Board of Directors

• Bruce Evans, President (2021-2022)

  

  Bruce Evans, CFO, SPO, NRP, MPA, is the Fire Chief for the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, located in Bayfield, Colo. He retired as the EMS Chief for the North Las Vegas, Nev., Fire Department after serving 27 years in the Southern Nevada’s Fire and EMS system.

  Bruce is an adjunct faculty member of the National Fire Academy in EMS, Incident Management, and Terrorism Training programs. He has been a course developer for many of the National Fire Academy curriculums and serves as a technical writer. He is the recipient of the prestigious 2010 James O. Page EMS Achievement Award. Chief Evans was awarded the NAEMT Presidential Leadership Award in 2014. The Colorado Governor appointed Chief Evans to the State Emergency Medical and Trauma Advisory Committee in 2014. Bruce is the liaison to the National Academies of Medicine preparedness committee for NAEMT.

  Chief Evans chairs the NAEMT EMS Political Action Committee and has been on the development teams for several of NAEMT’s courses. He is a certified faculty member for the International Public Safety Leadership and Ethics training program. Bruce has coauthored text on EMS management, Crew Resources Management, and has written a text on Quality Improvement. He authored a bimonthly column on EMS for Fire Chief Magazine for over a decade.
  
  

• Susan Bailey, President-elect (2021-2022)

  

  Susan Bailey is the Director of the Louisiana Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, and has been active in the EMS Industry since 1990. She has experience in both the rural and urban setting. She is the Chair of the Commission on Accreditation of Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPCE) Board of Directors and serves as a curriculum and site reviewer, and is a member of the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO).

  A lifetime NAEMT member, Susan serves on NAEMT’s Education Committee and Advocacy Committee and represents Louisiana on the Affiliate Advisory Council. In 2014, she was awarded the NASCO/NAEMT Paramedic of the Year Award, and 2016 she was awarded an NAEMT Education Service Award for innovation in delivering NAEMT education programs to rural areas. Susan is a lifetime member of the Louisiana Association of National Registered EMTs (LANREMT), and has served as the Vice-President, Secretary, and Conference chair. LANREMT awarded her the Instructor of the Year Award in 1999, a Presidential Meritorious Award in 2013, and an Outstanding Achievement award in 2018.

  Passionate about the EMS Industry, Susan strives to bring positive attention to the work that EMS Practitioners do. She encourages EMS practitioners to expand their knowledge to grow with an ever-changing scope of practice within the EMS industry. In her presentation, “They Don’t Care How Much You Know Until They Know How Much You Care,” Susan combines her knowledge as an EMS practitioner as well as her knowledge as an EMS leader to illustrate that everyone leads and manages at least one person every day – yourself; and while we may not be able to control what happens around us, we can control how we handle the situation.

  A Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Susan has a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Southeastern Louisiana University where she graduated magna cum laude, and earned Master’s Degree in Emergency Management from Millersville University in Pennsylvania.
  
  

• Chris Way, Treasurer, (2021-2022)

  

  Christopher Way has been an emergency service professional for 28 years. Chief Way transitioned to Kootenai County Fire and Rescue as the Fire Chief in May of 2020 after serving as the Chief Officer for the Kootenai Count EMS System for the previous seven years.

  Chief Way came to Idaho from Kansas where he served in Fire and EMS roles in urban, sub-urban and rural settings. He was an EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and now has been a licensed paramedic since 1994 as well as a certified Firefighter. Throughout his career he has held different ranks culminating most recently in his promotion to Fire Chief.  He also has significant experience in disaster management at the local, state and national level.

  In addition to his full-time role as Fire Chief he is involved at the local, regional, state and national level in advocacy and leadership for emergency services.  He is the Treasurer for the National EMT Association and has served on their board and committees for several years.  He is a regular speaker at national conferences and in his spare time Chief Way and two partners own an Emergency Medicine education and consulting company. 

  Passionate about emergency medical care, Governor Brad Little selected Chief Way to be the Chairman of the Idaho Time Sensitive Emergency Council in May of 2019. He has a bachelor’s degree in Management and Human Relations and maintains all of his Fire and EMS licenses/certifications.  He regularly donates time to his community, serves local non-profit organizations and is involved in his children’s many activities. Christopher and his wife Jennifer live in Hayden, Idaho with their two daughters and four Labradors.

  
  

• Troy Tuke, Secretary (2021-2022)

  

  Chief Troy Tuke began his EMS career after obtaining his Paramedic and RN degrees from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 1989. He worked full time as an RN and Paramedic specializing in Critical Care/Trauma and Flight Nursing, before joining the Clark County Fire Department as a Firefighter/Paramedic in 1996. He promoted through the ranks of fire engineer, EMS Coordinator and Assistant Chief-EMS until his retirement from CCFD on October 4, 2019. Troy now works with the MountainView Hospital Paramedic Institute as the Lead Instructor. 

  Troy deployed to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as a medical specialist for the Nevada Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team. He maintains his RN and National Registry Paramedic certification and licensure, and is an EMS Master Instructor and Paramedic Preceptor. In addition to his role as secretary for the NAEMT Board, he chairs the NAEMT Advocacy Committee and is a member of the membership and data committee.

  Troy is married to his sweetheart of 32 years Debbie, and has two daughters Brittany and Rylie. Brittany is married to Travis and they have son named Ben who is the first grandchild. Troy loves the spending time with his family, the outdoors, and especially golf when he has a chance to tee it up.
  
  

• Matt Zavadsky, Immediate Past President (2021-2022)

  Matt Zavadsky, MS-HSA, NREMT, is the Chief Transformation Officer for MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Fort Worth, Texas. He has helped guide the implementation of several innovative programs with healthcare partners that have transformed MedStar fully as a Mobile Integrated Healthcare provider, including high utilizer, readmission reduction, observational admission reduction, hospice revocation avoidance, 9-1-1 nurse triage and partnerships with home health agencies.

  Matt also chairs the NAEMT EMS 3.0 Committee and is the co-author of the book “Mobile Integrated Healthcare – Approach to Implementation” published by Jones & Bartlett Publishing. He has a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, with a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Data Management.

  Matt is also adjunct faculty for the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Department of Health Management and Policy, as well as an appointed committee member to the Joint Commission’s Home Care Professional and Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) and the Lewin Group’s Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (HOQR) Program Stroke and AMI Expert Work Group, developing metrics for use in value-based purchasing measures for emergency departments.
  
  

• Robert Luckritz, Director, Region I (2021-2022)

  

  Robert Luckritz, JD, NRP, is the Executive Director of EMS for Jersey City Medical Center – RWJBarnabas Health, where he oversees a department of over 300 career and volunteer EMS providers responding to 90,000 calls annually. He has more than 20 years of experience in EMS, serving as an EMS provider in four states across the Mid-Atlantic and New England, where he has overseen all facets of EMS including Operations, Clinical Care, and Education. He also served as an adjunct professor of EMS Management at Springfield College in Massachusetts, and as the government affairs officer for a major New Jersey healthcare system.

  Robert received his bachelor's degree in EMS Management from Springfield College, a juris doctor degree from Western New England University, and is currently working towards a master's degree in Public Administration at Northeastern University. In 2015, he received the JEMS Magazine EMS10 Innovators in EMS Award, and was the recipient of a 2016 NAEMT Presidential Leadership Award. He has previously served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Urban Hospitals, and is the current President of the New Jersey Association of Paramedics.
  
  

• Bryan Nelson, Director, Region I (2020-2021)

  

  Bryan Nelson, MBA, NRP, is the regional program coordinator for the ACS-STEMI Program and the Regional Cardiogenic Shock & Acute Mechanical Circulatory Support Program for Lehigh Valley Health Network. He is adjunct faculty at the George E. Moerkirk Emergency Medicine Institute and received the 2019 Adjunct Instructor of the Year award. He continues to work part-time as a 911-paramedic for the Borough of Emmaus and City of Bethlehem Paramedics.

  Bryan serves on the NAEMT EMS 3.0 Committee and previously served on the NAEMT EMS Data Committee. He started his EMS career in 1989 after serving two years as a combat engineer in the Army. He has worked in a variety of EMS settings: a paramedic for a private ground ambulance company, a flight paramedic, and a firefighter/paramedic. He also has experience in hospital administration and systems of care. Bryan has BS in biology and an MBA in change management.
  
  

• Melissa McNally, Director, Region II (2021-2022)

  

  Melissa McNally, MMSC, BCEM PA-C, NRP, is a nationally certified physician assistant who is board certified in emergency medicine. She is also a nationally registered paramedic with over 27 years of experience in prehospital and emergency medicine. She practices clinically in emergency medicine and operates Central Florida Emergency Education Consultants (CFEEC), which provides continuing education content for EMS and other healthcare professionals as well as consultant services for mobile integrated healthcare-community paramedicine (MIH-CP) education and service programs. 

  Melissa brings leadership experience as a medical practitioner and educator in the field of MIH and has provided clinical oversight to Florida’s largest MIH program, Evolution Health, which managed the population health of over 60,000 Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients across Florida. She currently serves on the Florida Association of EMS Educators Board of Directors, and on the Access to Care Committee of the Florida Bureau of EMS. 

  Melissa served on NAEMT’s EMS Transformation Committee, and is on the Community Paramedicine course author team. She also serves as the assistant advocacy coordinator and membership coordinator for NAEMT in Florida.
  
  
  

• William Tatum, Director Region II (2020-2021)

  

  William D. Tatum, Paramedic, resides in Walhalla, SC, and has served the EMS profession for more than two decades. He is employed with Prisma Health which services the Upstate and Midlands regions of South Carolina. William serves as an EMS Supervisor with Telecommunications & Emergency Medical Dispatch being his primary responsibility.  Previously, he worked for EMS agencies in Pickens and Anderson County. He is also a Team Leader for the Oconee County, SC Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce, and Telecommunications Educator for the Oconee County Sheriff's Office E-911 Center.

  William is President-elect of the South Carolina EMS Association, President of the South Carolina EMS Educators Association, and President of the South Carolina EMS Public Information, Education and Relations Team. He is an EMS advocate and multi-year attendee of EMS on the Hill Day. He also serves on the NAEMT membership committee and is a membership coordinator for South Carolina. William has received awards for outstanding contributions to the EMS profession and for being named employee of the year.

  William serves on EMS Subcommittees in South Carolina including the Community Paramedic Advisory Committee, EMS for Children initiatives and the SC DHEC EMS Advisory and Educational Councils. He also serves on the Upstate EMS Council and Tri-County Technical College EMS Training Boards and is an Adjunct instructor for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and TCTC EMT programs. 
  
  

• Eric Van Dusen, Director, Region III (2021-2022)

  Eric Van Dusen, NRP, FP-C, is an EMS educator and lead simulation specialist at the Center for Pre-Hospital Care at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At Sanford Health, he oversees the mobile simulation team, which supports the rural hospital system in providing education for all levels of healthcare provider. 

  Eric recently started his 20^th year in EMS. He has been a paramedic for 17 years, and is a former flight paramedic for Sanford Health. He is active in state EMS advocacy, and has been a member of the South Dakota EMS Association (SDEMSA) Executive Board since 2005. He has served as the association’s president since 2012.

  He has presented at local, regional and state conferences and throughout the Midwest over the past decade. He received the SDEMSA President’s Award in 2010 and was awarded lifetime membership for his commitment to EMS in 2019. He served in the South Dakota Army National Guard from 2007 until his honorable discharge in 2015.  

  Eric has served on local and regional EMS taskforces and committees, and currently serves as an NAEMT Membership Committee member and NAEMT Affiliate Advisory Council member. He resides in Sioux Falls with his wife, Dawn, and has two daughters, a stepdaughter and four grandchildren.
  
  

• Debra Von Seggern-Johnson, Director Region III (2020-2021)

  

  Deb Von Seggern-Johnson NRP, EMSI has been an EMS Coordinator since 2002 for the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Center for Continuing Education, in Omaha, NE. She also serves as the Center’s American Heart Association training center coordinator and is a Nebraska state-certified EMS instructor. Deb is a physician surrogate for the North Bend Volunteer Fire Department and had been the department’s Assistant Fire Chief for two years. Previously, she had more than a decade of the EMS service to the communities of Nebraska.

  Deb has more than a dozen state and national certifications as an instructor, course coordinator, and faculty. She is active in EMS advocacy at all levels. She has held numerous leadership positions for national organizations and for the state of Nebraska. Deb served as President of the Nebraska EMS Association from 2010-2018, a NEMSA Board member since 2001, and on a variety of committees focused on EMS response to cardiac arrest, stroke, trauma, and mass casualty incidents.

  Deb has received many awards of recognition including NEMSA’s EMS instructor of the year, presidential award, and the Leo O’Brien, Jr., Award for Excellence and Outstanding Contributions to EMS. She has also presented at various state and regional conferences.
  
  

• Karen Larsen, Director, Region IV (2020-2021)

  

  Karen L. Larsen, DNP, MSN, APRN, NP-C, CFRN, CEN, CPEN, FP-C, NRP, has more than three decades of healthcare experience with an extensive background in prehospital medical care and emergency nursing. She is a Nurse Practitioner for both St. Luke Hospital & Living Center and StatCare of Kansas, and a Flight Nurse/Education Specialist for LifeSave Transport, all in Kansas. She also volunteers as a paramedic for Marion County EMS.

  Karen holds numerous certifications, is Board Certified with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and is a Kansas Certified Paramedic. She is a member of several professional associations including ASTNA, ENA, KEMTA, KEMSA, ABMDI, and is an Affiliate Faculty member for NAEMT & AHA. Karen serves on the education committee for NAEMT as well as representing NAEMT on the IBSC Board. 

  Karen has received many awards, including a KEMTA’s Advanced Life Support (ALS) Attendant of the Year award and Lyle Eckert award, as well as NAEMT’s education award for Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS). She earned her Doctorate of Nursing from Chatham University in Pennsylvania, Master’s in Nursing-FNP from Graceland University in Missouri, Bachelor’s in Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau Cum Laude, from Southwestern College, and Paramedic certification from Midwest Academy of Pre-Hospital Sciences in Kansas.  

• Macara Trusty, Director, Region IV (2021-2022)

  Macara Trusty, MS, is a paramedic and manager of project management for Global Medical Response South Region in Arlington, Texas. She has been involved in EMS for over 25 years, has over 23 years of EMS teaching experience, and more than 14 years of EMS leadership experience. During her EMS career, she has worked as a dispatcher, an EMT, a field paramedic and on an Advanced Practice Paramedic team. Before joining Global Medical Response, she was education and community programs manager for MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Fort Worth.

  Macara serves as the chair of the EMS Education Committee for the Texas Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council (GETAC). She has led collaborative and cross-functional teams toward innovative solutions that improve the quality of clinical education and training in Texas. She also serves as the NAEMT Education Coordinator for Texas, and is a member of the NAEMT Education Committee. She has experience working in both rural and urban environments.

  She has been married to her husband, Paul, for over 22 years and has two daughters. She holds a bachelor of science in business management, a master of science in management and leadership, and is currently working toward her doctorate in strategic leadership. She also holds several certifications such as Project+, SHRM-SCP, Just Culture Champion, and others.
  
  

• Allison G. S. Knox, At-Large Director (2021-2022)

  Allison G. S. Knox is an EMT and interdisciplinary social scientist with a focus in EMS and emergency management policy. She currently teaches fire science, emergency management and homeland security at two universities and particularly enjoys academic discussions with her students about public safety policy issues.

  Previously, Knox worked for a member of Congress in Washington, D.C., and in the emergency department of Hartford Hospital, a level one-trauma center in Hartford, Connecticut. Currently, she’s secretary of the Board of Directors for the International Public Safety Association; chair of the International Public Safety Association Tactical Emergency Medical Support Committee; and served as NAEMT advocacy coordinator for Virginia for three years. She also serves as chancellor of the Southeast Region of the Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society, and is the chair of the Leadership Development Program for the 2021 Pi Gamma Mu Triennial Convention. She holds four master’s degrees: in emergency management, national security studies, history and international relations. She also has a bachelor’s degree in political science, and a graduate certificate in homeland security.

  Passionate about EMS policy issues, she often writes about these issues as a contributing editor for Emergency and Disaster Management (EDM) Digest. She has also been published in the International Social Science Review, EMS1.com and the International Association of Emergency Managers Bulletin. She looks forward to continuing the conversation about innovative EMS-related policies.

   

• Garrett Hedeen, At-Large Director (2021)

  Garrett Hedeen, MHA, Paramedic is Manager of EMS for Indiana University Health Bloomington EMS. He previously served as EMS Safety Officer for Indianapolis EMS, as well as a field training officer (FTO) and adjunct educator. As an Indiana certified primary instructor, Garrett has taught many different EMS disciplines both clinical and operational. 

  He has been an EMS advocate in many forms and was awarded the 2017 NAEMT EMS Advocate of the Year Award. He served as EMS Union President for an IAFF local and has served on the Board of the Indiana EMS Association in numerous positions over the years. Currently, he is the board representative for Hospital Based providers and previously served as Secretary, Regional Director, and legislative chair. 

  Garrett's passion is EMS safety. He is a NAEMT EMS Safety instructor and is currently assisting with development of the 3rd Edition of the NAEMT EMS Safety course. He serves on the NAEMT EMS Workforce committee, previously serving as chairman, and is the NAEMT representative on the NFPA Emergency Responder Occupational Health Technical Committee. Garrett is enrolled at Indiana State University in the Master of Science of Occupational Health and Safety program. He is also an Eagle Scout.

  
  

• Douglas F. Kupas, MD, EMT-P, FAEMS, FACEP, Medical Director

  Dr. Kupas is medical director for Geisinger EMS and director of Mobile Integrated Healthcare for Geisinger Health System, his professional home for the past 30 years. He is an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) physician, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Resuscitologist and the EMS Medical Director for the State of Pennsylvania for the past 20 years. A board-certified emergency physician subspecializing in EMS, Dr. Kupas is an avid researcher and passionate advocate for EMS practitioner and patient safety. His clinical interests include CPR, hypothermia, end-of-life care, EMS patient and practitioner safety and EMS airway management. 

  Dr. Kupas’s EMS career began 40 years ago when he joined Lower Kiski Ambulance Services in Leechburg, PA, on his 16^th birthday as a volunteer. He later became a paramedic and a physician. He earned his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and completed his residency in emergency medicine at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. Dr. Kupas serves as the associate chief academic officer for simulation and student affairs at Geisinger, assistant dean for medical student affairs at the Temple University School of Medicine at the Geisinger Clinical Campus, and an associate at Geisinger’s Department of Emergency Medicine. He is a member of many local, state and national organizations and has numerous honors, awards and publications to his credit, including development of an anonymous patient safety event reporting system that became the EVENT reporting system.