Speaker Biographies
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Pre-Conference Sessions
Mr. Cherry currently holds a position as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He was Director of Paramedic Training for over 15 years and is currently the Technical Director for Medical Simulation and coordinates a variety of other departmental educational projects.
Back to topCarol A. Cunningham, M.D., FACEP, FAAEM
Dr. Carol Cunningham is the State Medical Director for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of EMS. She is also the EMS Medical Director and an Emergency Physician at Lake Hospital System in Willoughby and Painesville, OH. In 2007, Dr. Cunningham was appointed as the Physician Representative to the National EMS Education Standards Implementation Team.
Back to topVirginia Duffy, Ph.D., RN, CS, NPP
Virginia Duffy is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and currently maintains a private practice of psychotherapy and medication management. She presents several presentations for EMS providers on how to deal with patients of various types of behavioral emergencies.
Back to topCraig Jacobus, D.C., NREMT-P, EMSI
Dr. Jacobus is the former director of Lifelink Medical Center- a unique multi-specialty clinic that combined the best of mainstream and alternative medicine. He has been involved in EMS since 1975. His motto’s, Motivate to educate and Educate to motivate along with How can you win if YOU don’t play?, continue to inspire his audiences to bring out the very best in themselves and those around them.
Back to topDr. Kupas is the Commonwealth EMS Medical Director for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of EMS. He has been an EMS practitioner in PA for the past 28 years.
Back to topLou E. Romig, M.D., FAAP, FACEP
Dr. Lou Romig has been an emergency physician at the Miami Children’s Hospital in Miami, FL as well as the EMS Liaison for the last 13 years. Dr. Romig’s special interest includes pre-hospital and disaster medicine. She is currently engaged in familiarizing her EMS colleagues with the JumpSTART system, a pediatric multiple casualty tool, she developed as a companion to the well-known START triage system for adults.
Back to top- Mike is the Program Chair for the Emergency Medical and Health Services programs at Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington as well as being the Lead Instructor for the Paramedic Education Program. Mike has been involved in EMS for over 36 years. He writes a monthly column called “Beyond the Books” for Emergency Medical Services magazine.
Back to topSteve has 30 years of experience as an EMT, paramedic, flight paramedic, EMS instructor, fire officer, and EMS administrator. Steve is a frequently sought-after speaker at regional, state and national conferences on a variety of EMS, fire service and public safety subjects. He is a contributing writer for the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) and The EMS Insider.
Back to topColin Whitmore was a member of the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad from February 2004 until May 2007. During that time he held the ranks of Vice President, President, and Lieutenant. As a Lieutenant he coordinated all aspects of training for the squad’s 40+ members. On April 16, 2007 Colin served as the EMS Commander for the tragic shootings on the Virginia Tech campus; coordinating the emergency medical response to Norris Hall. He has since completed college with a degree in Finance. Colin now works for ICF International, a consulting firm based out of Fairfax, VA, serving in the fields of Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Back to topDave is the Program Director for Managing Agricultural Emergencies in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. In this position, Davis led the development of the PAgricultural Rescue program, the Emergency First Aid Care for Farm Families program and the Farm Family Emergency Response program. Prior to this position, Davis was the Executive Director for FARMEDIC in New York for over 12 years where he led the development of that program.
Back to topEric is a part time instructor and program development assistant for the Managing Agricultural Emergencies program in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. In addition, Eric is recognized as a fire and rescue instructor by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy. Eric is currently the supervisor police dispatcher for the Wyomissing Police Department.
Back to topKaren is a fight nurse for Allegheny General Hospital Life Flight.
Back to topMichael is a NREMT-P with Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
Back to topRobert is a NREMT-P with Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
Back to topSandy is a RN with the West Penn Burn Center.
Back to topGerarda is a RN with Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
Back to topDr. Conover is a practicing emergency physician who is board certified in both internal and emergency medicine, practicing since 1987 at the Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh, a Level I Trauma/Burn center and tertiary-care teaching hospital. He is also part of the faculty for the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, training both medical students and residents in the University of Pittsburgh Affiliated Residency in Emergeny Medicine since 1987. Dr. Conover is a member and Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, active at both the state and national level.
Back to topEd is a Lietenant with the Mount Lebanon Fire Department in Pittsburgh, PA.
Back to topJ.R. has more than 30 years of experience as an EMS provider, administrator and firefighter. J.R. founded the consulting firm in 1982 and has provided consulting services and seminars to hundreds of EMS and Fire Department organizations, hospitals and municipalities, across the nation. J.R. currently serves as the Executive Director of Valley Ambulance Authority which serves 16 communities in the western suburbs of Pittsburgh. In addition to his administrative and consulting activities, J.R. is a Paramedic and Vehicle Rescue Technician. He is also a life member of the West View Volunteer Fire Department.
Back to topChris Dell has been actively involved in EMS for over 20 years. Starting as an EMT with his local VFC, he progressed to become a Paramedic, and onto management. Chris has managed both large and small, profit and non-profit EMS agencies. For the past seven years, Chris has been the Executive Director of Elizabeth Township Area EMS. Recognizing the importance of being active, Chris is a member of the EMSI Board of Directors, Chairperson of the Allegheny County EMS PI&E Committee, and Coordinator of The ACEMS Leadership Development Academy.
Back to topSteve has spent the last 27 years working many facets of Public Safety, including a 911 dispatcher, a volunteer, and career Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and Paramedic. He functioned as an in-house EMS expert with a leading insurer of Fire and EMS organizations, and worked on the defense of EMS organizations throughout the nation, in numerous high profile lawsuits. Since 1994 Steve has worked for the Emergency Health Services Federation, the regional EMS Council for South-central PA, and was named the Executive Director in 2003.
Back to topHolly has been a paramedic in the EHSF region since 1994 following graduation from St. Joseph's Paramedic Program in Lancaster. She functioned as a pre-hospital provider on a hospital based ALS unit for 5 years prior to joining the staff at the EHSF. Her duties at EHSF dealt with education and certification exam management for South Central PA. She also served as the National Registry Paramedic exam representative since 2001. She and Bryan were responsible for the training program development and deployment for the pilot BLS CPAP program in PA. In May of this year, Holly joined CentreLearn Solutions as their Client Services Manager.
Back to topBryan has been a prehospital provider since 1993. Bryan is currently the Executive Director / Chief of the Department for First Aid and Safety Patrol of Lebanon. First Aid and Safety Patrol is Lebanon County's largest Emergency Medical Services provider. First Aid and Safety Patrol provides all service levels and responds to approximately 18,000 calls a year. Bryan continues to volunteer with the Citizen's Fire Co. #1 of Palmyra and serves as the Lieutenant.
Back to topDr. Reihart is the Senior Vice President for the Lancaster Emergency Associates in Lancaster, PA. He is also an Emergency Room physician and the Regional Medical Director for the Emergency Health Services Federation. Dr. Reihart is Board certified through the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
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Craig S. Spector is the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and owner of CPR Heart Starters, Inc. located in Feasterville, PA. For the last ten (10) years this educationally based organization has been providing training primarily to Emergency Services Personnel including, police, fire, emergency management and emergency medical services. Over the recent years this dynamic and innovative corporation has expanded to encompass all facets of public service and industrial modalities. Craig takes pride in training the community not only “how emergencies happen, but also, accompanied with hands on “real” experience.