National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC)

Tom Arkins is currently a paramedic with Indianapolis EMS, the State of Indiana’s largest EMS provider agency. He has been engaged in local and State EMS initiatives and his expertise includes data management and analytics, public safety telecommunications, patient care reporting systems and clinical support tools for paramedics. Mr. Arkins was an integral part of Indianapolis’s COVID-19 response and generated visualization tools that helped top-level planners throughout the jurisdiction understand the impact of COVID-19 on EMS transports and call volume. Mr. Arkins holds a Bachelor of Science degree in EMS Management, a Master of Science in Health Informatics and a Certificate in Clinical Informatics.

Lisa Basgall is the director of Rice University EMS in Houston, Texas. She is a paramedic and an EMS educator with more than 20 years of professional experience in EMS. She first became involved in EMS as a volunteer in the greater Philadelphia area and then worked full-time as a paramedic and an EMS educator. She is a licensed paramedic and an advanced course coordinator in Texas. She holds a paramedic certification with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and has earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary Education and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies.

Paul Brennan is the director of Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Services at Lawrence General Hospital in Lawrence, Massachusetts, serving for over 25 years and is involved in EMS on the local, regional, State, and national level. He has participated in important international initiatives and is on the board of two EMS committees that report directly to the Massachusetts Office of EMS. Past president of the International Associations of EMS Chiefs, Mr. Brennan currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Regional Health and Medical Coordinating Coalition and the Board of Trustees of the National EMS Quality Alliance and represents EMS on the Health Resources and Services Administration Pediatric Preparedness Readiness project. Mr. Brennan holds a Bachelor of Science in EMS.

Eveline Byers has been actively involved in the air and ground critical care transport industry for over 25 years. She began her career as a staff nurse and progressed to senior leadership.  She has experience providing critical care to patients in helicopter, fixed-wing, and ground ambulance settings sponsored by EMS agencies with the service delivery models including hospital-based, public agencies, privately owned service agencies, and consortium programs.  As Director of Transport Business Services, Ms. Byers works with agencies all over the United States which has increased her experience to include non-traditional air and ground ambulance service delivery models.  Her experience working to improve quality and performance of air medical services nation-wide enables her to see the bigger operational picture that is often not visible to others.  Ms. Byers served as a board member and vice chair of the Association of Air Medical Services from 2009 to 2014. She is a founding board member of the Association of Critical Care Transport and returned to service as a current board member in October 2021.

Bradley Estochen has a unique background as he is a Traffic Safety Engineer and an EMT-Firefighter; he has served his community in both capacities for over 20 years. Mr. Estochen began his highway safety at MN DOT as a graduate engineer trainee. When he completed his training, he remained with MN DOT and served as Intelligent Transportation System Project Manager, Maintenance Operations Senior Engineer, Assistant State Traffic Safety Engineer, and Minnesota State Traffic Safety Engineer.  In 2019, Mr. Estochen shifted his traffic safety engineering focus from state-wide improvements to concentrating on improvements at the local level when he began work in Ramsey County, Minnesota (headquartered in Arden Hills, MN). When not working to improve traffic safety in Ramsey County, Mr. Estochen served as an EMT-Firefighter in his hometown of Woodbury, MN and panel member of the Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program.

David Fifer is an assistant professor of emergency medical care and director of the Paramedic Degree Program at Eastern Kentucky University. Since 2011, Mr. Fifer has been consistently engaged in the practice of patient care as a volunteer EMT, emergency department technician, career firefighter/paramedic, and single-role paramedic. He has also served as an emergency management specialist with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Office of Emergency Management & Medical Operations. Currently, he serves on the Education Committee and Wilderness EMS Task Force of the Kentucky Board of EMS. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Appalachian Center for Wilderness Medicine and is the founding coordinator of the RedSTAR wilderness EMS unit serving Kentucky's Red River Gorge. Mr. Fifer holds a Master of Science in Safety, Security, and Emergency Management; a Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management; and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He is also a fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine.

Dan Gerard has over 40 years of local EMS experience and has held every positions from Emergency Medical Dispatcher to EMS System Director. He has also worked on EMS projects with national significance for not only the U.S. but also the Bahamas, Hong Kong, and India.  As an EMS Educator, Mr. Gerard has served as a professor teaching in EMS education programs at George Washington University.  He has also served as faculty for curricula sponsored by a national EMS organization that specializes in offering continuing education to EMS clinicians at all certification levels. As a Quality Improvement (QI) Officer, Mr. Gerard took on the responsibility of improving patient outcomes through EMS clinician training, specializing in airway management, cardiac arrest management, and 911 call center productivity.  Mr. Gerard currently serves as the President of the International Association of EMS Chiefs (IAEMSC), and he is employed by the City of Alameda (CA) Fire Department as EMS Coordinator and Designated Infection Control Officer.

Dr. Mark Gestring is the medical director of the Kessler Trauma Center and chief of acute care surgery at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. He is Professor of Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. Dr. Gestring is a member of the American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) where he is the immediate past chair of the EMS Committee. In that capacity, he worked closely with representatives from the prehospital community to identify and address issues of common interest to those caring for the injured patient. Dr. Gestring currently chairs both the ACS-COT Stop the Bleed Steering Committee and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Disaster Committee. He also served as the ACS-COT representative to the National Fire Protection Association and as a member of the expert panel for the National EMS Scope of Practice Model. At the state level, Dr Gestring is an elected representative to the New York State Trauma Advisory Committee, associate chief medical director for Mercy Flight Central and a chief surgeon for the New York State Troopers Surgeon Group.

Brenden Hayden is system vice president of EMS for Dallas, Texas-based Steward Health Care System, which operates 39 community hospitals across nine states. He has worked in EMS and healthcare for over 32 years, serving as a field provider, educator, training officer, director and health system leader. He has also studied and advocated for non-opioid alternatives to help manage pain in the prehospital setting and has promoted emotional and behavioral health access programs for first responders to address the tragic increase in the rate of EMS clinician suicides. Mr. Hayden is a paramedic with a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management and a master’s certificate in Human Resource and Organizational Planning.

Carol Jorgensen is the EMS program manager for the Nebraska Department of Public Health’s Office of Emergency Health Systems where she is responsible for assuring the improvement of patient outcomes and the administration of public health services and oversees overall programmatic functionality including planning, implementation and day-to-day operation. She also collaborates with the Nebraska Statewide Trauma System, Stroke/ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction System, Critical Incident Stress Management, and Emergency Medical Services for Children programs. Ms. Jorgensen holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a second Bachelor of Science in Office Administration.

Dr. Danita Koehler is a member of the Alaska EMS for Children committee and Maternal-Child Mortality Review Committee and is also a former chair of both the Alaska EMS Council and National Association of EMS Physicians Rural Committee. She has worked as an EMT or EMS physician to better the EMS systems both in the State of Alaska and nationally for the past 30-plus years. With her knowledge of Tribal governance and EMS systems operating in austere conditions, she volunteered as an EMS consultant for the creation of the 2013 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Toolkit on Crisis Standards of Care, which has been used extensively as a resource during the current pandemic, and has persistently been an advocate for just culture within the EMS volunteer workforce. Dr. Koehler is board certified in EMS and in Family Medicine. She holds a Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and Biology.

Dr. Kendall McKenzie graduated from the Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine (Bayamon, PR) with his Doctorate of Medicine and completed his residency and EMS fellowship training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS.  Upon completing his training at the University of Mississippi, Dr. McKenzie decided to stay on as staff.  Presently, Dr. McKenzie serves as the chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, as a professor mentoring medical students and residents, and as the Executive Medical Director for the patient transportation assets and disaster response team.  Dr. McKenzie is active on several state-level committees including the Mississippi EMS Advisory Council, the Mississippi Advisory Trauma Committee, and the Mississippi Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).

Dr. Jason McMullan is associate professor and director of EMS at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine. He has led many EMS research projects related to stroke and other acute neurologic emergencies and was part of a team that developed the Cincinnati Stroke Triage Assessment Tool (C-STAT) to help emergency medical technicians and paramedics rapidly detect severe stroke. Dr. McMullan served as the Hub EMS lead during the Rapid Anticonvulsant Medication Prior to Arrival Trial (which demonstrated superiority of intramuscular midazolam for status seizures), and he leveraged this research network to lead an ancillary trial that demonstrated the pharmacologic stability of midazolam (and instability of lorazepam) when stored in the prehospital environment. Dr. McMullan holds a Doctorate in Medicine and completed a fellowship in EMS Medicine; he also holds a Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Research and a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Wade Miles’ first experience as an EMS clinician dates back to 27 years ago when he served as a volunteer responder for a small village in upstate New York.  Today, Mr. Miles is the Director of Operations for Emory University’s EMS Program, a student volunteer organization that responds to 911 calls that originate on campus, on surrounding roadways, and at businesses in close proximity.  Mr. Miles also serves as the Operations and Training Manager for the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR), and the Training Manager for the Office of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, also located at Emory University.  Before joining CEPAR, Mr. Miles served as the Director of Operations, Specialty Care Transport, and Events in the Emergency Medical Services Division of Grady Health System.  He also served as the Leader of the Grady EMS Biosafety Transportation Team and offers his subject matter expertise to the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) where he currently serves as co-lead of the EMS SME Work Group.  Mr. Miles is an active member of the Georgia EMS Association (GEMSA), the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), and the Georgia All-hazards Incident Response Team.

Dr. Brandon Morshedi is a physician dual board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services.  He serves in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout Arkansas and Texas and as the Medical Director for Air Evac Lifeteam for the state of Arkansas, all of the Arkansas State Parks, and as the Assistant Medical Director for Metropolitan EMS in Little Rock.  Dr. Morshedi began his career over 20 years ago as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) in central Arkansas.  He advanced in his EMS career to become a paramedic while pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT).  While working as a full-time Physical Therapist, Dr. Morshedi longed for his career in EMS and decided to pursue a Doctor of Medicine (MD).  After graduation from medical school, he completed his EM residency and EMS fellowship training at Parkland Hospital and the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) in Dallas, TX.  After training, he became EM faculty at UTSW in Dallas and served as the Deputy Medical Director for Dallas Fire-Rescue and the BioTel EMS System, the 5th largest EMS system in the country, as well as a tactical physician and reserve specialist with the Dallas Police Department SWAT Team.  Dr. Morshedi remains an active paramedic and is an active member of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP).

Ayobami Ogunsola is a program manager at the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, and earlier worked with New Jersey Department of Transportation. He has over two decades of combined experience in transportation funding, emergency management agency assistance, emergency management performance grants administration, and implementation of evidence-based guidelines. Dr. Ogunsola holds a doctorate in Administration and Leadership Studies from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science in Finance and Banking, and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.

Dr. Sylvia Owusu-Ansah is a physician that is board-certified pediatrics, and pediatric emergency medicine, and is an EMS physician with a Master’s in Public Health. She serves as the following: the EMS medical director of (UPMC) Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; founder and director of the novice prehospital track for the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship within the Department of Pediatrics and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Assistant Medical Director of the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS; and as the EMS for Children (EMS-C) physician advisor for the state of Pennsylvania. Nationally, Dr. Owusu-Ansah is a board member for the National Registry of EMT (NREMT), and an emergency pediatric committee member of National Association of EMTs (NAEMT), and served as the inaugural chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the NAEMSP. Dr. Owusu-Ansah has developed EMS curriculum in several states as well as for the United States Secret Service and Marshals Service. She has authored key policy and technical reports for pediatric prehospital readiness, involved in pediatric prehospital research, and she is coauthor of the most recent edition of Pediatric Education for Prehospital Providers (PEPP).

Suzanne Prentiss is the executive director of the American Trauma Society. She has also been elected to several offices, including city councilor and mayor of Lebanon, New Hampshire, and currently serves in the State Senate. Senator Prentiss served New Hampshire as the chief of EMS for the Department of Safety and as the state's Trauma System Coordinator. Senator Prentiss holds a Master of Public Administration, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and a certificate in Paramedicine as well as certificate in Executive Education from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Officials in State and Local and Government.

Casey Quintard is a certified Emergency Number Professional (ENP), and he is certified in Emergency Medical Dispatch Quality Assurance.  With over 2 decades of experience in Fire and EMS, Mr. Quintard began his career as an EMT in 2001 and transitioned to emergency dispatcher in 2009.  Since 2009, Mr. Quintard has held numerous Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) positions.  He currently serves as the Operations Supervisor at the Sacramento Regional Fire/EMS Communications Center. He helped lead and implement his center’s automatic call distribution (ACD), assisted with  ProQA implementation, and is currently assisting with upgrading the regional Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. Mr. Quintard is actively involved with the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED).

Dr. Quintero is double board-certified in Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine by the American Osteopathic Board. Dr. Quintero is the Director of EMS, the Assistant Director of Emergency Preparedness, and attending emergency physician at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, NY.  In his emergency preparedness roles, Dr. Quintero serves on the Westchester County Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Council which is responsible for developing regional policies and protocols and evaluating them during annual multi-agency emergency management exercises. Dr. Quintero is actively involved as a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), serving on its Emergency Preparedness Committee that is charged with exploring healthcare disparities as they occur during disaster preparedness and response activities and offering solutions to remove those disparities. Dr. Quintero also serves as an intermittent chief medical officer in National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) responding to declared federal emergency, disaster, or national special security events.

Justin Romanello is the Chief of the Bureau of EMS for the State of New Hampshire. He has over 25 years of experience in EMS and public safety, providing emergency medical care in a variety of system models. Mr. Romanello has held numerous EMS leadership roles domestically and internationally working both in the crisis management industry and as a contractor for the U.S. Department of State.  His experiences have provided a wealth of knowledge in EMS system management, training and education, and regulations or statutes that effect EMS operations. When not working in his role for the State of New Hampshire, Mr. Romanello works as EMS and crisis response Educator and is an active member of the National Association of EMS State Officials (NASEMSO).  As a NASEMSO member, Mr. Romanello is currently serving as Chair of the East Region and is elected to the Executive Committee as the Member-at-Large.

Mike Taigman, MA, FAEMS, has nearly five decades of experience in EMS.  He uses his experience in as an Improvement Guide for FirstWatch, a company that provides near real-time monitoring and analysis of data along with performance improvement coaching for EMS, fire, law enforcement, and public health agencies. Mr. Taigman is FirstWatch's leading expert in improvement science, resilience, and stress management, guiding EMS leaders and field personnel through the process of improving the care services they provide to their patients and communities. He teaches Improvement Science in the Master’s in Healthcare Administration and Interprofessional Leadership Program at the University of California San Francisco and for the Emergency Health Services Management Graduate Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He’s the author of Super-Charge Your Stress Management in the Age of COVID-19 and was pivotal in the development of EMS Agenda 2050: A People-Centered Approach.

Tabitha Vaughn has over 30 years of experience in Emergency Services.  She began her career as an EMT and transitioned to Paramedic/Flight Nurse, and eventually an Emergency Department (ED) Nurse.  Combining the paramedic and nursing skillsets prepared Ms. Vaughn to further transition to a leadership role.  Today, Ms. Vaughn serves as the Director of Operations in Michael and Susan Smith Emergency Department at Eskenazi Health (formerly Wishard Memorial Hospital of Indianapolis), one of the busiest Level One Trauma and Burn Centers in Indiana. In this role, Ms. Vaughn continues to work with EMS Clinicians daily, appreciating the significant role they have in patient outcomes. Projects of interest for Ms. Vaughn include workplace violence reduction strategies and mental health/wellness of healthcare providers.