New NEMSAC Members Named by LaHood

WASHINGTON, D.C. – There are some new faces among some familiar ones on the National EMS Advisory Council.

The names of the 25 new members, appointed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood were announced Monday morning during a FICEMS meeting.

"I am pleased to welcome our newly appointed NEMSAC members and look forward to working closely with each of them as we continue our mutual efforts to enhance and strengthen EMS programs across the nation," said David Strickland, NHTSA Administrator.

Aarron Reinert, who was re-appointed as NEMSAC chair, said he is looking forward to working with some of the who’s who of EMS.

Reinert, executive director of Lakes Region EMS in Minnesota, said he believes having people re-appointed will be of great value as the council discusses what issues to tackle.

NEMSAC members identify specific EMS issues, and make recommendations to FICEMS.

Those appointed include:

* Thomas Judge – Air Medical – Judge is the Executive Director of LifeFlight of Maine, a position he has held since 1999, and has over 30 years of experience in the emergency medical services field.

* Arthur Cooper, MD, FACS, FAAP – At Large – Cooper is a Professor of Surgery and Director of Trauma & Pediatric Surgical Services at Columbia University Medical Center Affiliation at Harlem Hospital. A pediatric trauma surgeon who has worked at an urban Level I Trauma Center for more than 25 years, his academic career has been focused on emergency medical services for children.

* Patricia Dukes, AS, MICT – At Large – Dukes is the Chief of EMS for the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, where she began her career as an EMT in 1983. She has previously served on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Preparedness Task Force and the State of Hawaii's EMS Advisory Committee.

* Manuel Chavez, EMT-P – At Large – Manuel Chavez is a Firefighter Paramedic and EMS Supervisor for the City of Houston Fire Department, where he has been a fire/EMS responder since 1986. Mr. Chavez is active in his local chapter of the IAFF. He is a member of the IAFF standing committee on EMS and is an EMT instructor.

* Nick Nudell, BA, NRP – Data Managers – Nudell is a System Implementation Manager for FirstWatch Solutions and uses data to measure and improve public safety systems. He was previously a fulltime paramedic and EMS educator and currently serves on an Intelligent Transportation Systems technical committee on vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communication.

* David Lucas – Dispatcher/9-1-1 – Lucas is the Director of Enhanced 9-1-1 for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in Kentucky. He implemented Lexington's E911 system in 1996 and drafted Kentucky's original wireless 9-1-1 legislation in 1998. He currently chairs the Kentucky Commercial Mobile Radio Emergency Services Board.

* Raphael Barishansky, MPH – Emergency Managers – Barishansky is Chief of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response for Prince George's County, Maryland and leads the Health Department's emergency management responsibilities. He previously was the Executive Director of a regional EMS system in Hudson Valley, New York and a Senior Fellow at the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute.

* Michael A. Hastings, MS, RN, CEN – Emergency Nurses – Hastings is the Research Quality Outcomes Coordinator at the University of Kansas Hospital and is the chief liaison for the primary ambulance destination of the Kansas City Fire Department. He began his career as an EMT and 9-1-1 dispatcher and served as the Emergency Nurses Association's representative on the CDC Field Trauma Triage Guidelines project.

* Kenneth Miller, MD, PhD – Emergency Physicians – Miller, an emergency physician, serves as the Medical Director of the Orange County Fire Authority and Assistant Medical Director of the Orange County Healthcare Agency/EMS. He also serves as the Co-Director of the EMS & Disaster Medical Sciences Fellowship at UC-Irvine School of Medicine.