SOLUTION FOCUSED THINKING
From the moment a client retains CCG, we are targeted on their needs and focused on delivering a solution set that is customized to their specific issues, tailored to work within their unique operational and regulatory environment. CCG recognizes that each paramedicine service is different and functions with specific constraints and within certain boundaries. CCG also realizes the role government relations and oversight plays in the industry and the impact upon providers.
EXECUTIVE ADVISOR
Vincent D. Robbins, MSc, FACPE, LFACHE
Mr. Robbins has been involved in EMS inside the United States for more than 50 years, starting as a volunteer with his local ambulance service, becoming one of NJ’s first paramedics, designing EMS and medical transportation services for numerous entities, working as a regulator and managing the largest service in New Jersey. For thirty years, Mr. Robbins served as the President & Chief Executive Officer of MONOC, New Jersey’s single largest EMS and mobile healthcare & hospital cooperative. While leading MONOC, he grew the company fifteen-fold, dramatically expanding the wide range of services it provided, more than tripling the hospital members of the consortium and securing its financial stability, while providing cost saving shared services for its 25-member hospitals, throughout New Jersey.
FOUNDER President & Chief Executive Officer |
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System Design
Governing Board Relations
Strategic Planning
Executive Leadership
Business Administration
Operations Management
Finance & Reimbursement
Union Negotiations & Relations
EXECUTIVE ADVISOR
Brian K. LaCroix, BS, NRP (Ret), FACPE
CO-FOUNDER Vice President & Chief Operating Officer |
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Executive Officer Recruitment
Leadership Team Building
Physician Relations
Meeting Facilitation
Public Relations
Hospital Relations
Operations Management
Workforce Engagement
SENIOR ADVISOR
Mic Gunderson, NREMT (RET), FAEMS
Chief Strategy Officer |
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Quality Improvement
Time Sensitive Systems of Care
System Design / Assessment
Process Design
SENIOR ADVISOR
A.J. Heightman
A.J. is the Editor-Emeritus and former Editor-in Chief of JEMS (the Journal of Emergency Medical Services), In addition, he served as Special Projects Coordinator for JEMS, and EMS Today Conference Chairman for 26 years. A.J. also served as Vice President of Jems Communications, Director of the Emergency Care Information Center and Director of the JEMS Conference Division.
A.J. has 51 years of experience in EMS. In addition to serving as a Senior Advisor with the Cambridge Consulting Group, he is an EMS educator, author and consultant, an Adjunct Instructor of Clinical Research and Leadership at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and a member of the San Diego Fire Rescue Department Paramedic Academic Advisory Committee.
Prior to joining the staff of JEMS in 1995, A.J. served as the Director of Operations for Cetronia Ambulance in Allentown, PA (1992-1995).
For seventeen years (1975-1992), A.J. was the Executive Director of the Eastern Pennsylvania EMS Council and regional MEDCOM Advanced Medical Communications System, one of the most advanced multi-county EMS systems in the country, serving a population of 1.2 million residents. During A.J.’s tenure at Eastern PA EMS, over 11 million dollars in State, Federal and local funds were obtained to develop the EMS System.
A.J. also spent 20 years as a volunteer paramedic and command officer for Bethlehem Township Volunteer Fire Company (BTVFC), a combination volunteer/paid department that offered multi-jurisdictional BLS/ALS/Rescue service. While at BTVFC, A.J. developed and helped supervise the BTVFC “Medic 1” Paramedic Response System, which provided ALS service to eleven (11) service areas.
A.J. is a graduate of Temple University and received his master’s degree in public administration from Lehigh University. A certified EMS and rescue instructor, A.J. has served on the faculty of university EMS degree programs, training divisions and fire academies. A.J. is an internationally recognized expert in the field of disaster and Mass Casualty Incident Management.
Chief Development Officer |
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Emerging Technologies
Technical Writing
International Engagements
Medical Device Assessment
SENIOR ADVISOR
Jim Davis, RN, Ed.D
Jim Davis is the fire chief in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a Columbus native having worked for thirty years with the Columbus Division of Fire rising to the rank of Assistant Fire Chief of training and emergency medical services (EMS) and then Administration prior to his appointment in Fort Worth. He has over thirty years of experience in EMS as a paramedic with a combination of private and public experience. He is a registered nurse with a critical care background in ER, ICU, and toxicology at both the adult and pediatric level. In addition, Jim worked in the critical transport area as both a paramedic and registered nurse on both ground, rotor-wing, and fixed wing environments.
Jim previously sat on the Ohio State Board of Fire, Emergency, and Transportation Services where he was the chair for two years assisting navigate the consolidation of two separate boards overseeing EMS care and transport. Additionally, as a board member of the Central Ohio Trauma Systems (COTS) he participated in the regionalization approach to disaster and trauma care throughout a multiple county region.
Jim currently sits on the Board of the Tarrant County 9-1-1 System and MedStar Mobile Health Care which provides ambulance transportation in Fort Worth. He holds a Master’s degree from The Ohio State University in Business of Operational Excellence (MBOE) where he obtained his Six Sigma Black Belt. He completed his Doctorate in Organizational Learning at the University of Pennsylvania Chief Learning Officer Program (CLO Program) where his dissertation focused on the use of medical simulation to understand additional contributing factors involved in sentinel events in healthcare.
Fire-Based EMS
Helicopter EMS
Practitioner Education
Urban/Suburban Operations
SENIOR ADVISOR
Anne Montera, MHL, BSN, RN
Anne Montera received a Master’s Degree in Health Leadership from Western Governors University and a BSN from Bethel College. She has over 20 years of nursing experience in Public Health, Labor and Delivery, Patient Safety/Quality Improvement, and EMS coordination in urban and rural hospitals and community settings, including the use of telemedicine. In Ms. Montera’s previous role as the Senior VP of Quality for Ready Responders, she worked to research, develop, and implement quality matrix to demonstrate program cost savings and health impact. She was also the Executive Director for the Central Mountains RETAC, supporting a 6-county EMS and Trauma region in Colorado. She is the Co-Creator and Public Health Partner for the first National Community Paramedic Pilot Program in rural Eagle, CO. She received the State of Colorado EMS Region of the year in 2019 and Colorado Nightingale Luminary Award for Innovation work on the Colorado community paramedic program in 2011.
Board Memberships
- National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (NEMSAC) Appointed by the Secretary of Transportation United States, Washington, D.C., representing the Public Health and Nursing Sector, 2015 – 2017 and 2018 – current
- Vice-Chair 2015 – 2017 and 2018 – present
- Nominated by American Nurses Association to represent the 4 million nurses in the USA
- Authored and co-authored many advisories for the Federal EMS Partners to improve, enhance, and change Paramedicine in the country
- Authored the Annual Report in the role as the Vice-Chair
- President of Board – First Few Moments Not-for-Profit, 2013 – Current
- Advisory Board Member – EMS World, 2014 – Current
Community Paramedicine
Government Policy
Telemedicine
Patient Safety & Quality
Public Health
SENIOR ADVISOR
William McDonald, PhD, NRP, FACPE, CEMSO, CTO
Bill completed the New York State Certified Laboratory Instructor course and later completed the Certified Instructor Coordinator course. Bill was recently appointed as a member of the New York State EMS Education Regional Faculty and is a National Registry subject matter expert and exam representative.
In 2007 Bill went back to being a full-time paramedic in New Jersey while remaining per-diem in New York City. Bill worked in a variety of areas throughout New Jersey serving a diverse population. Bill became the Paramedic Program Educator for the joint Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC) and Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Paramedic Program where he also instructed all levels of AHA courses, including ACLS for the Experienced Provider, and coordinated all the NAEMT training center courses.
As a member of the JCMC leadership team, Bill was involved with the interview and hiring process among other ad-hoc committees. Bill provided paramedic refresher training and in-service sessions for staff and contributed to the New Jersey Association of Paramedic Programs unified National Registry transition program from NREMT to NRP. Bill was involved in EMS operations as needed, such as during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, where he served in various supervisory roles. Before his departure, Bill assisted in the reaccreditation of the paramedic program. Later, Bill was an Assistant Professor and coordinator of emergency management and fire protection for SUNY Empire State College for seven years.
Currently, Bill provides expert witness consulting services for medical malpractice cases, for either the plaintiff or defense, including document review, opinion report writing, and testimony at depositions and trials. To date, Bill has consulted on over 55 cases from 15 states and is a Certified Medical Professional Legal Consultant.
Bill holds a BPS in Emergency Management and Fire Protection, an MPA, a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration, and is currently enrolled in a Master’s of Legal Studies program. Bill has attended executive leadership programs at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and T.H. Chan School of Public Health as well as at Columbia University.
Bill is one of the first Fellows of the American College of Paramedic Executives, an IAEM Certified Emergency Manager, & holder of the National EMS Educator Certification. Bill is certified by the National Academy of Ambulance Compliance as a Document Specialist, Privacy Officer, Compliance Officer, & Coder and is a Six Sigma Blackbelt. Bill has also been awarded the Chief EMS Officer (CEMSO) and Chief Training Officer (CTO) credentials by the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
Expert EMS Witness
EMS Malpractice Review
EMS Medical/Legal
EMS Education Design
SENIOR ADVISOR
Walt Stoy, PhD, EMT-P
Walt’s accomplishments in his early years in the School of Medicine include the creation of the fourth year Elective in Emergency Medicine as well as classes for third year and first year medical students. He oversaw numerous continuing educational programs for all levels of healthcare providers. His primary goal was the creation of paramedic education at CEM. The first class started at CEM in 1982.
Walt assisted with the creation of STAT MEDEVAC and worked part-time as a flight paramedic for 12 years (84-96). His prior efforts as a paramedic date back to 1975 working initially for two funeral home-based EMS systems prior to joining the City of Pittsburgh EMS bureau in 1977 through 1981.
Upon the completion of his doctoral degree, he was sought by U.S. DOT-NHTSA to serve as the Principal Investigator over the EMT-B national standard curricula revision project. Following that successful undertaking, he was contracted to direct the revisions to the First Responder, EMT-Intermediate and Paramedic curricula projects.
In the later part of the 1990’s his efforts saw the implementation of the nation’s first and only Emergency Medicine undergraduate degree at SHRS. Although there are other programs similar in nature, PITT has the only BS degree in Emergency Medicine.
During this same time frame, Walt was finding likeminded colleagues to create the National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE). This organization has thousands of members across the nation that are engaged in the education of EMS personnel.
He has a rich history of involvement internationally in the Middle East and directed one of the projects with UPMC International. A contract was in place for several years in Qatar to enhance emergency medicine aspects including EMS, emergency medicine as well as a trauma system.
At the request of the former Dean of SHRS, Walt was asked to oversee the creation a Physician Assistant Studies Program. The process started in 2008 and by January 2010 the first class of 22 students were seated.
Over the many decades, Walt worked with various individuals and organization to create instructional materials. Over 80 publications that included videos, textbooks, workbooks, textbook chapters, and instructional texts have been created to enhance the EMS domain.
Walt continues to serve as a site visitor and reader for Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions (CoAEMSP). His efforts with this organization assist in ensuring the integrity of EMS educational facilities across the country.
Walt will continue to teach in the EM program in the fall and spring terms. The Cognitive Psychology of Clinical Decision Making is team taught with Dr. Paul Paris.
EMS & EM Education
EMS Operations
Federal DOJ Expert Witness
Pandemic Response
Medical Ethics
Technical Assessment EMS Systems
SENIOR ADVISOR
Chuck O'Neal, MBA
Mr. O’Neal focuses many of his professional efforts in research and development of EMS leaders and managers, strategic planning, EMS operations accountability, and fiscal management of EMS systems. Mr. O’Neal has extensive experience that includes service in EMS regulatory leadership in state government, leadership roles in the ground ambulance and air medical environment, leading national accreditation process preparation through the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS), and management turnarounds in both public and private EMS systems.
Chuck is a Past-President of the Kentucky Chapter of the Association of Air Medical Services, was appointed as board member for the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services, as well as to the Kentucky Community & Technical College System Board of Regents. Mr. O’Neal currently maintains an appointment to the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (NEMSAC), membership with the National EMS Management Association (NEMSMA), International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO), and the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).
Government Regulations
Regulatory Standards
Pandemic Response
Emergency Management
CAMTS Accreditation Preparation
EMS Preparedness
SENIOR ADVISOR
David Shotwell, Esq.
For several years, Dave combined his expertise in both disciplines serving as the Corporate Compliance Officer and Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) Coordinator with the Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) before accepting the corporate counsel role a few years later. In addition to certificates in Healthcare Corporate Compliance from George Washington University, and Labor Negotiation from Cornell University, he maintains certifications from the National Academy of Ambulance Coders in billing coding, compliance and privacy.
David remains active in the volunteer fire service, serving with a local engine company and as the part time clerk/administrator for a local fire district. He continues to qualify annually to lifeguard on the beach where his career began.
Medical-Legal Issues
HIPAA Compliance
CMS Compliance
CAAS/CAMTS Accreditation
Billing Compliance
SENIOR ADVISOR
Lillian Bonsignore, EMT-P
After being promoted to Captain in 2010, she served as Station Commander of two EMS Stations in Brooklyn and was promoted to Deputy Chief in the EMS Academy, in 2013.
She was appointed Chief of EMS Academy at Fort Totten in 2016, where she was responsible for the continuing education and EMS recertification of nearly 13,000 members of the FDNY. In addition, Chief Bonsignore was responsible for all FDNY EMS Officer training and commanded the FDNY EMS Probationary School.
Chief Bonsignore graduated from the FDNY Fire Officers Management Institute (FOMI) and completed several leadership programs including the Naval Post Graduate School-Executive Leadership program, FDNY Officer’s Management Institute, FDNY/USMA Counterterrorism Leadership- Combating Terrorism, TEEX –EMS Operations and Planning for Weapons of Mass Destruction and multiple National Incident Management systems courses.
Assigned to the four-star post as Chief of EMS in May 2019, Bonsignore led the city’s 4,640 EMS members during the COVID pandemic, unrest over the murder of George Floyd and the death of EMS Lt. Alison Russo, who was viciously stabbed while on duty outside her Queens EMS station.
During her tenure, Bonsignore spearheaded efforts to improve communications and technology for rank-and-file first responders. She also cleared the way for city ambulances to be equipped with motorized power stretchers that can self-lift and lower. She is also credited with making structural changes to the EMS hierarchy and increasing the number of chiefs to modernize the division’s organizational structure.
EMS Operations
Executive Leadership
EMS Education
Training Program Design
EMS Curriculum Development
SENIOR ADVISOR
Paul Satterlee, MD
Dr. Satterlee spent the first part of his EM/EMS career in Minneapolis and St. Paul working with multiple different EMS agencies. His first position was with a large healthcare-based EMS system that provided ground and air services to urban, suburban and rural parts of Minnesota.
During that experience, his focus was scene response and national disaster medical response as well has provider education. He was the medical director for the Century College Paramedic education program and supported them through multiple accreditation visits while the program was a local leader in paramedic training.
Later, he became more involved in the state and local regulatory bodies that guide EMS in the communities with which he worked. This included participation in national state medical director meetings, state EMS data management and acquisition as well as work with the states complain review committee for EMS providers.
This led to a change in focus from on scene care to quality assurance, best practice implementation and provider instruction. He worked with a large healthcare-based EMS service as they implemented programs in community paramedicine, critical care transport and neonatal transport. He provided much of the education and interacted with the healthcare systems to support the role of the various programs throughout the region.
Throughout his time in Minnesota, Dr. Satterlee worked with a variety of EMS services. This included healthcare-based EMS with interfacility transfers as well as 911 response. It included fire department-based EMS that provided care in rural areas as well as the department that provided care in the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. This provided an opportunity to experience multiple ways to provide care in various out of hospital settings. It allowed him to develop a breadth of knowledge and experience in various versions of EMS care. This experience allows him to anticipate challenges and obstacles to providing optimal prehospital care.
Dr. Satterlee also has extensive experience with EMS dispatch. He was part of an organization that had its own secondary PSAP providing prearrival instructions for multiple ems agencies. He worked with and taught dispatchers to better understand the nuances of providing prearrival instructions successfully while working with laypersons over the phone.
Dr. Satterlee has worked with hospital systems to establish and fine tune interfacility transport systems so that the interests of all parties can be aligned. This includes building a critical care transport program de novo in a large urban setting as well as providing education and guidance to the providers. He has also worked extensively within the hospital systems to build and monitor interfacility transport programs for newly developed free-standing emergency departments. These programs can require coordination, understanding and agreement between hospital systems, community-based EMS services and care providers who are part of the community. He has also been part of the development of a hospital ems based community paramedic program with emphasis on education of chronic disease monitoring and management.
After recently relocating to Western Washington, Dr. Satterlee continues to work with EMS and healthcare systems to ensure optimal prehospital care is provided based on quality assessment, progressive minded education and collaboration among the communities he works with.
Medical Treatment Protocols
System Medical Direction
Medical Command
ED Relations
Practitioner Oversight
SENIOR ADVISOR
Mark Merlin, DO
Dr. Mark A. Merlin is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Vice-Chairman, Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center/RWJBarnabas Health. He has over 35 years’ experience in EMS as a volunteer first aider, paramedic and EMS Physician. Dr Merlin is currently the CEO of MD1 which is a fifty member nonprofit dedicated to advancing prehospital care. Dr. Merlin has been involved overseeing prehospital physician response since 2002. For MD1, manages teams participating in event medicine, tactical response, flight medicine (both rotary and fixed wing) and ground field response. Dr. Merlin is the founder of MD1 and Board Chairman. At MD1, Dr. Merlin has created numerous revenue streams and developed relationships between the business and EMS community to develop support for numerous programs. He has developed EMS grant and community support and public awareness via social media and community engagement.
Dr Merlin has published over 75 peer reviewed publications and abstracts and has obtained grant dollars (including NIH) over 1.5 million. He has presented nationally and internationally in multiple areas of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medical Services, physician field response, EMS Operations and medical care. His research has been highlighted in the NY Times, JEMS, EMSWorld, multiple PODcasts and meetings for various specialties. Additionally, he is a frequent commentator on Fox, CBS and NBC on multiple EMS and Emergency Medicine Topics.
He founded three EMS Fellowships including the NJ EMS fellows which became the largest one in the U.S. consisting of nine EMS fellows and generating 23 publications and abstracts. He has worked with C-Suite personnel in numerous hospitals to build relationships to promote concepts of EMS and the importance of financial support and community outreaches.
Dr. Merlin is the Medical Director of Medway Air Ambulance providing fixed wing medical care to 250 patients each month. He is actively engaged with fixed wing protocols and has provided consultation with multiple companies through the accreditation process. He has developed numerous protocols for AirMedical and maintains daily oversight of critical patients being transferred around the world. He has coordinated review articles on topics of AirMedical Transport.
Previous he held positions as the active medical director of both state police rotary and private rotary system.
Currently, Dr Merlin is the Chair of the NJ EMS Council for the NJ Department of Health. He still responds on 911 requests as an EMS Physician and provides training on advanced prehospital procedures including TEE, REBOA, and Field Amputation and best EMS medical practices. He routinely provides consultation on physician field response and fixed wing best practices. Dr Merlin has been involved as a consultant for multiple major legal and intellectual property cases involving EMS and Emergency Medicine.
Previously, Dr Merlin was the Chief Medical Officer of MONOC EMS overseeing an educational budget of 1.4 million with 800 paramedics and EMTs. He has provided medical direction and Chief Medical Officer services to multiple organizations for the past twenty years. Additionally, Dr Merlin has been a board member for multiple medical related start-ups and organizations including the American Heart Association. He has provided consultation to companies through the 510K approval process for medical devices.
System Medical Oversight
In-Field Physician Response
Large Event & Tactical EMS
SENIOR ADVISOR
Charles Foat, PhD, NRP, FAEMS
His journey in EMS spans over three decades, beginning with his service as a Hospital Corpsman and Field Medical Service Medical Technician with the U.S. Navy. He is a Nationally Registered Paramedic, as well as EMS Instructor showcasing his dual proficiency in both practical and instructional aspects of emergency medical services. Dr. Foat’s career has seen him in varied roles, from a field paramedic, educator, Clinical Manager, Regional Director, Professor, and Program Director, across several states, including California, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, and Kansas.
Dr. Foat’s contributions to EMS education are profound. He has taught a wide range of EMS courses, from entry-level to advanced paramedic classes, and has provided education to medical professionals at all levels, including physicians and nurses. His international teaching experiences further underscore his commitment to global EMS education.
As a visionary in EMS education, Dr. Foat has led numerous research projects; he is also a Section Editor and peer reviewer for the International Journal of Paramedicine, contributing significantly to the body of EMS knowledge. His commitment to the EMS community extends beyond education and research. Dr. Foat is an active member of several professional organizations, including the National Association of EMS Physicians, the National EMS Management Association, and others. As a Fellow of the Academy of EMS (FAEMS), Dr. Foat has been recognized for his significant contributions to the National Association of EMS Physicians, the EMS profession, and the advancement of EMS as a vital subspecialty.
Dr. Foat’s dedication to creating an engaging, student-centered learning environment, coupled with his focus on evidence-based instruction, positions him as a pioneer in EMS education. His efforts not only prepare his students for successful careers but also ensure the advancement of EMS practices through his comprehensive and forward-thinking approach.
EMS & EM Education
EMS Expert Witness
EMS Educator Training
Instructional Design
EMS Research
CAAHEP Accreditation Preparation (CoAEMSP)
SENIOR ADVISOR
Bill Atkinson
Academically, I also hold a Master of Public Health and, from a different university, a Master of Public Administration. I went down both the paths because I believe the strongest healthcare systems, physician groups and hospital networks have one foot in the public sector and the other in the private sector. Basically, with the thought that service excellence is dependent on exceptional performance across the entire spectrum of involved parties – from academics to clinical training programs; public and private hospitals; multi-regional health systems; every category of EMS ground, air and – where applicable – sea services; cutting edge technology with a solid appreciation for the science which drives innovation, and – to cut the list short – a belief that healthcare has to be for “everyone, everywhere” to truly serve in the modern era of population health.
Proudly, I have spent many years helping teach and guide healthcare, medical and administrative students, as well as working closely across wide swaths of the public and private sectors through outreach, cooperation, interchange, funding innovation and setting high standards.
In EMS I have the privilege of having been in North Carolina’s first round of EMTs and, immediately thereafter, in North Carolina’s very first Mobile Intensive Care Technician – Paramedic program. At the time I was in the Paramedic program, I also was an undergraduate student at UNC-Greensboro (graduating in 3 vs 4 years) and working actively with Guilford County EMS. We were among the first National Registry medics in the nation, as our director was then the now late Jim Finison, who was one of the National Registry’s early chairmen. Also, when I started my undergraduate education at UNC-G, North Carolina had just hired a fire chief from LA County (CA) Fire to be NC’s first State Chief of he newly formed state Office of EMS (OEMS). That new chief was James O. Page, who became my early mentor and remained a close guide and friend until the time of his death. I was one of two Page family invited speakers at Jim’s funeral in LA County.
Via Jim Page, I became close friends with AJ Heightman and also close to JEMS & EMS Today.
My doctoral dissertation was on public policy, innovation, leadership and EMS. Jim Page’s career and leadership story was a major part of that early discussion. During one of a number of trip on my part to California to visit with Jim, he made the decision to purchase the old Paramedics International, which quickly became JEMS. From the beginning and still today, I have served on the JEMS advisor board.
Since 1976, I have held full paramedic certification and intend to do so until my last breath! Basically, EMS is important and has always – even when I was leading major hospitals & healthcare systems – a central theme in my solid focus. During those times, one of the systems I started (New Hanover Regional EMS, Wilmington, NC) was named the national EMS of the year. Likewise, our start from scratch air ambulance (rotor) system was a few years later named US aeromedical system of the year. This system was also one of the nation’s early community paramedic programs. We were also an early system entry to surf rescue, as Wilmington/New hover County is on the direct Atlantic Ocean coast.
Hospital Based EMS
Government Policy
EMS Advocacy
Hospital Relations
SENIOR ADVISOR
Ashok Subramanian, MD
Dr. Subramanian is the CEO and CMO of CarePortMD, a Delaware-based company focused on empowering patients with better access to affordable, coordinated health care. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Detroit Receiving Hospital, serving as chief resident in 1999, where he was a two-time recipient of the Academic Achievement Award and Outstanding Medical Student Teacher of the Year. He spent the next year as a fellow in the NIH-funded lab of Blaine C. White, MD studying the molecular pathology of brain injury following cardiac arrest and reperfusion.
While doing basic research, he developed an interest in 3D animation and began to appreciate its utility in helping explain complex biomedical concepts to doctors, patients and investors. Dr. Subramanian was an early advocate of the Internet as a medium to facilitate curation and controlled distribution of information to improve efficiency in health care delivery and research, being one of the first to publish these concepts in the Emergency Medicine literature in the mid 1990s. This confluence of interests led him to his first startup, Animedix, which over the next 8 years provided medical animations and interactive programming for many of the largest pharmaceutical companies as well as biotech companies navigating clinical trials. Over years of observing first-hand the progressive deterioration of the healthcare system he recognized that the most glaring malfunction was a departure of focus from the two most important components of healthcare- patients and doctors. This realization, combined with years of accumulated experience in acute care, pharmaceutical development and Health IT were catalysts for him founding CarePortMD, a company focused on leveraging telemedicine with a proprietary logistics platform to improve access for people to lower cost, better-coordinated health care. CarePortMD has over 30 care access locations that span the State of Delaware. Born and raised in Wilmington, DE, Dr. Subramanian now lives in Landenberg, PA with his wife, Terra and their 6 children and a cantankerous Siberian Husky named Loki.
Medical Treatment Protocols
Medical Direction
Tele EMS Medicine
Urgent Care Centers
SENIOR ADVISOR
Amy C. Mauro, Esq.
Amy C. Mauro, Esq. is an accomplished attorney and transformative leader who has worked on critical policy issues and strategic organization change for over 25 years, in both local and federal agencies and in three branches of government.
She is a results-oriented manager and problem-solver known for her depth of knowledge on policy, legal, agency operations, and budget issues. She has vast executive, legal, legislative, public safety and criminal justice experience from her time as General Counsel and Chief of Staff at the DC Office of Risk Management (DCORM), as well as her time as a staff member in the Office of the City Administrator, DC US Attorney’s Office and DC Council.
In 2015, Ms. Mauro was appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser as Chief of Staff for the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, during a time of significant challenges within the Department. She worked with retired Chief Gregory M. Dean and current Chief John A. Donnelly, Sr., and their executive leadership teams, to drive strategic budget investment, cultural and organizational change, and data-driven service improvements. The Department’s reforms and innovations, particularly in the area of EMS, have received national recognition and emulation. In her role as Chief of Staff, Ms. Mauro directly supervised Department’s media and community relations, labor relations, office of the general counsel, budget, performance and data analysis, and EEO and diversity offices.
Ms. Mauro is a Washington, DC native and lives on Capitol Hill with her husband and two children.
Legislative Advocacy
Governmental Relations
Organizational Transformation
Cultural Change
Public Safety Expertise
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Matt Zavadsky, MS-HSA
He has 41 years’ experience in EMS and holds a Master’s Degree in Health Service Administration with a Graduate Certificate in Health Care Data Management. Matt is a frequent speaker at national conferences and has done consulting in numerous EMS issues, specializing in high performance EMS system operations, alternate payment models for EMS, mobile integrated healthcare, public/media relations, public policy, costing strategies and EMS research.
Matt has helped guide the development and implementation of several innovative programs with healthcare partners that have transformed MedStar fully as a Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) provider, including high utilizer, CHF readmission reduction, observational admission reduction, hospice revocation avoidance, 9-1-1 nurse triage programs and partnerships with home health agencies. He is also the co-author of the book “Mobile Integrated Healthcare – Approach to Implementation” published by Jones and Bartlett Publishing.
Matt is also President of the National Association of EMTs and chairs their EMS Transformation Committee. He is 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.
Community Paramedicine
Public & Media Relations
EMS Operations
Mobile Integrated Healthcare
Payer Relations
Reimbursement
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
John Todaro, BA, NRP, RN, TNS, NCEE, CHSE, CHSOS
EMS Education
EMS Simulation Training
EMS Quality Improvement
Education Conference Planning
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Jeff Behm, MBA, FACPE
EMS Operations
Inter-facility Medical Transport
Helicopter Medical Transport
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Ray Barishansky
His most recent position was as the Deputy Secretary for Health Preparedness and Community Protection at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, a role he recently left after several years. Prior to this position, he served as the Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) at the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
Mr. Barishansky holds an earned doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) from the Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University. In addition, Mr. Barishansky holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Touro College, a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Management from New York Medical College and a Master of Science degree in Homeland Security Studies at Long Island University.
Governmental Relations
EMS/Public Health Interface
Strategic Planning
EMS Regulation
EMS Legislation
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Hilary Gates, MAEd, NRP
Hilary began life as a high school English and journalism teacher, and after hearing some of her students tell stories about volunteering in EMS, she agreed to go on a ridealong. The rest is history. She is proud of her career that began as a volunteer with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Montgomery County, MD, then as a paramedic, EMT instructor and FTO at AFD. Hilary implemented AFD’s MIH/CP program in 2017. She then served as senior editorial and program director for EMS World for 3 and 1/2 years.
She now commits her time and energy to innovating in the EMS space, while finding time to ride her bike often, ski as fast as she can downhill, travel to foreign lands and dream of becoming a surfing instructor and/or seaplane pilot. Hilary lives with her husband in the D.C. area.
EMS Education
Curriculum Writing
Community Paramedicine
Media Relations
Conference Planning
Meeting Facilitation
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Tom Bouthillet, NREMT-P
Currently, he is a member of NREMT’s Continued Competency Agenda Steering Committee, NEMSMA’s EMS Quality Improvement Committee, and NENA’s Telecommunicator CPR Working Group. He is also a member of Editorial Advisory Board for EMS World and a Content Reviewer for the British Paramedic Journal.
Previously, he was a member of NHTSA’s High Performance CPR Working Group, Director of the South Carolina Resuscitation Academy, Co-Producer of the Code STEMI Web Series, Content Expert for the 12-Lead ECG Challenge smartphone app, and Editor of EMS12Lead.com.
Tom is interested in process improvement, system performance, human factors, crew resource management, and evidence-based performance measures for time-sensitive diagnoses.
Fire-Based EMS
Quality Improvement
EMS Operations
High-Performance CPR
EMS Operations
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
James Tanis, MD
Florida. His EMS experience spans over 2 decades in pre-hospital and emergent medical
care. Starting out at the bottom he has clawed his way to the top, graduating from the largest,
most intense EMS fellowship training program in the world. He has previously held educational,
operational and supervisory roles in EMS systems both large and small. Known both for
teaching as well as doing patient care and rescue operations.
Dr. Tanis joined his small, home town, first aid squad as a teenager after high school, running calls and
how people live and survive. Some days were very refreshing and satisfying, others can temper
your soul so you can live to fight another day.
Few people in the world know what it takes to be a first responder, to go to the place
everyone else is running from. His leadership style is built on the fact that a leader should lead
from the front and never ask someone to do something he won’t or can’t do himself. To go
under a train to find a struck pedestrian, up a ladder for a seizing construction worker,
underwater in a dark lagoon to find a child, into a burning building to pick up a fallen brother,
search the woods to find a missing person, follow a tactical team into a hot zone, wear a
hazmat suit to treat a contaminated patient, wait in a triage station as the towers fell, plan out a
response to a mass shooting, bring a critically ill patient home from another land, or tell a family
that their loved one died and won’t be home tonight. To be an effective leader one must lead
from the front and know what you ask is worth the effort. Dr. Tanis has been there and done
these things and many more; his knowledge, training and experiences have molded him into an
effective leader, mentor, educator, author and provider few can compete with.
Currently he is working as an Emergency Medicine Physician in all of the Central Florida
Advent Health Emergency Departments with FEP of TeamHealth; Associate EMS Medical
Director of Advent Health Orlando EMS and Flight-1; EMS Physician for MD1 and Cambridge
Consulting Group, Medical Director for AER Consulting Services, Flight Physician for Medway
Air Ambulance, and Telemedicine Physician for TalkDocGo and Signify Health.
In-field Physician Response
EMS Physician
Medical Director
Air Medical Director
Medical Treatment Protocols
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Dr. Kelly Bouthillet
During her tenure as program coordinator and clinical supervisor for the adult-gerontology acute care NP program at Armstrong Atlantic University/Georgia Southern University from 2012 to 2019, Dr. Bouthillet left a profound impact. Her involvement extends as an adjunct nursing faculty member at the University of South Carolina, Beaufort.
Her collaboration with Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue underscores her commitment to enhancing care delivery. Dr. Bouthillet has actively championed initiatives involving health assessment, resuscitation, geriatric care, and community education on vital topics like hands-only CPR, AED utilization, and stop the bleed techniques. The challenges posed by the pandemic saw her assuming a dual role as NP/CNS with the Town of Hilton Head Island, offering essential medical support to Fire Rescue staff, contributing to the COVID-19 management team, facilitating care coordination across EMS, hospitals, and the community, and participating in the advancement of clinical quality initiatives.
Dr. Kelly Bouthillet is devoted to patient well-being and an unyielding commitment to advancing the field of healthcare. Her profound impact continues to resonate through her collaborative endeavors, educational contributions, and resolute efforts to elevate the standards of care.
Emergency Care and Services
Advocacy & Policy
Care Coordination
Quality & Patient Safety
Evidence-based practice & Research
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Michael Gerber, NRP, MPH
Prior to joining Health Affairs, Michael was a senior consultant with RedFlash Group, a national strategic communications consulting firm serving public safety. In that role, he created strategic communication plans and developed and implemented content strategies for clients in the public and private sectors. He also helped facilitate and served as the lead writer for EMS Agenda 2050, a federally funded initiative to bring the national EMS community together to create a vision for the future of EMS in the United States, and several other national EMS initiatives.
Previously, Michael served nine years with the Alexandria Fire Department in northern Virginia as a paramedic and EMS supervisor. He held many roles in the department, including quality improvement coordinator, public information officer, and continuing education coordinator, and also served on the board of the Northern Virginia EMS Council. During his time with the department, he was tapped by agency leaders to work on several task forces, including an EMS strategic planning committee, and represented the department on interagency, community and hospital committees.
In addition to his EMS career, Michael has written features, news stories and essays for several publications, including the Washington Post and Bethesda Magazine. He worked as a journalist on Capitol Hill, covering the 9/11 terrorist attacks, subsequent anthrax attacks, and Congress and the lobbying industry.
Michael received his Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology from the George Washington University in 2013, where his studies included health preparedness. He holds a bachelor’s in the history of science and medicine from Yale University.
EMS Journalist
Strategic Communication
Emergency Preparedness
Meeting Facilitator
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Susan Long, MA
Results oriented leader with over thirty years of Emergency Medical Services experience in operations, education and regulation, including narcotics controls and diversion mitigation. Certified Ambulance Compliance Officer with experience with ambulance billing and compliance mitigation.
Business Administration
Operations Management
Regulatory Compliance
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Peter Fiokas
Peter Fiackos is an ALS EMS clinician and educator with over 38 years of experience in emergency services. His broad scope of experience covers time with volunteer, paid/career, and private sector organizations. Further, he brings a far-reaching professional background that extends beyond education to include firefighting, rescue, dive/swift water rescue, management, working with national education accreditation entities, program and instructor evaluation, and instructional consultant to military emergency services.
Pete started in EMS as a volunteer firefighter/EMT in 1982 while in high school. As a volunteer, he continued to train, becoming a Maryland Cardiac Rescue Technician (ALS provider) by 1987.
Peter’s career (paid) experience began when the Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. hired him in 1989. As an employee, Pete worked and trained to improve his skills as a responder, becoming a paramedic in 1991, and eventually reaching the rank of Captain within the department as his management and leadership skills grew.
While working in Montgomery County, Pete spent many hours at the department’s training academy, first as a student and eventually as an instructor. Beyond spending countless hours as a classroom instructor, Pete spent his last two years with the department running the county’s EMT education program at the academy prior to his retirement.
Following retirement, Pete began working for the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) as the EMS Education Manager for the state. In this role, he has provided regulatory oversight and advice to every EMS education program within Maryland. Pete also developed the agency’s learning management system, producing and supporting countless online courses to bring training to the entire statewide EMS audience.
Pete left his state job for 18 months beginning in the fall of 2014 to accept a position as an instructional designer, consultant, and educator for a military contractor. This provided a strong opportunity for Pete to expand his depth and breadth of experience to include working with the law enforcement, emergency management, fire protection, and EMS communities within the U.S. military. When the mission was complete, however, Pete felt drawn to return to his position as the EMS Education Manager at MIEMSS.
Peter is an experienced educator and instructional designer and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Instructional Design and Technology for Walden University. Additionally, he is a certified instructor and instructor evaluator through the Maryland Instructor Certification Review Board. He has participated in countless CoAEMSP Paramedic Site Visits across Maryland and serves as an exam coordinator for both MEMSS and the National Registry of EMTs.
Pete lives with his wife, Charlene, in their now empty nest in Baltimore County, Maryland. With the four children grown and on their own, the Fiackos’ like to spend time with their “cat” children and traveling in the Caribbean whenever possible.
EMS Education
EMS Instructor Training
Scope of Practice
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Joe Acciavatti, NREMT-P, BSN
In 2001 Joe entered a leadership position with Monmouth Ocean Shores Hospital Service Corporation, more commonly known as MONOC, as the Clinical Coordinator for the paramedics. The responsibilities included clinical management over 100 paramedics and mobile intensive care nurses while ensuring all providers remained properly credentialed. As Clinical Coordinator, Joe was responsible for monthly clinical meetings with a panel of 13 physicians where case reviews occurred, and benchmarks to measure compliance was established to ensure the highest quality of care was being delivered. The delivery of high-quality care and achieving superior benchmarks were of significant importance to Joe which resulted in him becoming a paramedic educator for Ocean County College. He was quickly promoted from educator at the program to a leadership title of coordinator where he reshaped the program. Under the leadership of him, the program boasted a 100% success rate of all candidates who were endorsed to take the National Registry of EMT’s and Paramedics exam.
In 2004 Joe moved from clinical leadership to operational leadership and was tasked with reorganizing five individual companies into a unified organization. The process of reorganization opened numerous process improvement potentials which were achieved by leading a collaborative change process. The dissimilar management teams were brought together to discuss all processes each company used and to identify best practices from each company. The practice of streamlining all processes into a best practice model allowed for an appreciable management-labor hour savings which allowed managers to focus attention on other key projects. The identification of staffing versus demand mismatch was identified which was demonstrating a loss of revenue and delivery of sub-par service. Under Joe’s leadership, an extensive evaluation of historical demand was studied while also having an eye towards identifying anomalies. The staffing hours had been realigned to match demand which resulted in increased client services availability as well as a reduction in unit staffing hours which drove improved revenue recovery.
Operational performance was a key discipline under Joe’s leadership so that optimum performance would occur that drove fiscal responsibility. Collaborative teams were formulated that included operations, communications, clinical, fleet services, and finance so that all aspects of the organization were represented. Patient care records were identified as a performance inhibitor which resulted in the transition from paper charting to electronic medical record process. Key performance metrics were identified, and a daily tracking tool was developed that ensured accurate reporting. Weekly Joe hosted a collaborative meeting with all departments within the organization where all key metrics reported on, problematic issues that occurred, and process improvement strategies were developed. When areas of concern were identified a process change would be introduced with continued monitoring and reporting of the issue at the weekly meeting.
In 2005 Joe was recruited as a site reviewer for the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS). Ultimately Joe attained the title of Team Leader with CAAS and is responsible for the deployment and management of field site review teams. Since beginning with CAAS, he has completed over 100 site review inspections of the nation’s premier mobile health services and ensuring compliance with the standards of CAAS. CAAS has developed a standards revision committee that Joe is a participant of so that his expertise shapes the nation’s standards.
In 2013 Joe’s leadership team in his operational responsibilities was determined to have attained superior performance which allowed his focus to be shifted to the communications sector of the organization. The move to communications was predicated on his leadership capabilities and his strong technology background. The communication center was a secondary public safety answering point with two 911 trunk circuits managing a total of 12 911 lines. The communication center was configured with 15 stations which were upgraded to facilitate radio and phone communications. Operational resilience was the cornerstone of Joe’s leadership approach so that service will be unencumbered in the face of any natural or manmade disaster. The communication center hosted 18 emergency/administrative lines that were transitioned from POTS to VOIP to ensure operational continuity in and out of the building.
Management of numerous two-way radio systems was managed under Joe’s direction. The communication center maintained two VHF simplex systems, two UHF multicast systems, one UHF simulcast system, and one digital mobile radio UHF system. The communication center also maintained six additional local resource radio channels that utilized either a rooftop antenna or remote tie lines using RTNA circuits or IP circuits. The original desktop interface was a Ztron console that was upgraded successfully to a Telex interface offering greater redundancy and ease of use for the users. Redundancy was a crucial process required to maintain operational efficiency and all technology was improved to incorporate secondary processes. To provide high-quality service to the field staff and operational management radio channels were cross patched with a ROIP service to further increase operational resiliency.
Joe’s understanding of technology afforded great progress in the delivery of service, but his greatest passion was the training of staff which supported his belief that educated staff provides superior service. An education committee was formulated with the vision of markedly improving all communication specialists to the highest level. The education committee provided annual updates to polices based on operational input and entered into daily, monthly, and annual training. The ability to ensure operational resilience was tested weekly in both announced and unannounced drills where various components became compromised or the center’s structural integrity was compromised. The agency originally provided medical call screening using the state protocols until transitioning to the International Academy of Emergency Dispatchers (IAED) protocols. The educational processes that were put in place, along with real-time coaching and daily shift briefings allowed staff to flourish. The staff of the communications center endeavored to prove their commitment to excellence by pursuing, and ultimately earning the coveted title of Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) awarded to only top performers from the IAED.
In 2019 the Specialty Care Transport (SCT) division was placed under the leadership of Joe in addition to his responsibilities within the communications division and deployment management. Process improvements were put in place following surveys of SCT staff that identified equipment and training issues that were hampering division performance. The fleet of SCT vehicles was systematically evaluated for mechanical soundness and improvements were implemented for ease of caregiver equipment storage. Medications and products that expire were evaluated for the frequency of use and a process was developed to reduce the needless waste of items resulting in cost savings without impinging on care. Leadership and staff worked collaboratively to understand the under appreciated costs of operations and implemented cost-saving measures which were driven by staff leaders to save money. Flexible scheduling models were implemented which increased staffing satisfaction while also improving coverage against a fluctuating demand. Education of staff was again the cornerstone of Joe’s leadership approach which resulted in SCT staff rotating monthly to a university-level CVICU and an operating room for primary care responsibilities to ensure clinical proficiency.Name & Bio
Dispatch Centers
Transfer Centers
Specialty Care Transport
Operations Management
Urban Operations
CAAS Accreditation Preparation
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Kenneth Kuebler
Ken Kuebler is a Deputy Chief of Police in Columbus, Ohio. He has twenty six years of progressive service in the Division, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief in 2012. He currently leads the Division’s Special Operations Subdivision where he oversees 911 communications, large event planning, the emergency operations center and specialty units including SWAT, K9, traffic and aviation. He has substantial large event command and planning experience to include one the Midwest’s largest annual fireworks displays, collegiate and professional sports, marathons and the nation’s largest multi-sports festival, attracting over 200,000 visitors and athletes annually. Throughout his career, Ken has managed large organizational projects and innovative programs that have promoted community safety. Among his most important contributions to community safety in Columbus, he partnered with the Columbus Division of Fire and other community partners to develop coordinated addiction response teams which have become a model for many other cities. Additionally, he is credited with developing the Division’s naloxone response protocols and policy.
Ken has a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from The Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Communications and Strategic Leadership from Johns Hopkins University. He travels nationally as an instructor for the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) headquartered at The University of Southern Mississippi, and he is one of only eighty Certified Sport Security Professionals (CSSP) worldwide. He has been a featured presenter at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ohio Attorney General’s law enforcement conferences.
Ken is currently the law enforcement board representative on the Central Ohio Trauma Systems (COTS) Coalition Advisory Board. Additionally, he currently serves as a member of both the Franklin County and Ohio Homeland Security Advisory Councils. He is a former Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Institute board member and Police Executive Leadership College Alumni Board trustee.
Police Operations
Police Dispatch
SWAT
Police Leadership
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Cptn. Kelly Robbins
Cptn. Robbins has been involved in the criminal justice world for the past two decades.
Beginning as an intern for Garden State Youth Correctional Facility while working towards her B.S. in Criminal Justice, Robbins knew that she had a passion for working in the criminal justice field. After completing her B.S., she accepted a job as a parole counselor for the NJ State Parole Board (NJSPB). Later, she accepted a research intern position with the NJSPB’s Research and Planning Unit as she returned to school at the University of Pennsylvania to complete an accelerated Master’s program in Criminology. Upon receiving her M.S., Robbins was promoted to Unit Head of the Research and Planning Unit of the NJSPB where her primary duties included applying for government grants and designing/conducting scientifically rigorous studies to determine the effects of NJSPB programs on the recidivism of parolees. She also developed a Motivational Interviewing training curriculum and managed a team that trained the agencies’ parole officers in these techniques.
Additionally, Robbins was instrumental in designing the computer program used by parole officers to conduct their routine interviews and checks on parolees. The program was the first of its kind to hold parole officers accountable for the quality and quantity of services provided to parolees.
In 2007, Robbins answered her calling to join the Philadelphia Police Department. Graduating at the top of her academy, Robbins was assigned to the 25th district in the heart of North Philadelphia. This district is affectionately known as the “Badlands” and was the only district to have its own radio band due to the highest volume of emergency calls for service in the city. After three years, Robbins was promoted to the district’s elite pro-active five-squad and served as its only female officer until she was promoted to Sergeant in 2015. During her service as a five-squad member, Robbins was also selected and trained as the district’s first crime analyst under the Smart Policing Initiative. As a crime analyst, Robbins was responsible for using ArcGIS and i2 software to conduct analysis of crime hotspots and trends. She provided superiors with executive summaries used for the deployment and strategy of resources.
In 2015, Robbins was promoted to Sergeant and served in the 9th district for a short period until being recruited by then Chief Wilson to help facilitate command meetings and write the operations orders for the 2015 Papal Visit. She was then appointed by Chief Wilson as the planning Chief for the 2016 DNC where she was honored to be an integral member of planning committees that involved partnerships with various city departments, outside law enforcement agencies, the National Guard, and the US Secret Service. After Chief Wilson was promoted to Deputy Commissioner, Chief Vanore recruited Robbins to run the Regional Operations Command, South office as well as to plan the 2017 NFL Draft. Robbins remained as the head of Chief Vanore’s staff until she was promoted to Lieutenant in 2018. Robbins has earned twelve departmental awards during her service over the past thirteen years.
Cptn. Kelly Robbins, MS
Adjunct Professor
Law Enforcement Relations
Police Staffing
Law Enf. Deployment Modeling
Emergency Preparedness
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
George Kikuchi, PhD
Policing Data Analysis
Crime Mapping
Statistical Review & Analysis
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Cptn. Brian Gress
Brian Gress has been serving the Philadelphia Police Department since 2000, when he graduated the Police Academy and was assigned to the Patrol Bureau. In December 2002, Brian was promoted to the rank of Detective and assigned to the Special Victims Unit’s (SVU) Child Abuse Investigation Section. In that assignment Brian became well-versed in investigations, forensic interviewing, interrogations and evidence collection. Throughout his time in SVU, Brian worked closely with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, and other social work and victim’s advocacy groups. Brian was able to cultivate relationships within those agencies that exist to this day. In December 2005, Brian was promoted to Sergeant and returned to the Patrol Bureau. In 2007, Brian applied to and was accepted as a part-time member of the PPD’s Major Incident Response Team (MIRT). This assignment involved additional training in emergency operations such as Hazardous Materials Operations, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) detection and response, Civil Disorder Response, Mass Casualty and other types of incident response.
Upon promotion to the rank of Lieutenant in 2015, Brian became a Platoon Commander in the Patrol Bureau while maintaining his part-time position with the MIRT. As a member of the MIRT, Brian has participated in planning and operations for most major events held in Philadelphia for over a decade. In 2017, Brian was transferred to the Counter Terrorism Operations Unit, where he was also put in command of the PPD MIRT. Responsibilities of this assignment include developing and implementing policies and standard operating procedures in preparation for and response to natural and manmade disasters, as well as civil disorder and acts of terrorism. He prepares operational plans for critical infrastructure and key resource preventive patrol; develops relationships with civilian partners in these areas to coordinate prevention, detection and response plans; works with multiagency task forces on prevention, detection, response and mitigation operations at the federal, state and local levels.
Brian has had the responsibility of preparing the Counter Terrorism Operations/Major Incident Response Team plans for all major events in the city since 2017 to include the NFL Draft, The Eagles Superbowl Parade, sporting events, parades, runs and other events. He also serves as one of the leaders of the PPD’s Hostage/Crisis Negotiations team. Brian oversees the delivery and instruction of the basic 40-hour Hostage/Crisis Negotiations course hosted by the PPD. Additionally, Brian has been involved in the design and instruction of in-service instructional courses in the areas of Tactical Emergency Casualty Care, Mass Casualty Incidents, Protestor Awareness and Crisis Negotiations. In the course of his duties Brian participates in planning and developing external training exercises with other agencies. Additionally, Brian supports the Dignitary Protection Section of the Counter Terrorism Unit as needed by staffing physical protection details, conducting surveillance/counter-surveillance and producing vulnerability assessments of physical infrastructure.
Brian obtained his AAS in Justice from Community College of Philadelphia, and his B.S. in Behavioral and Health Services from Philadelphia University. He is currently enrolled at Millersville University, pursuing his MS in Emergency Management. Brian has completed Penn State Justice and Safety Institute’s POSIT and POLEX courses as well as Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command. In addition, he is certified as a Hazardous Material Technician and Emergency Medical Technician.
Cptn. Brian Gress, PA, MS
Adjunct Professor
Police Special Tactics
Emergency Management
Police Large Event Services
Counter Terrorism
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Steven Kroll, MHA, EMT
Steven Kroll, MHA, EMT, is an executive level EMS leader, front-line EMS provider, and EMS consultant. He has over three decades of experience in urban, rural, and suburban EMS in both career and volunteer roles. Steve is currently the Executive Director and volunteer Chief of Delmar-Bethlehem EMS in Albany County, New York.
Steve uses his accumulated experience in EMS and health care to provide consulting assistance to leaders seeking to advance their organizations through positive change and innovation. Specific interests include EMS strategic planning and problem solving, organizational restructuring, government affairs, external relations, hospital-EMS relations, EMS telemedicine/MIH, agency governance, and coalition building.
Steve has extensive experience in EMS, hospital, and health care policy, advocacy, and operations. Steve was the Chief Delivery Officer at UCM Digital Health, a telehealth triage, treatment, and navigation medical practice from 2019-2023. He guided the development of UCM’s EMS treat-in-place telemedicine program. Prior roles include serving as Vice President of Governmental Affairsand External Relations at the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS); the Executive Director of The Arc New York, the state’s largest developmental disability services organization; Associate Director of the American Hospital Association Office of Federal Relations: and health staffer for the U.S. Senate.
Steve has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of EMTs (NAEMT) and is Vice-Chair of NAEMT’s Advocacy Committee. He was recognized as the NAEMT/Braun Industries EMT of the Year in 2018.
Steve is a member and past Chair of the NYS Emergency Medical Service Council and a Director and government affairs committee Co-Chair of the NYS Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Association.
Steve holds a Master of Health Administration from Duke University and a Baccalaureate in Business Administration from the University of Buffalo. In addition to his work in prehospital care, Steve isthe chairperson of the Board of Trustees at Cobleskill Regional Hospital of the Bassett Healthcare Network in Schoharie County, New York.
EMS Strategic Planning
Organizational Restructuring
Legislative Advocacy
Change Management
EMS Telemedicine
ASSOCIATE ADVISOR
Robert P. Holman, M.D.
In 2016, the life expectancy gap between African American men and White men in Washington, DC, was more than 17 years, a larger gap than that of any other state, territory, or peer city. Dr. Holman has had direct experience working with the medically and economically vulnerable as the Internal Medicine Discipline Director at Unity Health Care—Washington’s largest federally qualified health center system. At Unity, he practiced medicine both in a community health center and a homeless shelter clinic. Dr. Holman gained practical insight into our country’s enormous health care disparities which stubbornly reflect our racial divides. As the medical director of DC Fire & EMS, Dr. Holman has directed his team to address systemic shortcomings in emergency healthcare delivery, especially those which again mirror racial disparities in cardiac arrest rates, stroke incidence, and the use of 911.
With the support of two thousand EMTs and paramedics, Dr. Holman launched an innovative program designed to respond effectively to low acuity 911 calls. His signature project—the Right Care, Right Now nurse triage line—was set up with the input of a hundred-and-sixty governmental and non-governmental participants. Right Care, Right Now (RCRN), the nation’s largest such effort has reduced healthcare costs, decreased unnecessary low acuity Emergency Department visits, and increased the use of primary care. Right Care, Right Now, publicly instituted as a District of Columbia collaborative effort is proving to have enduring stability and in its first six years diverted 35,000 of the 911 callers to alternative destinations.
His teams have also led the development of novel educational efforts, spearheaded improvements in clinical outcomes of cardiac arrest and stroke care, collaborated in the establishment of the DC Stabilization Center (DCSC), launched Whole Blood transfusions by EMS in April 2024, and will launch a Buprenorphine pilot for patients suffering from Opioid Use Disorder in June 2024. The DCSC is on track to admit 3.8% of all EMS transports in 2024. In 2023, DC was tied for first place with the State of Washington for cardiac arrest survival rates when the arrest is witnessed and when the patient is found in a shockable rhythm.
Alternative destinations
911 Nurse Triage Lines
Sobering Centers
Public Health
MIH & Community EMS
911 Dispatch systems
Cardiac & Stroke Care Systems Design
Cambridge Consulting Group occasionally utilizes independent subject matter experts from the industry to provide us with their expertise on discrete, specific issues, in order to enhance our engagements. We select these individuals carefully, assuring no conflicts of interest with clients or the scope of work for which we are retained. We understand that our advice to clients needs to be completely free of any bias and we regard the ethical performance of each engagement as paramount.
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT
Eric Emery
Eric Emery
EMS Operations
Native American Culture
EMS services Management
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT
Richard D. Flinn Jr
Prior to his appointment he served at FEMA HQ in Washington, DC as the Deputy Director of the Operations Division since October 2010. He assisted the Director in overseeing the National Response Coordination Center, the National Watch Center, the FEMA Operations Center at Mount Weather, the National Incident Management Teams and the National Urban Search and Rescue Program.
From September 2005 until October 2010 Rick was the Deputy Director for Operations for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).
Prior to joining PEMA, Rick worked for the Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Office of Administration as the Special Assistant for Continuity of Government. Before coming to state government, Rick was the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council. The Council is a non-profit 501 C-3 organization that is mandated by state law to serve as the state advisory council to the Secretary of Health on all matters pertaining to emergency health services. Rick worked for the Council for 24 years.
Rick has over 38 years of military experience and retired in December 2013 from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He retired as the Commander for the Pennsylvania Medical Command with the rank of Colonel. Rick started his military career as an enlisted active-duty combat medic and medical clinical specialist from 1973-1976. When the COVID pandemic occurred, he volunteered to return to active duty with the 18th MEDCOM in Hawaii.
Rick has a Masters in Governmental Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science from The Pennsylvania State University in Health Planning and Administration. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School and was a Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers for over 10 years.
In addition, Rick has over 50 years of experience in emergency services serving as a firefighter, EMT and Paramedic. He served as a volunteer Fire Chief and a township Emergency Management Coordinator for over ten years. He continues to volunteer as a Captain and Safety Officer with the Hampden Township Volunteer Fire Company in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Richard Flinn, Jr
Emergency Management
EMS Integration with EM
Emergency Support Functions
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT
Marion Blackwell, PhD
While he was a volunteer with Chesnee, Chief Blackwell worked from 1984 to 1991 as a paramedic with the Spartanburg Emergency Medical Services. During this time he obtained the position of Administrative Senior Paramedic.
In 1991, Chief Blackwell changed careers from a Paramedic to a police officer with the City of Chesnee. This career change allowed Chief Blackwell to continue his post-secondary education with a concentration in fire service-related course work. Chief Blackwell worked his way up the ranks until he was appointed Police Chief in 1995.
In 1996 Chief Blackwell began his compensated fire service career when he accepted an appointment as Fire Chief with the Athol, Idaho Fire Protection District. Chief Blackwell was instrumental in the consolidation efforts between the Athol and Bayview Fire Protection Districts, which subsequently became Timberlake Fire Protection District.
In 2001, Chief Blackwell accepted an Assistant Fire Chief position with the Pantex Fire Department in Amarillo, Texas. Pantex is the only Department of Energy, Nuclear Weapons Facility that assembles, disassembles, and maintains nuclear weapons. Chief Blackwell was granted a top secret security clearance due to his need to access classified information and potentially take emergency custody of nuclear weapons.
Chief Blackwell decided to return to beautiful northern Idaho when the Fire Chief position became available at Northern Lakes Fire Protection District in 2004. Northern Lakes is a combination fire department. Chief Blackwell served Northern Lakes Fire Protection District from 2004 to 2007.
In 2007, Chief Blackwell was appointed Fire Chief of the Stillwater, Oklahoma Fire Department. The Stillwater Fire Department is a fully career department with 74 personnel on staff. The SFD protects the 48,000 citizens of Stillwater, the 22,000 students at Oklahoma State University, and more than 400 square miles of surrounding Payne County. The SFD provides fire protection, rescue, hazardous materials response, and full paramedic-level transport EMS service to its jurisdiction.
In 2010, Chief Blackwell returned home and was appointed Fire Chief of the Spartanburg, South Carolina Fire Department. The Spartanburg Fire Department is a fully career department with 78 personnel on staff. The SFD protects the 37,000 citizens of Spartanburg with fire protection, hazardous materials response, and technical rescue service to its jurisdiction. Chief Blackwell retired on August 11, 2023.
Chief Blackwell has earned an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Spartanburg Methodist College, Bachelors of Professional Studies in Fire Administration and Fire Prevention (Double Major) from the University of Memphis, a Master of Science in Executive Fire Service Leadership from Grand Canyon University and PhD in Fire and Emergency Management Administration from Oklahoma State University. Chief Blackwell also completed the Executive Fire Officer (EFO) Program from the United States Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy. Chief Blackwell was conferred the Chief Fire Officer Designation from the Center of Public Safety Excellence in 2006 and enjoys Fellow status with the Institute of Fire Engineers.
Chief Blackwell is also employed by Colorado State University as an adjunct instructor for their Fire and Emergency Service Administration undergraduate degree program and Columbia Southern University’s graduate degree program.
Chief Blackwell has been married 38 years to Teresa and has two children Sarah and Sierra. They reside in Boiling Springs, South Carolina.
Chief Marion Blackwell, PhD
Standards of Coverage
Fire-based EMS
In Remembrance of Allison J. Bloom
Cambridge Consulting Group was founded by three esteemed colleagues: Vincent D. Robbins, Brian K. LaCroix, and Allison J. Bloom.
Tragically, just a year and a half after the firm’s inception, Allison Bloom passed away from cancer. Despite battling the disease for several years and sharing her journey with her co-founders, she succumbed in December 2021. Throughout her illness, Allison remained passionately dedicated to her work with Cambridge Consulting Group until her final days. We profoundly mourn her loss and deeply miss our cherished colleague and friend.