Members Selected for EMS Council

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After reviewing hundreds of applications, 23 people have been selected as members of the National EMS Advisory Council.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who made the announcement, said the people chosen represent all aspects of EMS.

"Experts who serve on the National EMS Advisory Council provide invaluable guidance to our National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," he said in a prepared statement. "We are grateful for the service of our new appointees."

The inaugural meeting of the new group has not been set.

The NEMSAC was created in 2007, and the first council was appointed in 2008 to advise FICEMS and NHTSA on EMS issues.

Among their recommendations included:

• NHTSA work with FICEMS to assure integration and utilization of EMS illnesses, injury and fatality surveillance databases across federal agencies.
• NHTSA encourage and develop relationships between federal and non-federal partners utilizing existing reporting systems to improve consistency of terminology ad access to data sources on EMS illnesses, injuries and deaths.
• FICEMS should identify opportunities for enhanced federal collaboration to expedite the implementation of the EMS Education Agenda for the Future by the states.
• NHTSA should publish a regular report card on the national implementation of the EMS Education Agenda for the Future.
• Support federal effort to expand, enhance and fund EMS research based on operation, financial and medical outcomes criteria
• Develop and publish key performance indicators for EMS systems to measure and monitor performance.

The new members of the NEMSAC are:

• Dia Gainor. Gainor is Idaho's state emergency medical services director and past president of the National Association of State EMS Officials. She has worked actively with the Public Safety Advisory Group to the Intelligent Transportation System and with the Strategic Highway Safety Plan Peer Exchange. She was chair of the original NEMSAC.
• Jeffrey P. Salomone, MD. Dr. Salomone, a trauma surgeon, is associate professor of surgery at the Emory University School of Medicine and deputy chief of surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
• Linda K. Squirrel. Squirrel is the EMS special projects coordinator for the Cherokee Nation. She is the founding president of the National Native American EMS Association.
• Kenneth R. Knipper. Knipper has been a prominent and outspoken advocate for volunteer EMS providers, both in Kentucky and nationally, for more than 25 years.
• Gary G. Ludwig. Ludwig is the deputy fire chief for the city of Memphis, TN. He is currently chair of the EMS Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
• James McPartlon. McPartlon is the general manager of the Mohawk Ambulance Service in Schenectady, NY. He is as past president of the American Ambulance Association.
• Gary L. Wingrove. Wingrove specializes in government relations and strategic affairs for Mayo Medical Transportation. He has served as director of emergency medical services for the State of Minnesota.
• Kyle R. Gorman. Gorman is the executive officer of the Clackamas County Fire District One in Oregon. He has been active in the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fire Protection Association's Technical Committee on EMS.
• Marc Goldstone. Goldstone, who served 14 years as a paramedic, is currently the vice president and associate general counsel for the Community Health Systems of Tennessee. He was the founding chair of the Emergency Medical Services/Medical Transportation Attorneys Group of the American Health Lawyers Association.
• Daniel Patterson, PhD. Dr. Patterson is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's Department of Emergency Medicine. He also serves as director of research for the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania.
• Troy M. Hagen. Hagen is director of the Ada County, Idaho, Paramedics and oversees all aspects of the countywide ambulance taxing district which covers 1,055 miles and 400,000 residents who live in both urban and rural areas.
• Arthur Cooper, MD. Dr. Cooper is a professor of surgery and director of trauma and pediatric surgical services at Columbia University's Medical Center in affiliation with the Harlem Hospital Center.
• Thomas Judge. Judge is executive director of LifeFlight of Maine and the immediate past president of the Association of Air Medical Services, which represents 300 air medical services.
• Aarron Reinert. Reinert is executive director of the Lakes Region EMS in Minnesota. He served as the data manager for Minnesota's EMS system from 2001 to 2004, focusing on the use of data to improve EMS services.
• Robert Oenning. Oenning is the Enhanced 9-1-1 program administrator for the State of Washington. He also holds several national positions in 9-1-1-focused user groups and organizations.
• Leaugeay Barnes. Barnes is the program director for emergency medical services at Oklahoma City Community College. She is also an active member of the National Association of EMS Educators.
• Matthew Tatum. Tatum has served as the EMS coordinator and emergency manager for Henry County, Virginia, since 2002. He is also a former local government police officer and Virginia state trooper.
• Sherri-Lynne Almeida, MSN. Almeida serves as the chief nursing officer for CareFusion and as EMS administrator, as well as the infection control officer for the Houston Fire Department. She formerly served as president of the Emergency Nurses Association.
• Kenneth Miller, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Miller, an emergency physician, serves as the medical director of the Orange County Fire Authority in California, as well as the assistant medical director of the Orange County Healthcare Agency/EMS. He is co-director of the EMS and Disaster Medical Services Fellowship at the UC-Irvine School of Medicine.
• Ritu Sahni, M.D. Dr. Sahni, an emergency physician, is on the faculty of Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). He serves as medical director for the Lake Oswego Fire Department and for the OHSU Emergency Communications Center. He is also the Oregon State EMS medical director.
• Joseph Wright, M.D. Dr. Wright is a pediatric emergency physician who has practiced for 17 years at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He is also a professor of prevention and community health, emergency medicine and pediatrics at the George Washington University Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
• Baxter Larmon, M.D., PhD. Dr. Larmon is professor of emergency medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the founding director of the UCLA Center for Prehospital Care. He founded the Prehospital Care Research Forum, which has published more than 400 EMS-related studies.
• Scott Somers, Ph.D. As member of the Mesa City Council in Arizona, Dr. Somers has extensive experience setting public policy for emergency medical services and public health. He has also conducted emergency medical services research and lectured on EMS and disaster management topics.