At-large Director Candidates

Running for Board of Directors
Gregory R. Brown
Position Sought: At-large Director

Running for Board of Directors
Paul Cissel
Position Sought: At-large Director

Thanks to my many peers who encouraged (and coerced) me to run for NAEMT At-large Director. This opportunity to represent the most hard working, charitable, dedicated and caring professionals in the country would be a true honor.

However, the position comes with tremendous responsibility that, with all of your help, I am prepared to accept. We unfortunately must vote for individuals. However, as I constantly remind my students, EMS is a team sport. Our success and our patient’s welfare hinges upon us tying together every facet of EMS into a single, coherent system.

We must come together to aggressively improve the image, environment, funding, position, and outlook for EMS. To resuscitate our beloved profession, I propose a new set of ABCs:

Advocacy: Promote ourselves, our mission, and our needs to Capitol Hill, state houses, hospital systems, and fire departments. We must help combine the often disparate requests from an assortment of government agencies that unwittingly divide, and consequently dilute, our message to Congress. These include DHS/NFA/FEMA, HHS/CDC/NDMS, DOT/NHTSA, EPA, DOI, and DOD, to name a few.

Balance: Assist our brothers and sisters in better managing their time to minimize family sacrifices and maximize overall well-being, both physical and emotional.. We must seriously examine improvements to our training, fitness, nutrition, counseling, shift lengths, benefits, and working environments.

Collaboration: Cooperatively draw from each other’s strengths, whether from career, volunteer, fire-based, hospital-based, rural, urban, public, private, special operations, or third-service organizations. Each has ideas to contribute.

Like many others, I was raised by Johnny and Roy. My obsession kicked off at 14 when I ‘audited’ my first EMT-A class. Throughout high school, I successfully lobbied our legislature for statewide medavac and trauma coverage.

Now as an instructor, I am proud to be working with Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery College, the Maryland Fire Training Institute, MIEMSS, DHS/CDP, GWU Medical School and the National Fire Academy. Besides EMS, I enjoy teaching Incident Command, Leadership/Officership, WMD/HAZMAT and Technical Rescue courses.

When not in front of a classroom or in the back of a medic unit, I can probably be found on or in the water. I am active in our county’s Swiftwater Rescue Team and recently became leader of its Dive Team. Therefore, I do indeed know firsthand the importance of strong EMS to protect our own.

Not letting my education in physics and mathematics be wasted, I have contributed to programs at numerous federal labs, including ones at MIT, Johns Hopkins, NASA and NIST. From within the private sector, I have proudly lead numerous government satellite projects to enhance our nation’s imaging and communications capabilities.

Although not solely EMS focused, my diverse educational, scientific and business experiences provide me with fresh insight, perspective and tools to help tackle the daily challenges facing EMS.

By working with each and every one of you to deploy our new ABCs, we can together provide the Advocacy, Balance and Collaboration needed to improve EMS for ourselves, our communities and our families.

Running for Board of Directors
C.T. "Chuck" Kearns
Position Sought: At-large Director

I am a candidate for the At-large Director position. I have been involved in EMS since 1981, when I became an open water lifeguard. Two years later, I was certified as an EMT and have worked most of my career in Pinellas County EMS/Sunstar. I have seen many dramatic changes in our industry. The training, equipment and technology we use has advanced dramatically, but I do not believe the image of our industry has kept pace with that of other essential public services. I want to improve the image of EMTs, paramedics and EMS in general. I want to focus more NAEMT efforts in this area. An improved public awareness will bring with it other benefits like increased respect, increased reimbursement for services, plus better pay and benefits for clinicians.

On a daily basis, I see and hear EMTs and paramedics being referred to as “emergency workers” or “rescue workers” in the media. In the worst case, we are “ambulance drivers.” In addition, we continue to be challenged to work with Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements that are less than the cost for providing our services. We also have to deal with insurers who do not remit the full payment for our services. Lower reimbursements translate into lower pay and fewer benefits. Without an accurate understanding by the general public, lawmakers and media about who we are and what we are trained to do, I see EMS continuing to play second and third string to other essential public services, in the eyes of the public and government.

I think NAEMT does a great job of providing educational courses, materials and conferences. I believe we can do a better job of marketing ourselves with the media, through recognition of field practitioners and advancing our interests with lawmakers at all levels. If we can improve reimbursements and strengthen laws that require insurers to reimburse directly (and fully) for our services, we can dramatically improve our patient care tools, patient outcomes and the overall quality of life in our communities.

I am proud to have held my EMT certificate for the last 25 years and my paramedic certificate for 24 years. I would like to see more of my co-workers be able to retire from the EMS career they love, with better benefits. I believe we can achieve parity. Although it will not happen overnight, we can get there with good ideas and hard work. The best opportunity we have is to increase our use of technology for public awareness. As a veteran EMS clinician with an MBA degree in marketing & information systems, I am well-qualified to help take our profession to the next level.

I thank our members for their commitment to their community and their profession. I thank your families for their sacrifices too. I ask for your support in the election, so that together, we can advance our image, reimbursements, pay and benefits of our profession to higher levels.

Region III Director Candidates

Running for Board of Directors
Bruce Beins
Position Sought: Region III Director

My name is Bruce Beins, and I respectfully ask you to elect me to the NAEMT Board of Directors representing Region III.

I believe the first consideration when choosing a candidate is whether they will truly represent the membership of their region and the organization. With the membership of NAEMT being more than 80 percent volunteer, I would elect a candidate who was experienced and informed on the issues confronting volunteers, especially in the rural and frontier areas.

My second consideration would be whether they have leadership experience. It is one thing to hold a seat on a board, but I would want my representative to be strong, active, and passionately represent the interests of the region and the organization as a whole.

Thirdly, I would want my representative to be actively working in the trenches. In order to truly understand the issues and work on solutions you need to be working in the field, at the local, state, and national levels.

I believe I am the right person for this position. As a 25-year veteran, I answer the call as a volunteer in a rural to frontier area. EMS systems in Region III are dominated by volunteer providers who need a voice on the NAEMT Board. I served three terms as the president of our state association, increasing membership from 800 to 2,000 members by listening to the membership, and working with others involved in public service. As chair of the state board of EMS, I work with all aspects of prehospital care including prehospital providers, EMS services and EMS training agencies. As a paramedic and an EMS educator, I believe I understand the challenges facing EMS in our region, because I am faced with them every day.

While there are many challenges facing EMS today, the recruitment and retention of providers is perhaps the most critical. In rural and frontier areas population shifts are making it more difficult to staff ambulances. Paid services are struggling with inadequate reimbursement from Medicare and huge write-offs from the uninsured. Lack of adequate funding makes it difficult, if not impossible, to provide the salary, benefits, training, and equipment that we need to provide the care that the public expects and deserves. I believe NAEMT needs to strengthen its representation in Washington through the EMS Caucus to improve reimbursements, resolve the health care crisis, and elevate our position and funding for our vital role in Homeland Security.

I applaud the reorganization of the NAEMT Board and the Advisory Council. I would work hard to expand our affiliation with other state and regional organizations. There is strength in numbers, and to accomplish our goals we will need that strength.
Paid membership also needs to be increased. I believe people want to belong to an organization that serves them, but they need to be better informed.

If elected, I will bring my leadership experience and my passion for EMS to the NAEMT Board for Region III.

Running for Board of Directors
Sue Jacobus
Position Sought: Region III Director

My name is Sue Jacobus from Schuyler, Nebraska. I am a certified EMT-B in the state of Nebraska as well as being an NREMT-B. My terms for both have been uninterrupted as I function as both an EMT/firefighter in Nebraska, now continuing to serve as president of our department and being a previous “EMT of the Year in Nebraska.”

I have supported NAEMT throughout the years while some from nearby areas have asked “what can NAEMT do for me,” my actions have been focused on what I can offer my areas and NAEMT. I have served as an NAEMT governor and then as an interim NAEMT governor for my state while making sure that my state remained with NAEMT representation when there was an unexpected absence of a new governor. My activities also included long-term involvement with the “Heartland Coalition” with support of EMS in the heartland. My EMS and business responsibilities have included travel to many of the states of Region III.

I am active in local politics, serving as a councilman enjoying excellent support in my area as I speak from a foundation of actual experience and facts. My focus is looking ahead at the needs of not only my constituents but also looking at what is best for the county, state and region. My EMS leadership experience includes being a past EMS squad director in my town, serving as an educator for the PHTLS program and attending both national and local meetings in support of the needs of EMS in my area as well as national concerns. My goals have been to ensure the continued development and progress in and for EMS learning from past history while seeing the value of continued improvement.

My other experiences include attending the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium meetings. My full-time employment is as a design engineer with Behlen Mfg. Inc, in Columbus, Nebraska, where aside from my regular duties I also serve on a number of developmental committees inclusive of those related to education and skills development among our youth. We look for the future of our careers being assumed by competently trained new recruits, and I continue to enjoy being part of that process in EMS and in industry.  

I would enjoy being part of the team that works on the challenges we face and toward the future of NAEMT representation throughout our nation.

Running for Board of Directors
Pamela Kohal
Position Sought: Region III Director

My commitment toward our profession occurred accidentally. At the age of 12, I led a group that worked toward the funding of three thermal imaging cameras for our local fire department; a technology that was fairly new at the time. This volunteer effort demonstrated my passion for all emergency services, my commitment to strive and reach my goals and my innovative as well as policy-oriented personality.

During my public health program, I partnered with NAEMT to develop my thesis titled “Assessing services currently provided by service operators to support mental health needs of their EMT workforce.” While I completed underlying research of barriers to, and the lack of, mental health services in EMS, it still remains a challenge of many facets and is not usually viewed as a priority not only in our industry, but to the public as well.

Another key challenge facing EMS today includes an issue that is not only critical to EMS, but all public health disciplines in our country; access to medical care. Seemingly in the U.S. as more individuals become uninsured and underinsured, the EMS system has become a primary source of medical care for many. The consequence EMS bears as a result produces a domino affect. The system is burdened with overuse and pulls units away from emergency calls for calls that may not usually require our expertise or an ambulance for transport. The increase in calls overworks crews during their shift which transcends into problems of burnout and poor retention rates in the field of EMS.

While this is a primary issue facing all of us today, the list is not all inclusive. EMS faces many complex issues which can be related to public health. With my educational policy background coupled with my public health training and experience as an EMS professional, I am a young leader who can bring systemic change. Given this is an election year; NAEMT has an opportune time to push for and work toward much needed reform.

I am excited and hope to be elected to NAEMT’s board. My ongoing commitment to field work will frequently expose areas of concern EMS faces in addition to providing me with the opportunity to network with those EMTs who may not be NAEMT members. As NAEMT grows, I will work to be the voice and leader of a new generation; making sure concerns of our younger counterparts are heard. Thank you in advance for your vote.

Running for Board of Directors
Julie K. Scadden
Position Sought: Region III Director

The greatest challenge for EMS is the lack of unity within our ranks. We rally to support our brethren in need without thought, but are fragmented and struggle to provide a unified voice in advocacy for the EMS profession. The important issues our profession faces cannot be resolved without a united, strong presence representing EMS.

NAEMT has been successful in strengthening EMS through partnerships with organizations that have influence over the future of our profession. They are our presence at the table, guiding the evolution of EMS through the development of quality education, the improvement of patient care based on research, and taking strong positions on workforce issues and the public portrayal of EMS.  

One of NAEMT's more recent accomplishments have been in becoming more transparent as an organization. A disconnect does however, continues to exist. An organization is only as strong as its membership, and as members we must work together to fulfill its mission. The voices of EMS providers; volunteer or career, fire-based, hospital-based, third service, urban or rural, are vital to the continued evolution of EMS and NAEMT into the future.  

My goals as a member of the NAEMT board are to develop better communication between the organization and EMS providers working at all levels of EMS, through utilization of the varying means electronic communications. We should explore the development of programs that mentor, empower, and recruit the next generation of EMS advocates at the local, state and federal level.  We must also make obvious the value of membership in NAEMT for all stakeholders interested in the enhancement of EMS as it evolves.

I am a full-time EMS provider and educator. My experience working and teaching in urban and rural, hospital-based, fire-based and county-based EMS services, and in the Bureau of EMS at my state level over the past 17 years, provide me with a unique understanding of the challenges and best practices of differing EMS systems.

I have represented EMS on numerous committees, serving on the board of directors on state, regional and local EMS organizations and well as currently serving on the NAEMT Advocacy Committee. My greatest strength, however, is my ability to talk to EMS providers across this nation and abroad and my belief that our voices will strengthen and define EMS as a profession.

Region IV Director Candidates

Running for Board of Directors
Charlene D. Donahue
Position Sought: Region IV Director

I am Bruce Evans and I am asking the membership for their vote for one of the Region IV director positions. I am the EMS chief in the City of North Las Vegas and a faculty member at the College of Southern Nevada. I have been in EMS since 1982 having been steered into the profession by my parents who where both volunteer EMTs for West Des Moines EMS in Iowa. I went to find my fortune in the West, having been recruited to Mercy Ambulance, Las Vegas, in 1985. I left to help start a fire department paramedic service and, after almost 20 years in the fire service, I am looking forward to retiring and finding a volunteer ambulance service in southern Colorado to work with. I have been consistently nationally registered as a paramedic for more than 20 years. I have a bachelor degree in health education and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

I currently serve NAEMT as the Health and Safety Committee chair where we have worked to bring the message of safety to the membership. I got involved with NAEMT after a discussion with Ken Bouvier at NAEMT’s national conference in Reno, Nevada, more than 20 years ago following his famous “Just Another Drunk” lecture. That fellowship and camaraderie has been what has kept me interested in NAEMT. I have taught EMS for almost 20 years and stay active with the National Association of EMS Educators. I have been a PHTLS instructor since 1988. I am a board member for the Cyanide Treatment Coalition, where I have worked to advance the knowledge base of EMS providers on smoke inhalation. I have the honor of sitting on the JEMS editorial board and I write a column every other month in Fire Chief magazine called EMS Viewpoints. My personnel philosophies are best reflected in an article in Fire Chief magazine at:

http://firechief.com/ems/firefighting_little_help_friends/

I am a disciple of James O Page and believe in his philosophy of the right EMS provider is the one providing the best care to the patient. I believe in the mission of the NAEMT in that the organization’s focus is on the members and supporting the professional status and clinical sophistication of the field providers. This means continuing the efforts to get EMS funding on the same level as the fire service. I believe that NIOSH should be tracking EMS line of duty deaths and the truck manufacturers association along with the ambulance manufactures should be making every effort to make our vehicles as safe as possible. I am working at making the EMS safety officer course a reality. I want to see our courses from NAEMT stay current and affordable to our members. We need to capture the next generation and get young people excited about EMS. Every state needs a state level EMS association and NAEMT needs to support that concept. My contact information is on the Health and Safety link at the NAEMT website and I am always available to answer questions or help.

Running for Board of Directors
Daniel R. Gerard
Position Sought: Region IV Director

NAEMT is a member-driven organization. As a member of NAEMT I have consistently dedicated myself to the association and the needs of the membership.

As the chairman of the Paramedic Division, I authored a report in 2000 and again in 2001 on occupational injuries in EMS. We identified that the scope and magnitude of occupational injuries in our profession was impossible to determine. Our recommendations: institute an improved reporting/coding mechanism for EMS occupational injuries and deaths; publish quarterly data on occupational injury rates, adjusted for region, and aggregate national data; identify programs of excellence that are reducing EMS occupational injuries.

Seven years later, these recommendations have yet to be acted upon. NAEMT must do better. If elected to the Board, I will make it my priority to address this critical issue.

I would accomplish this by having NAEMT sponsor a national occupational injury meeting, during our national meeting of the association, bringing together the various stakeholders and national leaders in EMS occupational health. We would then develop an agenda, and then use that agenda as a template for NAEMT so that we may work toward making reductions in occupational injuries.

I would also institute a program to recognize EMS organizations that are working to reduce occupational injuries and then provide that information on those programs to all EMTs and paramedics. We owe this to our profession.

When the membership stated that they wanted a national EMS office on par with the U.S. Fire Administration, I was one of their most vocal supporters. Since that time, look at the state that EMS is in. In 2008, the federal EMS Office in NHTSA was funded for two million dollars, with an office staff of 11. In Alameda County, California, the county EMS office is funded to over 10 times that amount with three times the number of personnel. In 2005, EMS received only 4 percent of the federal funding for first responders. In the last federal budget, EMS and trauma programs received zero dollars.

In their recent report on EMS, the Institute of Medicine identified that EMS needs a single lead federal EMS agency. Yet we still have a fragmented system. Are we any better off then we were?

NAEMT must do better. I will make it my mission to have NAEMT support the IOM’s recommendation, by issuing a position statement in support of a federal agency. I will also contact members of Congress to assist in advancing this issue. The membership overwhelming supports a federal agency, I support a federal agency, EMTs and paramedics nationwide deserve a federal agency, to be equal with the police and fire services.

I have the experience and the background to get the job done and I am not afraid of working hard. I respectfully ask for your support and to please vote for me. To find out more, read my blog at: http://paramedicsociety.blogspot.com

Thank you.

I am KC Jones and I am seeking to serve as your Region IV NAEMT Board Member. In the late 70’s, I was reading a professional journal when an advertisement caught my eye. There was a new organization that would represent and serve EMS personnel through advocacy and educational programs. I considered the benefits and decided it would be a good investment of $2. With an NAEMT membership number of 44, I am proud to say I have never regretted that investment. During my 30 years of EMS service, I have contributed on several levels in my home state, and I wish to have the opportunity to focus my energy and vision on the national level.

Over the years, EMS has repeatedly overcome the lack of understanding concerning the profession. This ignorance is exemplified in advertisements for insurance, tax preparation and even governmental websites. It is our duty as EMS professionals to ensure that everyone we meet understands we are no longer considered ambulance drivers. Allied health textbooks do not accurately describe EMS occupations, so this perception is still used by those we work with everyday. To increase awareness, I headed up the Arkansas EMS Week celebration. It took a forgotten professional holiday to a statewide celebration with involvement of EMS providers, elected state officials and the media.

NAEMT has to address workforce issues, rights, benefits and resources to promote a better workforce and a public image. The shortage of EMS personnel is a national problem, and it needs a national campaign to bring this deficiency to the public’s attention. It is our professional obligation to study the problem and investigate any opportunity to alleviate the shortage in the EMS workforce. What would the general public’s reaction be if they dialed 911 and no EMS providers responded?

Health and safety issues are vital in maintaining a quality EMS workforce. An excellent example of an occupational health issue is the NAEMT “Buckle Up” campaign. As a profession, we also face many occupational hazards ranging from physical injury to our mental well-being.

I am greatly concerned that EMS has failed to be recognized as a vital segment of Homeland Security. EMS must be accepted and funded in order to be prepared to provide their response in local and national disasters.

I currently represent EMS on the Arkansas Governor’s Trauma Advisory Council, and trauma care is a passion. The American College of Emergency Physicians could benefit from an EMS point of view on trauma. We need to work toward a functioning and funded trauma system in each state.

EMS is a “calling” of dedicated individuals, thank you for your choice as an EMS professional. I trust I have shared my vision of the profession in this statement.

NAEMT is an outstanding professional organization dedicated to the advancement of EMS. I have been, for more than 30 years, an avid fan of the organization and its purpose. It is the best investment EMS can make in its own future.

It is with great pride and indeed an honor for me to be afforded the opportunity to serve the NAEMT members of Region IV. With the current changes in our organization, we face, not only challenges, but also great opportunity.

With more than 25 years in EMS and public safety, along with my Industrial and education affiliations, I believe I can represent all the member of the region from those who work the streets on a daily basis, to those in specialized roles within our profession. I still work the streets and stay in touch with those who serve our profession with pride.
While our professional is young and ever-changing, it is very diverse, which as I mentioned not only creates challenges, but great opportunities. I want to be your voice in our organization through these times of challenge and opportunity. The work of all of you folks reflects highly on your communities and indicates a very positive attitude and dedication to our profession and image of our industry.

I have been member of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians since 1993, and I served as the 2006-2007 Texas governor and chair of the Industrial EMS Society.

I also serve on the Board of Directors for the Emergency Medical Services Association of Texas. I am a past member of the Louisiana Society of EMS Instructor / Coordinators and the National Association of Flight Paramedics (now the International Association of Flight Paramedics). In 2005, I was appointed by the president of NAEMT to assist the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) as part of a Traumatic Injury from Terrorism Task Force.

The people are the key to our progress; we need you to help show the pride we have for our profession by getting involved and helping us make our profession the best in the world! Let me help you make a difference.