EPC Committee

• Shannon Watson, MHA, NRP, CC-EMTP, CP, Chair

  

  With over 14 years of leadership experience in healthcare and EMS, Shannon has held roles in clinical supervision, mobile integrated health, and as an assistant chief. Highlights include contributing to the PEPP textbook and serving on national and local EMS boards.

  As a passionate advocate for education and development, she is a national and local speaker on leadership topics. Currently, she serves as a Regional Practice Administrator in St. Louis, overseeing multiple clinics and driving operational excellence. I am committed to advancing healthcare, fostering teamwork, and empowering others to reach their highest potential.

   

• Katherine Remick, MD, FAAP, Medical Director

  

  Dr. Kate Remick, MD is Associate Chair for Quality, Innovation and Outreach and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, Co-Director of the National EMS for Children Innovation and Improvement Center, and Medical Director for San Marcos/Hays County EMS System. Additionally, she is co-Director of the National Pediatric Readiness Project (NPRP) and a core member of the Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Steering Committee.  Both a pediatric emergency medicine and EMS physician, she is the lead author on the national joint policy statement “Pediatric Readiness in the Emergency Department” and co-author of the joint policy statement “Pediatric Readiness in EMS Systems.” 

  She works collaboratively with national stakeholders and their respective organizations to coordinate national efforts focused on pediatric readiness in emergency care systems. Using quality improvement science as an underpinning of her work, Dr. Remick has led numerous large-scale national quality improvement collaboratives. She currently serves as a member of the Texas Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council. She has lectured across the United States and internationally on a variety of topics related to pediatric emergency care, prehospital care, and quality improvement efforts.  Her primary focus is system-level readiness to support delivery of high quality emergency care to children across the healthcare continuum.
  

  
  

• Tabitha Cheng, MD, NAEMSP Liaison

  

  Dr. Tabitha Cheng is the Medical Director of UCLA’s Center for Prehospital Care and Director of Prehospital Research and Education at Harbor-UCLA Department of Emergency Medicine. She is an emergency physician with fellowship training in EMS, Disaster Medicine, and Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Her academic work focuses on strengthening prehospital systems, advancing equitable emergency care, and developing high-impact EMS and pediatric education. 

   

• Mark X. Cicero, MD, FAAP, Associate Medical Director

  Mark X. Cicero MD, FAAP is an associate professor of pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) at the Yale School of Medicine, the director of the pediatric disaster preparedness program, an EMS physician and an Attending Physician at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. Dr. Cicero has designed experiential and didactic curricula in pediatric disaster medicine, and has numerous publications about triage and prehospital response. He is a member of the National Biodefense Science Board and the principal investigator for the Pediatric Research In Disaster Education (PRIDE) network, which has received funding from HRSA and the AHRQ.

  Currently, Dr. Cicero leads a project entitled Pediatric Emergency Care Coordination in EMS Agencies: Measuring the Influence, Magnifying the Improvement, which is supported by a grant from Emergency Medical Services for Children.

  
  

• Ann Dietrich, MD, Associate Medical Director

  Dr. Ann Dietrich is currently the Division Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Prisma Health in South Carolina. She is also a Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Dietrich received her medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University and has been in practice for more than 30 years.
  
  
  

• Emily Nichols, MD, Associate Medical Director

  Emily Nichols, MD is an emergency physician practicing in New Orleans, LA. She served as the Director of New Orleans EMS from 2018-2021 after working closely with first responders in New York and Philadelphia during her medical training. She now serves as Deputy Medical Director with New Orleans EMS, and she practices in the Emergency Department at Ochsner Medical Center. She is board certified in emergency medicine and pediatric emergency medicine. 

  Dr. Nichols' EMS interests lie in prehospital trauma resuscitation, quality improvement/assurance, provider professional development, and culturally sensitive and equitable EMS practices. She has also studied public health and volunteered in North and South America as well as Africa. She was an integral part of relief efforts in Port-au-Prince, Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, and in 2014 she taught emergency preparedness and response to first responders in Cap Haitien, Haiti.

  Dr. Nichols has lectured nationally and internationally. She continuously advocates for increasing recognition of prehospital critical care and works within her community to build interprofessionalism amongst emergency clinicians. Dr. Nichols enjoys spending her free time with her daughter and with her husband who is also an emergency physician.

  
  

• Rudy Kink, MD, AAP Liaison

  Dr. Rudy Kink was born and raised in Illinois. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois-Champaign. Loving Champaign, Illinois, so much, he decided to stay there and complete Medical School. Looking for a change of weather and nice music, Rudy went to the University of Tennessee-Memphis for Pediatric Residency, Chief Residency and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship. Believing he saw Elvis a time or two, he stayed on as a Pediatric Emergency Physician and as an Associate Professor. Rudy is the EMS Director of Le Bonheur as well as the Medical Director of Pedi-Flite, our transport team. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, two daughters, son, three dogs, and 12 chickens. Also, woodworking has been a new passion and yes, he still has all ten fingers (at this time).   

  
  
  

• Angela Carr, NRP, FP-C

  

  Angela Carr is a Division Chief for Austin–Travis County Emergency Medical Services. She is a Nationally Registered Paramedic, Texas Department of State Health Services Licensed Paramedic, certified Flight Paramedic, and holds an associate degree in applied sciences in Emergency Medical Services.  

  She began her career in EMS in 2003 as an EMT-B first responder and volunteer firefighter. In August 2006, she became a Field Paramedic for Austin–Travis County EMS and worked full time on a frontline ambulance for 11 years. Her duties in the field included 911 emergency response, daily ambulance operations and the training of cadets and students assigned to her while functioning as a Captain. Angela transferred to the Continuing Education office of the Employee Development and Wellness Division in August of 2017 and made education delivery her primary focus. She has been an active participant in recruiting, department wide delivery of continuing education, national standards courses, new-hire academy, primary education Paramedic programs, the continuous quality improvement process, and Community Health Paramedicine programs.

   

• Stacey Oho

  Stacey Oho is Assistant Professor and Department Chair for Emergency Medical Services at Kapi’olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii. Stacey is also the EMT and paramedic clinical coordinator. Before serving as the chair, he was the lead paramedic instructor for 15 years. Stacey is the AHA Training Center Coordinator and NAEMT Affiliate Faculty for PHTLS, AMLS, and EPC. Stacey has been a field paramedic for the past 38 years and a quality improvement officer for American Medical Response in Kauai. Stacey also serves as a board member for Hawaii's Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee (EMSAC).

  Stacey graduated from the University of Hawaii at West Oahu and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. Stacey possesses various instructor credentials from the American Heart Association, the National Association of EMTs, and Advanced Hazmat Life Support. Stacey has been an EMS content reviewer for Jones and Bartlet Publishing. Stacey is married with two children and a grandson. 

• Jason Powell, BA, NRP, FP-C, CCP-C, CP-C, TP-C, WP-C, C-NPT

  Jason Powell is a critical care paramedic and EMS educator for Buchanan County EMS in Saint Joseph, MO. He is a Nationally Registered Paramedic, a licensed paramedic in multiple states, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice.   Jason has 25 years of experience in EMS and has worked in a variety of roles including both prehospital and in-hospital care. Prior to coming to Buchanan County EMS, Jason worked as a flight paramedic in the Kansas/Missouri area, and spent 16 years working at Grady Health System in Atlanta, GA where he began as an EMT-Intermediate then worked his way up to paramedic, community paramedic, field training officer, special operations paramedic, clinical quality improvement coordinator, and EMS educator, serving as the lead instructor for Grady’s in-house CAAHEP-accredited paramedic program.  

  Jason is an NAEMT Instructor/Course Coordinator for PHTLS, AMLS, EPC, GEMS, TECC, EMS Safety, AHDR, PTEP, and CPM series and serves as NAEMT Affiliate Faculty for AHDR, AMLS, EPC, PHTLS, PTEP, and TECC. Jason has a passion for education and seeks to inspire lifelong learning in those around him. 

   

• Jeremy Sidlauskas, MPA

  Jeremy Sidlauskas is the Fire Chief in the City of Plant City, Florida. Prior, Jeremy served as Deputy Fire Chief of the Professional Standards Bureau for Pasco County Fire Rescue. Before that, he served for nearly 20 years with the Pinellas Suncoast Fire Rescue District as a District Chief and Paramedic and 12 years as a Flight Paramedic with Bayflite. Jeremy is an Affiliate Faculty Instructor for Emergency Pediatric Care (EPC), Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS), and Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS) through the NAEMT. Jeremy was a program and curriculum developer with Pinellas County EMS Training and recently helped develop an inter-government training partnership between Pasco and Pinellas Counties.

  Jeremy possesses a Master of Public Administration (MPA) Degree and a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Public Safety Administration (Fire and EMS Cross-Discipline). He is credentialed by the Center for Public Safety Excellence as a Chief Fire Officer (CFO) and the United States National Fire Academy as an Executive Fire Officer (EFO). Jeremy is  married and has 4 children. Jeremy is an avid sports fan, especially his Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays, and Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning!

  
  

• Meghan Williams, MA, NRP, CIC, NCEE

  

  Meghan Williams, MA, NRP, CIC, NCEE, is a National Registered Paramedic and Nationally Certified EMS Educator (NCEE). She holds a Master’s Degree and is the Paramedic Program Director for Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) in New York City (NYC).  Meghan has worked in both the Voluntary and paid EMS Systems as a paramedic for the past 21 years.  She has past experience as a NYS DCJS certified Law Enforcement Instructor, Rape Crisis Counselor, Domestic Violence Prevention Educator, and EMS Preceptor, which she uses to present both locally and nationally on topics including Paramedic Education, Affective Domain, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, and Sexual Assault Patient Care.  During her tenure as Paramedic Associate's Degree Program Director at LaGuardia College, she helped to develop and teach the NAEMT Psychological Trauma in EMS Patients course.  She continues to teach the class with Off-Broadway and TV actors as an integral part of the curriculum at BMCC.  Her passion remains in reducing Psychological Trauma and advancing the education of Paramedics to better serve our patients both in the pre-hospital setting and our communities. 
  

  Meghan has the pleasure to be an inaugural member of the CoAEMSP Paramedic Program Directors Focus Group and to serve on New York City (NYC) and New York State (NYS) Regional Committees for Training and Education, Medical Standards, Protocols, and Certification and Credentialing.  She was appointed as a NYS Regional Faculty member, and teaches Regional Certified Instructor updates and Lab Instructor classes.  Her passion remains in reducing Psychological Trauma and advancing the education of Paramedics to better serve our patients both in the pre-hospital setting and our communities. 

• Jonathan Willoughby, DET, BSN, RN, Paramedic

  Jon Willoughby started in EMS after serving four years in the Marine Corps.  He worked as a dispatcher, a paramedic, a firefighter/paramedic, and as a search and rescue paramedic for the Department of State Air Wing in Iraq. He then worked in New Mexico as a lead instructor for University of New Mexico on the USAF Pararescue Paramedic Program and was appointed as an Air Force civilian to the clinical coordinator position for the USAF Pararescue Paramedic Program. Jon was later appointed as the paramedic program director for a collaboration of two accredited paramedic programs in Minneapolis, MN with Hennepin County Medical Center, eventually being promoted to Deputy Chief of EMS Education.

  Jon completed his Doctorate of Educational Technology from Central Michigan University and now works as an ED Nurse in a Level III Trauma Center in Cedar Rapids, IA. He is a lifetime member of NAEMT and the NAEMT State Education Coordinator for Iowa.  He is affiliate faculty for PHTLS, AMLS, TCCC/TECC, and EPC courses.