of the National EMS Management Association, over the past decade he’s focused on helping EMS and public health agencies improve situational awareness, operational performance and clinical assessments.

MIKE TAIGMAN is general manager of American Medical Response’s division in Alameda County, Calif. A former paramedic and lifelong student, Mike has helped EMS leaders and organizations improve the care and service they provide to their communities. He has worked with advanced EMS for more than 25 years.

LISA TOFIL, JD, is a partner in the Public Policy & Regulation Group of the Washington DC-based law firm Holland & Knight. She has extensive experience representing state and national healthcare organizations, including Advocates for EMS and the Association for Critical Care Transport.

JANET WADDY is director of human resources for the Richmond Ambulance Authority, Richmond, Va. She previously served as a human resource specialist with the Virginia Department of Transportation.

SANDY WALKER is chief administrative officer of Renzenberger, Inc. The firm operates nationwide call centers, provides on demand crew transportation, safety services and maintenance for the railroad industry. She holds multiple professional designations in human resources.

STEVE WIRTH, JD, is a partner in the EMS law firm Page, Wolfberg & Wirth. He has been involved in EMS for more than 30 years and serves on the Executive Board of the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute.

DAVID WHITE is the chief executive officer of Transcare, Inc., a regional medical transportation company service based in New York City. He serves on several boards of directors and previously served as the CEO of Laidlaw’s MedTrans division, he is a chartered accountant and has also served as the audit committee chair of a publicly traded company.

DOUGLAS WOLFBERG, JD, is a partner in the EMS law firm Page, Wolfberg & Wirth. He has been involved in EMS for more than 25 years, first as an EMS provider and instructor, then as an EMS administrator serving at the county, regional, statewide and federal levels.

CHRISTINE ZALAR is a partner at the EMS/public safety consulting firm, Fitch & Associates. She leads the firm’s air medical consulting division and has developed and reviewed many major EMS system designs in North America. She has provided national leadership in air medical and safety matters.

MATT ZAVADSKY is the associate director for Operations at MedStar EMS, the exclusive emergency and non-emergency ambulance provider for Fort Worth and 14 surrounding cities in North Texas.