Editor
Kristina Ackermann, is the Editor of EMS Insider and is also the Managing Editor of Public Safety Communications the official magazine of APCO International Inc. Contact Kristina at
Featured Contributors
Raphael M. Barishansky, MPH, is chief of public health emergency preparedness for the Prince George’s County (Md.) Health Department. He previously served as executive director of the Hudson Valley Regional EMS Council based in Newburgh, N.Y.
>> More Articles from Raphael M. Barishansky
Allison J. Bloom, Esq., is an attorney in private law practice in the field of EMS law. Her practice focuses on providing risk management and legal services to EMS and fire agencies, with an emphasis on corporate, business and regulatory law. She has also worked as a products liability defense attorney in the pharmaceutical industry. Bloom has published numerous articles and lectures frequently on EMS legal topics.
>> More Articles from Allison J. Bloom
O.J. Doyle has lobbied on behalf of EMS providers in Minnesota for more than 25 years. He is a retired nationally registered paramedic, who served as an ALS operations manager as well as part owner of a rural ALS service. Prior to his EMS career, he served as a Special Assistant to the Governor of Minnesota as well as senior staff positions with the Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota legislatures. He’s a frequent guest lecturer and has published over 30 articles.
>> More Articles from O.J. Doyle
Jay Fitch, PhD is the founding partner of the EMS public safety consulting firm, Fitch & Associates. He leads multiple consulting projects each year, regularly writes and lectures on leadership and serves as the program chair for the Pinnacle Leadership Conference.
>> More Articles from Jay Fitch, PhD.
Greg Friese, MS, NREMT-P, is the director of education for CentreLearn Solutions, LLC. He specializes in the development, production and distribution of online education for emergency responders. Share your best practices or questions to him via @gfriese on Twitter. Greg is a presenter, podcaster, author, blogger and marathon runner.
>> More Articles from Greg Freise
Guillermo Fuentes, MBA is a Senior Associate with emergency services consulting firm Fitch & Associates. He is the communications center practice lead for the firm. Guillermo formerly served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Niagara (Ontario) Police Agency and in executive positions with Niagara and Montreal’s EMS systems.
>> More Articles from Guillermo Fuentes
Michael Greene, MBA, MSHA, RN, is a senior associate at the international Emergency Medical Services Consulting firm Fitch & Associates. Mr. Greene’s EMS and air medical career spans 30 years. From volunteer search and rescue, field paramedic, backcountry ranger with the National Park Service, program director of a nationally recognized five-state air medical transport service. He holds a dual Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration and Business Administration from the University of Colorado.
>> More Articles from Michael Greene
Mic Gunderson is the moderator of NAEMSP Dialog and president of the consulting firm IPS. He served on the editorial board of Prehospital Emergency Medicine and as an editor for several NAEMSP textbooks.
>> More Articles from Mic Gunderson
Richard Huff, NREMT-B, is chief of the Atlantic Highlands (N.J.) First Aid & Safety Squad. He’s a CPR, CEVO and first aid instructor and multi-dimensional EMS educator. He’s also an award-winning journalist and author.
>> More Articles from Richard Huff
Rick Keller is a partner in the EMS/public safety consulting firm Fitch & Associates.
>> More Articles from Rick Keller
Kurt Krumperman, MS, NREMT-P, is president of Advocates for EMS, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a contributing editor to EMS Insider.
>> More Articles from Kurt Krumperman, MS, NREMT-P
W. Ann “Winnie” Maggiore, JD, NREMT-P, has been a full-time paramedic, an assistant fire chief, a state EMS administrator and a criminal prosecutor. She’s currently a shareholder with the law firm Butt, Thornton & Baehr in Albuquerque, N.M., where she defends medical malpractice suits against physicians and other health-care providers and civil rights suits against law enforcement officers. She also writes on EMS legal issues, frequently lectures at national conferences and holds a clinical faculty appointment with the University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine.
>> More Articles from W. Ann “Winnie” Maggiore
Teresa McCallion, EMT-B, is a frequent contributor to JEMS Magazine and JEMS.com. She worked for many years as a newspaper journalist and served as a volunteer for her local fire department.
>> More Articles from Teresa McCallion
Allan Ouellette is an associate with Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice. Ouellette has experience litigating various commercial disputes and has advised clients in the areas of labor relations and compliance with various state and federal employment laws.
>> More Articles from Allan Ouellette
John Peruggia, MSM, EFO, EMT-P is an Assistant Chief with the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). He has been actively involved in EMS for the past 29 years. He served 7 years as the Chief of EMS for FDNY and currently serves asthe Continuity if Operations (COOP) manager in addition to being the Assistant Chief of EMS Operations. John is a founding member of the International Association of EMS Chiefs and a member of the JEMS and EMS Insider editorial boards. John has managed many Mass Casualty Incidents and major events , including the Attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001.
>> More Articles from John Peruggia
Michael G. Ragone, senior consultant at Fitch & Associates, LLC, has operations and executive experience in emergency services, health and safety, and the insurance industries. He is a former firefighter/paramedic and served more than 10 years as vice president of a large publicly traded service.
>> More Articles from Michael G. Ragone
R. Michael Scarano Jr. is a partner in Foley & Lardner, a national law firm with approximately 1,000 attorneys who practice in 18 offices throughout the U.S. He represents both public- and private-sector ambulance services in reimbursement, compliance and more.
>> More Articles from R. Michael Scarano, Jr.
Aaron K. Tantleff is senior counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the firm’s Information Technology & Outsourcing; Privacy, Security & Information Management, and Chemical, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Practices, as well as the Health Care, Life Sciences, and Energy Industry Teams.
>> More Articles from Aaron K. Tantleff
Steve Wirth, Esq., EMT-P, is a founding partner of Page, Wolfberg & Wirth LLC. Steve is an active EMS provider and firefighter, and a national EMS speaker and a member of the JEMS and EMS Insider editorial board.
>> More Articles from Steve Wirth
Doug Wolfberg is an attorney and founding partner of Page, Wolf-berg & Wirth, LLC, the National EMS industry law firm, widely viewed as the leading experts in Medicare and compliance law for the ambulance industry. Contact him via the firm’s Web site at www.pwwemslaw.com.
>> More Articles from Doug Wolfberg
Matt Zavadasky is the Associate Director for Operations at MedStar EMS, the exclusive emergency and non-emergency ambulance provider for Fort Worth and 14 surrounding cities in North Texas. He holds a master’s degree in Health Service Administration and has 30 years’ experience in EMS, including volunteer, fire department, public and private sector EMS agencies. He’s a former paramedic and has managed private sector ambulance services from 10,000 to more than 100,000 annual call volume in various locations. He has also served as a regulator in Lincoln, Nebraska and Volusia County (Daytona Beach), Fla. He is an adjunct faculty member for the University of Central Florida’s College of Health and Public Affairs teaching courses in Healthcare Economics and Policy, Healthcare Finance, Ethics, Managed Care and U.S. Health-care Systems.
>> More Articles from Matt Zavadasky
