Advocates for EMS (AEMS) elected its 2009 officers during the Annual Board Meeting held in conjunction with the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) Annual Meeting, Jan. 22-23, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla.  Kurt Krumperman, M.S., NREMT-P is the 2009-10 president.  Also elected were Fergus Laughridge, CPM (president-elect), Ted Delbridge, M.D., MPH (treasurer), and Joe Grafft, M.S. (secretary).  The immediate past president is Bruce Walz, Ph.D., NREMT-P.

President Krumperman is the clinical assistant professor and undergraduate management program director of emergency health services (since Fall 2008) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and chair of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians’ (NAEMT) Advocacy Committee.  President-Elect Laughridge is the Nevada state EMS director and immediate past president of the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO).  Treasurer Delbridge is the chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine in the Brody School of Medicine at the East Carolina University and president of NAEMSP.  Secretary Grafft is the past president of the National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE).  Immediate Past President Walz is a professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Health Services at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and a past president of the NAEMSE. 

Newly appointed Board members are Connie Meyer, RN, MICT, EMS captain, Johnson County Med-Act and the NAEMT president-elect; Ron Pirrallo, MD, MHSA, Milwaukee County EMS, Medical College of Wisconsin and the NAEMSP president-elect; Ritu Sahni, MD, MPH, Oregon Health & Science University and the NAESMP secretary/treasurer; and Robert Waller, executive director, Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services and chair of the NASEMSO Government Information Committee.

AEMS board leadership is comprised of three representatives from NAEMSE, NAEMSP, NAEMT, and NASEMSO.  The board also includes one corporate/organization and individual representative from the membership. AEMS offers membership and welcomes contributions from individuals, businesses, or other interested parties.  For more information about AEMS and its advocacy efforts visit www.advocatesforems.org.