Board of Directors

Michael McEvoy, PhD, NRP, RN, CCRN

Board Chair

EMS Coordinator
Saratoga County, New York

Chief Mike McEvoy is the EMS Coordinator for Saratoga County, New York and a nurse clinician in the cardiothoracic surgical ICU at Albany Medical Center where he also chairs the hospital resuscitation committee and teaches critical care medicine. Mike is a paramedic supervisor for Clifton Park & Halfmoon Ambulance, a firefighter/paramedic and chief medical officer for West Crescent Fire Department. He is the Chair of the EMS section board member for the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and in his free time, an avid hiker and winter mountain climber. Mike has been a Nationally Registered paramedic since 1983.

W. Scott Gilmore, MD, FACEP, NRP

Board Chair-Elect

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, Missouri

W. Scott Gilmore, MD, FACEP, EMT-P, has been involved with EMS for more than 20 years, working as an EMT, paramedic and EMS educator. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. He also serves as the Medical Director for the Saint Louis Fire Department, a physician for Missouri Disaster Response System and St. Louis Metro USAR Task Force-1 and is a member of the Advisory Council for Abbott EMS, St. Louis, MO.
A member of the National Association of EMS Physicians, Dr. Gilmore, serves as Chair of the Education Committee. Dr. Gilmore was the 2012 recipient of the John P. Pryor, MD, Street Medicine Society Award.

Paul R. Patrick, M.Ed.

Treasurer

Former Deputy Division Director, Utah Department of Health, Division of Family Health and Preparedness
Salt Lake City, Utah

Paul R. Patrick was the former State of Utah Emergency Medical System (EMS) Director from 2006 to 2016 when he became the Director of Utah’s Family Health and Preparedness Division which oversees the Office of Emergency Medical Services and Preparedness. Paul is the Past President of the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) serving from 2014 to 2016. As a longstanding advocate for EMS and public safety communications, he has been involved with efforts for the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) since its inception. In 2018 he served as the Interim Chair of the FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee until his appointment to the FirstNet Authority Board in 2018. He is a member of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Preparedness Policy Committee and the CDC Public Health Preparedness Directors. Other groups he has served on include the Public Safety Advisory Committee Executive Committee (PSAC-EC), SAFECOM Executive Committee, National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) Executive Committee, Public Safety Alliance (PSA), Utah Communication Authority, and as Chair of the Western Affiliate for the American Stroke Association.
Paul is a native of Utah, married, and the father of three children. He received his Eagle Scout award in 1967 and graduated with honors from Springville High School in 1971. Paul completed his Design Engineering Degree in 1978 from Brigham Young University and Master of Education from Western Governors University in 2013. In 1978, Paul certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and worked for 25 years with the Springville Ambulance Service.

Kim D. McKenna, PhD, MEd, BSN, NRP

Executive Committee Member At-Large

Director of Education
St. Charles County Ambulance District
St. Peters, Missouri

Kim McKenna has provided emergency care and EMS education for more than 30 years for hospital, fire, and third service EMS programs. She currently directs the education division at a mid-sized EMS agency in metropolitan St. Louis.The division provides employee education and quality improvement. Kim is also the program director for the district paramedic and EMT programs. She formerly served as Chief Medical Officer for the Florissant Valley Fire Protection District and as Director of Education at Mercy Hospital, St. Louis. Kim is an educator, author and editor.She holds a PhD in Education with a focus on Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Kim served as the Emergency Medical Responder Project Level leader on the 2009 National EMS Education Standards Task force. As a former member of the NAEMSE board of directors, Kim chaired the Publication and Research Committees. She currently serves on the board of advisors for the Prehospital Care Research Forum at UCLA.

Kevin E. Mackey, MD, FACEP

Immediate Past Board Chair

Medical Director, Sacramento Regional Fire Services
Sacramento, California

Kevin has been a part of the EMS profession for over 20 years, first as a provider, and currently as a regional medical director, and also fire service medical director for the second largest ambulance provider in California. He has served as President of the Emergency Medical Directors Association, California and currently serves as a board member for the NAEMSP. In addition to his current position as Medical Director for Sacramento Regional Fire Services, Kevin is the EMS Rotation Director for the University of California-Davis, Emergency Medicine Residency.Kevin fulfilled his Affiliated Residency in Emergency Medicine from the University Health Science Center, University of Pittsburgh. He holds a Doctorate of Medicine from St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; and both a Master of Science in Biology, and Bachelor of Science in Biology from California State University.

Jane Ball DrPH, RN

Consultant
Gaithersburg, MD

Dr. Jane Ball is the experienced author of several award-winning medical and nursing textbooks and numerous articles. Dr. Ball’s work on pediatric emergency care has been published by prestigious industry journals including the Annals of Emergency Medicine, the Journal of Emergency Nursing, and Pediatric Emergency Care. Currently, Dr. Ball puts her public health and nursing expertise to use as a trauma system consultant for the American College of Surgeons and as a pediatric emergency system consultant for other organizations. Dr. Ball has been recognized as a distinguished alumna of Johns Hopkins University, where she earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees, and as a distinguished practitioner by the National Academies of Practice.

Leaugeay Barnes EdD, MS, NRP, NCEE

University of Hawaii-Kapiolani Community College, Assistant Professor
Honolulu, Hawaii

Ms. Barnes has worked in EMS since 1991 and obtained her paramedic certification in 1996. She has worked for several ambulance services in Oklahoma and Texas, and as a flight paramedic in both fixed-wing and rotor-wing aircraft. She began her journey into initial EMS education in 2001 as a faculty member at Rogers State University moving to EMS program director at Oklahoma City Community College in 2004, from 2013- 2017 she developed, directed, and taught the EMS programs at Tulsa Community College. In 2017, she began work as a faculty member for Kapiolani Community College.

In 2016, NAEMT/ Jones & Bartlett awarded Ms. Barnes the Award of Excellence, EMS Educator of the Year. In 2011, the Oklahoma EMT Association selected her as the EMS Instructor of the Year, and in 2010 she was awarded the NISOD Award for Excellence in Teaching & Leadership. From 2010- 2015 she served on the National EMS Advisory Council and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the National Association of EMS Educators. Ms. Barnes is AHA Regional Faculty (BLS, PALS, and ACLS) and a PHTLS and TCCC Course Coordinator. She has also served on the AHA Stroke Advisory Committee in Oklahoma. Ms. Barnes has also served as a site visitor for the Committee on Accreditation for EMS Programs (CoAEMSP) since 2010. She was a subject matter expert, SME, and author for the National EMS Education Standards and is currently serving on the SMEP for the Scope of Practice Model revisions. Ms. Barnes has authored, edited, and presented on a multitude of EMS topics locally and nationally.

James Davis, ED.D, RN, EMTP

Fire Chief at City of Fort Worth, Texas

Jim Davis is currently the fire chief in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a Columbus, Ohio 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 in 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 patient 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.  In addition, Chief Davis is on the advisory committees for Tarrant County College and the University of North Texas-Dallas fire education programs.

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.

Maia Dorsett, MD, PhD, FAEMS, FACEP

Jeffrey M. Elder, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAEMS

Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine
Co-Director of the Division of EMS and Disaster Medicine

Dr. Jeffrey Elder is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Emergency Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and serves as the Co-Director of the Division of EMS and Disaster Medicine. He is also the Medical Director for Emergency Preparedness at University Medical Center in New Orleans and EMS Medical Director for St. Tammany Fire District No. 1 (Slidell Fire). He previously served as the Director and Medical Director of New Orleans EMS. A graduate of LSU School of Medicine, Dr. Elder began his career in EMS while training as a resident in Emergency Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. While working with some of the best paramedics in the country, he learned how advances in prehospital medicine can drive in-hospital emergency medical care. He is board certified in both Emergency Medicine with subspecialty board certified in Emergency Medical Services by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.

Adam Heinz, MBA, NRP, AEMD

Michael Johnson, MS, NRP

Michael Johnson currently serves as Director of the State Office of EMS and Trauma within the Georgia Department of Public Health. He is also a member of the National Association of State EMS Officials and a Commissioner for the Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice (EMS Compact). Prior to his current position as State EMS Director, he was the Deputy Director for Systems of Care and the Director for the Office of Cardiac Care. In this position, along with numerous physicians, surgeons, EMS and cardiac specialists, his office designated the first 41 Emergency Cardiac Care Centers in Georgia and built a sustainable and robust emergency cardiac care system within the state. 

Before joining the DPH/OESMT team, Michael taught EMS and Emergency Management courses at both the university and college levels and served as Program Director for EMS education programs in Alabama and Georgia. He also spent seven years as a CBRNE Subject Matter Expert Consultant for FEMA and Homeland Security. Michael began his EMS career in 1995 and, although he no longer provides direct patient care, is still patient-focused in his EMS role and has a passion to improve EMS care and medical access in rural areas. 

Sahaj Khalsa, BS, NRP

Sahaj Khalsa is an experienced EMS provider, published researcher, and EMS educator. Sahaj is Lead Faculty and Senior Lecturer at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, EMS Academy. Sahaj has served on the NAEMSE Board of Directors since 2019 and is currently the Interim Secretary. He is interested and experienced in advancing EMS education and care to ensure it is equitable, appropriate, and evidence based. Prior to joining the EMS Academy at UNM, Sahaj was the Program Director of the EMS program at Santa Fe Community College, developing and building their program. Sahaj has presented at state and national EMS and EMS educator conferences, published research in national and international journals, and has facilitated efforts to increase equity in EMS care. In addition to being an EMS educator, Sahaj works as a paramedic on his local Ski Patrol, providing ALS care and guest safety in a unique, high-alpine, austere environment.

Kraig Kinney, JD, EMT-P, PI

Kraig Kinney serves as Indiana’s State EMS Director, a position he’s held since 2020, and was also recently named as the Vice Chair of the Interstate Commission for EMS Personal Practice (EMS Compact). With more than three decades of EMS experience, Kinney has held several roles, ranging from ambulance operator, training coordinator, and Putnam County's former executive director of EMS operations. Early on, Kinney certified as an EMT in 1991, following advancement to paramedic in 1994, and transitioned into the educator role as an EMS primary instructor in 1996. Kinney spent two years as the deputy general counsel for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and was named Indiana's 2008 EMS Instructor of the Year. 

Steve McCoy, BS, EMTP

Braxton Morrison, PhD, NRP, TP-C

Vinton, Iowa

Dr. Morrison has over seven years of emergency medical services (EMS) experience and is currently a Nationally Registered Paramedic (NRP) and licensed in Iowa as a paramedic with a critical care paramedic (CCP) endorsement. Dr. Morrison’s EMS experience has been in 911 and inter-facility transport services encompassing a wide array of different patients. Dr. Morrison is also an EMS instructor and provides EMS education through his personal training company, which is currently the only NAEMT-authorized tactical medicine training center in Iowa. Dr. Morrison’s EMS focuses are in tactical, remote, and wilderness medicine, and he holds certifications or has attended specific training relating to each, such as IBSCs Tactical Paramedic certification. Dr. Morrison holds an associate degree in EMS, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, a master’s in emergency management, a masters of philosophy in human and social services, and doctor of philosophy in human services with a specialization in crisis intervention. Dr. Morrison specializes in crisis intervention with emergency services personnel and co-founded a county-wide critical incident stress management team which he serves as the president of, and founded a suicide prevention coalition which he serves as the chair of.

Bryan Nelson, MBA, NRP

Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, MD, MPH, FAAP

Assistant Professor Pediatrics
Director of Prehospital and EMS

Sylvia Owusu-Ansah has been dedicated to the pediatric and EMS legislative advocacy for over a decade. She has been involved in pre-hospital care at the local and state level and has been an advocate of Emergency Services for Children (EMSC) at the federal level for the past 8 years. As an EMS fellow, she served as an assistant medical director to Howard County Maryland. She also works with government agencies such as the Secret Service, Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Service (ICE), and served during the most recent presidential inauguration. She has also developed numerous health education curricula for schools over the past decade. She is currently playing a significant role as co-site PI for Development and Testing of Pediatric Cervical Spine Injury Risk Tool (C-spine) NICHD funded PECARN study.

Jeff Pepperney, BA

President, Real Property Management

Jeff is the President of Real Property Management, part of the Neighborly Company brand family, the largest single-family-rental property management organization in North America, operating more than 450 franchise locations in North America. He is a Certified Franchise Executive through the International Franchise Association with more than 20 years in executive leadership roles in franchise, financial, and consumer services. He has held leadership roles at Deustche Bank, National City Bank, Cole National, and Sears Holdings Corporation and currently Real Property Management.

Jeff is an engaging leader bringing deep strategic and tactical experience and skills, managing large, complex, enterprise operations generating exemplary results, via team leadership, hands-on involvement, and an unwavering commitment to success. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College.

Jeff and his family live in Columbus, Ohio where he is the proud father of two sons, Luke currently at the Georgetown School of Medicine, and Mark currently at the University of Cincinnati.

Owen T. Traynor, MD

Director of Prehospital Care, St Clair Hospital
Adjunct Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Board Member, Southbridge Emergency Medical Services
Board Member, Scott Township Emergency Medical Services

Owen T. Traynor, MD, is an adjunct assistant professor in emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the medical director of its EMS degree program and the medical director of paramedic education for the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania. He is the director of Prehospital care at St Clair hospital in southwestern PA.

Previously, Dr. Traynor was the chief emergency medicine resident in the University of Pittsburgh Affiliated Residency in emergency medicine, and assistant chief instructor of the Nassau County Emergency Medical Services Academy. His EMS field experience began as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for the Wantagh Fire Department. Dr. Traynor also served as a NYC paramedic before attending medical school.

He also serves as the medical director and a member of the board of directors for Southbridge Emergency Medical Services; medical director and a board member of the Scott Township Emergency Medical Services; and medical director for the Eastern Area Prehospital Services, Tri-Community South Emergency Medical Services, Kirwan Heights Fire Department EMS, Edgewood Fire Department QRS, and Swissvale Fire Department QRS.

Kenneth Williams, MD, FACEP, FAEMS

Professor of Emergency Medicine, Director of the Division of EMS at Brown University