Speaker Biographies
Dr. Bryan Bledsoe is a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Las Vegas, NV and an attending physician in the Emergency Department and Level 1 Trauma Center at University Medical Center in Las Vegas. He has over 35 years of experience in emergency medical services and emergency medicine. He entered EMS in 1974 as an EMT and attended one of the first paramedic programs in north Texas.
Dr. Bledsoe is board certified in emergency medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is the author of numerous EMS textbooks including: Paramedic Care: Principles and Practice, Essentials of Paramedic Care, Critical Care Paramedic, Paramedic Emergency Care, Prehospital Emergency Pharmacology, Intermediate Care: Principles and Practices, Anatomy and Physiology for Emergency Care, and many others. Dr. Bledsoe also writes articles for the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) on a regular basis. Dr. Bledsoe has often been interviewed in the national media in regards to EMS issues including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, USA Today, Washington Post and others.
In 2008, Dr. Bledsoe was named a "Hero of Emergency Medicine" by the American College of Emergency Physicians. He was also named one of the "Twenty Heroes of Health and Fitness by Men's Health magazine in November 2008.
Back to topJeffrey Myers, D.O., Ed.M., NREMT-P, FAAEM
Dr. Jeffrey Myers has a 20 year background in Emergency Services with 12 years active in the prehospital environment and 18 years as an EMS educator. He started in EMS in 1988 in the Capital District of upstate New York volunteering for his college ambulance and a local community ambulance. He began teaching in 1990 and ran the EMT-B course in Rensselar County before attending medical school. He also served as a Deputy County EMS Coordinator for four years responding to multi-ambulance and multi-agency incidents and worked in a combination paid-volunteer department as a paramedic.
Dr. Myers attended medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at SUNY-Buffalo, serving as Chief Resident in his final year of residency. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine. Currently, Dr. Myers is on the faculty at SUNY-Buffalo and serves as the Associate System EMS Medical Director and EMS Fellowship Director at the Erie County Medical Center. Dr. Myers is an active member of the physician response team.
Back to topPeter is a 25 year veteran in EMS and is currently a Paramedic-in-Charge with the Chicago Fire Department. As a former teacher at a large all boys' School, Peter brings years of classroom experience to his presentations. He presently is an adjunct instructor with Chicago City Wide Colleges, Gateway Community College, Racine Wisconsin and Loyola University Medical Center. Pete served for six years as EMS coordinator at Children's Memorial Hospital of Chicago where he gained outstanding experience in the field of pediatrics. He also has several years of critical care transport experiences as a flight medic with Loyola University Medical Center's LifeStar Aeromedical Program.
He is the founder and President of EMSed, an educational company specializing in EMS educational concepts. He has received several awards for his work in the area of EMS including the Illinois Department of Public Health's Ron W. Lee, MD Memorial Award for "Excellence in Pediatric Care" as well as the Illinois Department of Child and Family Service's "Program Excellence Award". He is a nationally recognized speaker and presents at EMS conferences nationwide.
Back to topJohn Todaro, NREMT-P, RN, TNS, NCEE
John Todaro is currently the Director/Chief of Operations for the Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center in Florida. He is a paramedic, trauma nurse specialist, registered nurse and an EMS Instructor. John is affiliated with many National organizations such as the National EMS Management Association, National Association of EMS Educators, National Association of EMT's, and the National Society of Emergency Medical Services Instructor/Coordinators. He has written articles for both the Journal of Emergency Medical Services and Responder.
Back to topKatherine West, BSN, MSed, CIC
Katherine West has been working in the field of infection control since 1975. She lectures both nationally and internationally on this topic. She publishes books, video tapes and articles on infection control related issues. She has served as a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health. She has served as an education specialist for the National Institutes of Health and authored the Infectious Disease Handbook for Emergency Care Personnel, now in its third edition, Infection Control in the Private Practice Setting: Policies & Procedures, and Infection Control in the Dental Setting. Katherine is also a consultant to the US Public Health Service, Federal Occupational Health. Ms. West was recently voted a "Hero in Infection Control & Prevention" for 2006 for her work in the field of infection control & EMS. This honor was from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (APIC).
Back to topSkip Kirkwood, M.S., J.D., EMT-P
Skip Kirkwood currently serves as the Chief of Wake County, North Carolina Emergency Medical Services Division. He has been involved in EMS since 1973, as an EMT, paramedic, supervisor, educator, manager, consultant, state EMS director, and chief EMS officer. Skip holds a Master's of Science in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University and a Juris Doctorate from the Rutgers University School of Law. He is a graduate of the U.S. Fire Administration's Executive Fire Officer Program and was recently recognized by the Commission on Public Safety Excellence as one of the first five credentialed Chief Medical Officers in the United States. Skip is a member of the Board of Directors of the National EMS Management Association.
Back to topRobbie Murray, (Sussex County, Delaware), a Nationally Registered Paramedic for 14 years, is currently the Operations Division Manager for Sussex County EMS in Georgetown, DE. Previously he held the position of Field Training Officer and served as the department's Training Coordinator. He has extensive experience with capnography and its use in the pre-hospital environment. He has lectured at numerous regional and national conferences throughout the U.S. and several international conferences. In addition to EMS, he has been involved with the volunteer fire service for the last 20 years and currently holds the position of Assistant Fire Chief.
Back to topMr. Glass is a 31-year veteran of the City of Pittsburgh's Bureau of EMS. In his roles with the Bureau, he is currently the Honor Guard Commander, a retired member of the River Rescue Team, a member of the Hazardous Materials Team and Critical Incident Stress Management Team. He is also a member of the USAR Team as a Technical Search Specialist and is presently assigned to Rescue Unit 1.
Mr. Glass serves of the Board of Directors for the National EMS Memorial Service and is an Executive Committee Member for the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council (PEHSC). His involvements at PEHSC also include service as the Committee Chairperson for the Rescue Task Force and the Line of Duty Death Committee.
Mr. Glass also serves his community as a member of the West Homestead Volunteer Fire Department.
Bill started his Public Safety career in March of 1968 as a Junior Firefighter with the Horton Twp VFD, Elk County, Pa. He progressed thru the ranks and became Fire Chief in 1980. He also was a Firefighter with the College Park, Prince Georges County, MD VFD and a Lieutenant with the Crystal FD St. Marys, Pa as well as a Firefighter for Fame Fire Company, Lewistown Pa and was the Fire Investigator for the Borough of Lewistown. He attended the University of Maryland Fire Protection Engineering Program.
Bill became a Pennsylvania State Fire Academy Local Level Instructor in 1981 and received his Instructor Emeritus in 2006. He was hired as a Staff Instructor at the State Academy in 1987 was promoted to Field Supervisor in 1991. He oversees Fire Training in Western Pennsylvania which is comprised of 22 counties with over 600 Local Level Instructors. He is an Adjunct Instructor for the National Fire Academy and has taught in the States of Alaska, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Washington as well as Bermuda and Canada.
Bill received his Municipal Police Officer Certification from the Northwest Pennsylvania Training Academy in 1976, attended the Pennsylvania State Police Academy and was a Deputy Sheriff with the Elk County Sheriffs Dept then became a Patrolman with the St. Marys Police Dept. He also attended the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Criminology Program.
Bill has been active with the PAAI (Pennsylvania Association of Arson Investigators), NAFTD (North American Fire Training Directors) and TRADE (Training Resource and Data Exchange) and was one of the course developers for the course "LODD WHY?". He authored the State Fire Commissioners Line of Duty Death Protocol and has assisted with almost four dozen Line of Duty Deaths in Western Pennsylvania in the past fourteen years as Team Leader for the OSFC LODD Assistance Team and has consulted with numerous other States on LODD Protocols.
Eric Nagle joined the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation staff in 2004 and serves as a Fire Service Programs Specialist. He researches line-of-duty deaths and provides outreach to departments that suffer a loss. Eric assists with the State Response Team (L.A.S.T.) program when a line-of-duty death occurs. He serves as the Honor Guard coordinator and Assistant Stage Manager of the Production Team for the Annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend.
Eric holds an associate's degree in Electronics. He is a 25 year member and currently serves as Deputy Chief with the Cashtown Community Fire Department in Adams County, Pennsylvania where he resides with his wife and son.
Teresa Olsen is Director of the state-wide Child Abuse Education Program. She has been instrumental in helping to create child abuse education programs for primary care office staff, hospital personnel, school nurses and EMS providers in Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining the PA AAP, Ms. Olsen worked as a child protective services caseworker for 15 years in the areas of investigation, direct client service, foster care and community education. In addition to her education efforts, she is currently working on the creation of a PA Chapter of Prevent Child Abuse so that efforts can be made to stop child abuse before it ever occurs.