Murteza Shahkolahi, MD
Murteza Shahkolahi, MD is a practicing emergency medicine physician at Inova Fairfax Hospital Emergency Department in Virginia. He is a Medical Team Manager with VA-TF1 / USA-1. He has served on multiple deployments most recently to the Türkiye earthquake response in February 2023. He is also a Medical Officer on FEMA’s IST. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor for Emergency Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Peter Maximillian Dodge, BS, NRP
Max Dodge is the Curriculum Administrator for the NH Division of Fire Standards and Training & EMS. He spent 16 years in the Army as a combat medic and flight paramedic with deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Central America, and in support of domestic operations. He has instructed for Army and Marine Special Operations and currently teaches initial and continuing education courses for EMS and fire service instructors.
Ethan Miles, MD
Dr Ethan Miles recently retired from the United States Army after a 24-year career. He was commissioned as a US Army Officer in 1999 and has served as both Battalion Surgeon and as the Regimental Surgeon over a 10-year period for the 75th Ranger Regiment. He deployed multiple times to various locations in the Middle East with the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 82nd Airborne. His final assignment was the Command Surgeon for the US Army Maneuver Center of Excellence. He served on the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care and the Special Operations Medical Association Board of Directors. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer for North American Rescue and Medical Director for North American Rescue Training where he focuses on life saving technology and training individuals to save lives at the point of injury.
Christopher Ho, MD
Dr. Christopher Ho has been an Emergency Medicine physician for more than 20 years, and is the former Chief of the Emergency Department at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego. He has worked as an expedition physician in Alaska and Nepal and as a base camp physician at Mount Everest. In addition to US&R, Dr. Ho’s areas of specialization include wilderness medicine and resuscitative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Currently, Dr. Ho serves as a Medical Team Manager for CA TF-8, and is one of the National FEMA instructors for the US&R Medical Specialist Training Course. More recently, he was appointed as the medical director for Eden Medical Rescue.
Harry Larson
For the past 47 years Harry has been a Licensed EMS provider, most currently as a RI EMT-Cardiac and a RI EMS Licensed Instructor/Coordinator. He is a retired Captain from the Coventry Fire District after a 27-year career. He is an active volunteer member of the RI Medical Reserve Corps serving as a Logistics Officer and Clinical Educator. He is a 31-year employee of Bound Tree Medical presently the Director of Strategic Markets.
Dr. Peter Weimersheimer
Dr. Peter Weimersheimer is Vice President of Clinical Implementation and Education at Butterfly Network, Inc. Dr. Weimersheimer is Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine (EM) at the Larner College of Medicine (LCOM) at the University of Vermont with 28 years of clinical experience. He was the founder and Director of the University of Vermont (UVM) Emergency Ultrasound Program and served as the UVM Health Network Director of Clinical Ultrasound, integrating POCUS across 7 Emergency Departments. He developed global credentialing and practice standards for that system and for other clinical specialties. He is a Professor in both the Ultrasound Leadership Academy and in the Rural Ultrasound Fellowship.
Joseph R Downey
Battalion Chief Joseph Downey has 39 years with the FDNY and is assigned to the Special Operations command as the Chief of Rescue Operations. He has been a Task Force Leader for NY-TF1 for the last 22 years and is the National Representative for the 28 task forces in FEMA US&R system. He has deployed to numerous disasters, including the attacks on the WTC, Katrina, Haiti, and Sandy.
Chief Jamey Brads
Jamey Brads is the Branch Chief of Training and Operations for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. Before serving in this role for the past two and a half years, Chief Brads served as the Special Operations Training Chief for the State of Virginia for six years. Additional roles and responsibilities at the State level include ESF4 and ESF9 responsibilities at the State EOC as well as serving as a liaison officer and division/group supervisor for the State of Virginia Incident Management Team. He has 32 years in the fire service and has served in multiple roles throughout his career, including firefighter, company officer, and chief officer. He served on local technical rescue teams, as well as statewide technical rescue and swift water rescue teams. Chief Brads is also a member of the Virginia Task Force 2, FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team based out of Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he is a Rescue Squad Officer qualified Rescue Specialist and serves as a Heavy Equipment Rigging Specialist. Additionally, he is a FEMA instructor in both the Structural Collapse Specialist (SCS) and Heavy Equipment Rigging Specialist (HERS) disciplines. Chief Brads has served on the State Urban Search and Rescue Alliance (SUSAR) board of directors since 2016 and has been the current standing President since 2019. Chief Brads participates on three NFPA committees that all revolve around technical rescue training, operations, and equipment and is also a member of the IAFC’s Urban Search and Rescue committee.
Captain Michael Leo
Captain Michael Leo is a veteran with 23 years of service in the New York City Fire Department. Throughout his career, he spent 15 years in the Special Operations Command. While serving as the program administrator of FDNY Robotics, Captain Leo plays a pivotal role in advancing technological solutions within the department. His influence extends beyond the FDNY, as he contributes his expertise to various committees such as the FAA Advanced Aviation Advisory Committee, NFPA UAS Standard Committee, several ASTM committees, and the Board of Advisors for Drone Responders.
Frank Montana
Frank Montana is a UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Pilot and EMT for the FDNY (Fire Department of New York) Robotics Unit, Frank has dedicated 8 years of service to the FDNY. He began his career working on an ambulance in Brooklyn and Queens, gaining valuable experience in emergency medical services. Throughout his career, Frank excelled and eventually became a Haz-Tac Instructor within the department, sharing his knowledge and expertise with his colleagues. Frank specializes in the operations and implementations of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) in New York City's robotic and EMS operations.
Deputy Chief Gregg Brady
Gregg is a EMS Deputy Chief assigned to FDNY's EMS Counter Terrorism Task Force. His time with the department has spanned two time periods 2000 to 2004 and then continuing with the FDNY again in January of 2011 to the present. He has progressed his career from Paramedic to the Officer rank of Deputy Chief with roles as a HaztacMedic, Rescue Medic, Haztac Lieutenant and Captain of EMS Station 46. During his time away from the FDNY he furthered his experience as a Firefighter/Paramedic with the City of Kissimmee from 2004 to 2008 and during that time operated as a Tactical Paramedic with the City of Kissimmee Police Department SWAT Team. From March 2008 to October 2010 he spent contracting with the Department of State as a high threat protection Specialist/Medic in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dr. Rita Hanel
Dr. Rita Hanel has served as a professor at NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, Senior Director with BluePearl Veterinary Partners, Chief Veterinary Officer for the Gentle Care Animal Hospital Group in NC, and Director of Consultation Services for Antech Diagnostics. She currently serves as the Senior Director of ER Doctor Education for the Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG). Dr. Hanel has taught, coordinated, and led courses aimed at training first responders in canine prehospital care since 2000 for both civilian and military organizations across the nation. She currently leads K9Down, which is taught at NCSU, and serves on the BOD as past president for the National Association of Veterinary Emergency Medical Services (NAVEMS).
Jennifer Brown, DVM, DACVSMR
Dr. Jennifer Brown DVM, DACVSMR is a Canine Search Specialist (Live Find and HRD) and Team Veterinarian for Florida Task Force-2 Urban Search and Rescue. She is also a FEMA US&R IST Veterinarian and FEMA instructor and evaluator.
Stephen P. Wood, MS, ACNP
Stephen is an acute care nurse practitioner and program director for the acute care NP and the Extreme Medicine programs at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. His roots are in EMS and he has over 30 years of field experience, including 10 as a flight paramedic. He was a medic for a regional SWAT team and the law enforcement liaison for his hospital. He is now the associate medical director for EMS at Carney Hospital. He is a graduate scholar of the Harvard Macy Institute program for Healthcare Educators, a former fellow in Bioethics at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School and a current visiting researcher at the Petrie-Flom Center at the Harvard Law School Petrie-FlomCenter for Health Policy. He holds a Master of Science in Nursing as well as a Master of Science in Toxicology.
Trupti Shah, MD
Dr. Trupti Shah is an emergency medicine physician at Northwell Health Long Island Jewish Medical Center. She has specialty training in ultrasound and is actively involved in training residents.
Daniel Dexeus, DO
Daniel Dexeus is an emergency medicine physician and part of the ultrasound faculty at Northwell Health Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He is also an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Northwell/Hofstra.
Michael P. Kurtz, FP-C, CFC, NREMT-P
Michael has been involved in Emergency Medical Services for 43 years. Mike is currently employed by the Penn State Hershey Medical Center as a Flight Paramedic of the Life Lion Critical Care Transport Team. Mike also serves as an Instructor in Emergency Medicine and other allied health programs at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Mike has been very active with the FEMA US&R system since 1996. He is the Medical Team Coordinator / Lead Paramedic for PATF-1 and has been on numerous federal and state deployments. He is also active on the Pennsylvania South Central Task Force Incident Management Team as a Planning Section Chief as well as an Instructor Trainer / Adviser, Subject Matter Expert for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Water Rescue Curriculum and is also a Strike Team Leader for the Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team
Athena Mihailos, MD, MBA
Dr. Athena Mihailos is the Director of Emergency Ultrasound at LIJMC. She loves to teach anyone interested in ultrasound and is looking forward to help teach this course for the second time.
Trevor Glass
Trevor’s prehospital career started in 1988 as a military combat medic. Originally from South Africa, Trevor spent decades working as a critical care paramedic in Johannesburg, well-known for its high levels of high acuity trauma, both on road and as a flight paramedic. He has been involved in medical special operations since 2000 and has deployed to multiple international disasters and served as the founding Chair of the INSARAG Medical Working Group (MWG) from its inception in 2007 until 2015, which he still sits on as a technical expert. Trevor now lives in Australia, he holds an MSc in Emergency Medicine, is the owner and managing director of DART Solutions, and is still a passionate and clinically active critical care paramedic and member of the AUS01 INSARAG Classified Heavy USAR team.
Ann Marie Zollo, DVM, DACVECC
Dr. Ann Marie Zollo, DVM, DACVECC is a board-certified Emergency and Critical Care Specialist at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center (AMC), New York City’s only Level 1 Veterinary Trauma Center. Dr. Zollo has worked at AMC since 2013, and she currently serves as an attending clinician in the AMC’s Emergency Room and ICU. Dr. Zollo’s areas of interests include resuscitation, trauma, and education.
Sheldon Teperman, MD FACS
Dr. Teperman has been a member of the H and H Trauma community almost continuously since 1984, when he was a surgical intern at then Jacobi Medical Center. He assumed the position of Trauma Medical Director at Jacobi in 1987 and he has been named the Chief Trauma Surgeon for NYC Health and Hospitals. The Service Line is dedicated to deploying cutting edge and proven training and clinical technologies, quality improvement initiatives and educational seminars to serve the comprehensive needs of the Health and Hospitals Trauma System.
George Agriantonis, MD, FACS
Dr. George Agriantonis is the Director of Surgery and Trauma Medical Director at NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst, an American College of Surgeons verified Level One Trauma Center. He is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. Dr. Agriantonis also serves as the Chair of the New York City Regional Trauma Advisory Committee.
Matthew Bank, MD, FACS
Matthew Bank, MD, FACS is the current Executive Director of the Northwell Trauma Institute, which oversees the seven New York State Trauma Centers in the Northwell System. In addition, he is the Trauma Medical Director of South Shore University Hospital. Dr. Bank is the Chair of the New York Department of Health (DOH) State Trauma Advisory Committee (STAC) and the Co-Chair of the STAC Subcommittee on Performance Improvement. Dr. Bank is also a Member the USA Chapter of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders).
David V. Tuckman, MD
Dr. Tuckman is a board certified, dual fellowship trained (Surgery of the Hand and Upper Extremity and Sports Medicine/Arthroscopy) Orthopaedic Surgeon. He has been in practice since 2005. Dr. Tuckman has special interests in sports-related injuries as well as traumatic injuries of the upper extremity, including fractures of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand. He is dedicated to teaching and is an assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Tuckman is also involved in the design of new, cutting-edge orthopaedic surgical implants.
Captain Joseph G Kotora, MC, USN
Dr. Kotora is an emergency physician serving in the United States Navy. He is veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and has completed numerous deployments across five continents. He currently resides in Arlington, Virginia and is assigned as the Navy’s EMS Medical Director for EMS operations globally. He is stationed at the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Falls Church, VA.
Lieutenant Vincent Fanelli
Vincent joined FDNY EMS in 2007 and earned the promotion to EMS Lieutenant in 2016. He is currently assigned to EMS Special Operations Haztac Battalion as the Rescue Medic Program Coordinator. Vincent is currently assigned to NY-TF1 as a Medical Specialist and FDNY's Special Operations Command Task Force where he serves as a Medical and Logistics Specialist. Throughout his career, Vincent has been involved in countless emergency runs, from minor accidents to major disasters like Hurricane Sandy. He has been recognized for his heroic actions on several occasions, including providing life saving care to a patient pinned in a building collapse in 2015.
Captain Joseph Spinelli
Captain Joseph Spinelli has been with the FDNY for 18 years. He is currently assigned as the Commanding Officer of the Haz Tac Battalion which provides medical management for hazardous materials and technical rescue assignments. Captain Spinelli also serves as a Medical Specialist for NY-TF1.
Raymond Smith, EMT-P, CCP-P, CIC
Ray Smith is a Critical Care Paramedic with over 30 years providing prehospital emergency medical care in and around NYC. He has extensive experience developing and delivering EMS education for Fire, Police, Military and Healthcare agencies.
Sanjay Gupta, MD
Dr. Gupta is an emergency physician with significant experience in wilderness and resource limited medicine. He is a fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine and a professor of emergency medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. He serves as a medical officer in NY-4 DMAT and is the Senior Vice-President and Executive Director of Emergency Medicine at Northwell Health.
Robert M. Nappe, BS, EMT-P, EMS-I
Robert served 30 years as a police officer, and currently is in his46th year serving in EMS. He is currently working for the Yale-New Haven Health System in the department of CEMS (Center for Emergency Services) as an ALS instructor, and work part time for a local ambulance company. In 2004 he went to Iraq to train the Iraqi Police Force. He also specializes in moulage, and TECC (Tactical Emergency Casualty Care) training.
Chief Robert Rezende
Chief Robert Rezende has been with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department for 17 years. He is currently the Battalion Chief assigned as the San Diego Regional Alternative Energy Emergency Response Coordinator. Rob has been an active member of the hazmat team since 2008. He has deployed as a Hazmat Specialist on many natural disaster responses on behalf of FEMA US&R and most recently as a lithium-ion battery expert to support the EPA at the Maui Fires. Chief Rezende has been tasked by the San Diego Region to spearhead the fire department’s preparedness in managing alternative energy emergencies. He is also a member of the EPA’s Lithium-Ion Battery Task Force and FIRESCOPE’s Lithium-Ion Battery Subcommittee. He sits on several industry panels for battery safety.
Joshua Silverberg, MD FACEP FAAEM
Joshua Silverberg, MD FACEP FAAEM is the Director of the Jacobi Medical Center Snakebite Management Program. He is the Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Landre Stultz, Simulation Specialist
Landre is employed with Safeguard Medical as the Simulation Sales Representative and Special Effects Makeup Artist. She has nine years of experience in special effects makeup. Highlighting Landre’s years of experience, she has spent time in the United Kingdom, learning directly on how to make handmade hyper-realistic medical manikins. She has traveled nationwide providing realistic injury makeup for high schools, colleges, trade programs, hospitals, public safety departments, and the U.S. Military.
John Cassidy
John Cassidy is a lieutenant and 28-year member of the Fire Department City of New York (FDNY). He is assigned to Hazardous Materials Company 1 and has 21 years of experience responding to Haz Mat incidents. Cassidy is an instructor at the FDNY’s Haz Mat Technician School. He holds an associate degree in biomedical engineering from SUNY Farmingdale and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from SUNY Stony Brook with 16 years of clinical practice in emergency nursing.
Bradley Kaufman, MD, MPH
Bradley Kaufman is the First Deputy Medical Director for the FDNY, and is the Medical Director for Emergency Medical Dispatch and the EMS Bureau of Training. He serves as a Medical Team Manager with FEMA’s New York Task Force 1 US&R team. He is an Attending Physician at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
Dalan Zartman
Dalan Zartman has spent 25 years assigned to a urban heavy rescue as a firefighter-technical rescue specialist and paramedic. As the COO of the Energy Security Agency, he is responsible for fire and safety operations at the ESRG/ESA alternative energy research lab. Dalan leads the ESA emergency response sector to provide joint hazard mitigation with ESRG. Dalan sits on the SAE First Responder Task Force and additionally provides safety training and consultation of EV manufacturers and has led the technical efforts to implement international training for recyclers and dismantlers through ISRI.
Pamela Lai, MD, PhD, MSc
Pamela Lai is a Deputy Medical Director for the New York City Fire Department. She is the Medical Director for South Bronx, 911 On-line Medical Control, Research, QA/QI and is the Associate Medical Director for Special Operations. She is also a Medical Team Manager and the Associate Medical Director for NYTF-1.
Robert Winchell, MD, FACS
Dr. Winchell is an internationally renowned expert in care of the critically injured and the development, design, and operation of trauma systems. He is the G. Thomas Shires II Professor of Surgery, Professor of Medical Ethics in Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Trauma, Burns, Acute and Critical Care at Weill Cornell Medicine. He heads one of the leading Level 1 trauma centers in New York City and oversees the internationally recognized William Randolph Hearst Burn Center. Dr. Winchell is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, currently serving as Governor for the Manhattan Council Chapter. Dr Winchell has led the development and evolution of trauma systems throughout the world, including his seminal work in the Committee on Trauma’s Trauma System Consultation Program, and work with the WHO Global Alliance for the Care of the Injured.
Philip Chang, MD
Philip H. Chang MD is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the division of Trauma, Burns, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and an Assistant Attending Surgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. A double board-certified surgeon and critical care intensivist, Dr. Chang specializes in the treatment of burns of all types for adults and children, burn surgery, surgical critical care, burn reconstruction, laser treatment of burn scars, and selected skin conditions that require the wound care expertise of a burn unit. He also has areas of special interest in surgical education, international burn care, scar rehabilitation, and burn patient advocacy.
Jean-Paul Chretien, MHS, MD
Dr. Jean-Paul Chretien joined DARPA as a program manager in 2020, and recently retired from the United States Navy. His interests include disease and injury prevention, operational medicine, and biothreat countermeasures. Prior to coming to DARPA, Chretien led the Pandemic Warning Team at the Defense Intelligence Agency’s National Center for Medical Intelligence. Previous assignments include senior policy advisor for biodefense in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; team lead for Innovation & Evaluation at the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch; and director of force health protection for U.S. and NATO forces in southwestern Afghanistan.
Jacob Dutton, FF, EMT-P
Jake Dutton is an FDNY firefighter assigned to Rescue Co. 1 in Manhattan. He was previously assigned to Ladder Company 102 in Engine Company 235 in Brooklyn. He has also worked as a paramedic in the New York City Emergency Medical Services system for over a decade. Jake is a member of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue New York 1 Task Force and has also served with a NYC based disaster relief organization where he regularly responds to disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.
Barry Bachenheimer, Ed.D., NREMT/FF
Barry Bachenheimer is a veteran educator and EMS professional with over 39 years of BLS and ALS experience. He has served in a variety of roles for several agencies in New York and New Jersey including Director of EMS Operations, Training Officer, Fire Department officer, and still remains an active field provider and instructor. In addition to his EMS and Fire Career, Dr. Bachenheimer simultaneously has been a K-12 teacher and public school administrator in New Jersey for over 33 years and currently serves as an Assistant Superintendent for the Pascack Valley Regional Schools. He is also an adjunct professor at Montclair State University and is the founder of edRescue Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm focused on EMS and education innovation and training.
Joseph A. Barbera, MD
Baruch Berzon, MD
Joseph A. Barbera, MD is a board-certified emergency physician and an Associate Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at the George Washington University. He is a founding Co-Director of the George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management (ICDRM). Dr. Barbera has enjoyed a 3.5-decade career as an emergency responder and consultant in disaster response. He was the lead medical subject matter expert for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the development of the National Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Response System, and performed the same role for the USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) in developing the International Search & Rescue program. He led the development of the US&R medical team training course (the Medical Specialist Course) and was lead faculty for that course for many years. Dr. Barbera has been a Medical Team Manager for Fairfax County (Virginia) Urban Search and Rescue Task Force since 1993.
Dr. Berzon is a dual board-certified physician in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine and has unique expertise bridging military and civilian emergency response, having served in the 101 Paratrooper Unit of the IDF and a reservist in the Search and Rescue Unit. He currently serves as Regional Medical Director for Magen David Adom (Israel's National EMS) and Head of Hospital Emergency Preparedness at Shamir Asaf Harofeh Medical Center, where he oversees mass casualty incident planning and response protocols.
William Bullock, MPA, EMT-P
William J. Bullock is an EMS Lieutenant and Medic Officer with the San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) and the Specialized Program Coordinator for Community Outreach at BioBridge Global, South Texas Blood & Tissue. He is the lead architect of SAFD’s regional whole blood program and is an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapires Out of Hospital & Prehospital Standards Committee and the Prehopsital Blood Transfusion Initiative Coalition. He also leads donor recruitment, community education, and academic collaborations for the South Texas Blood & Tissue Heroes in Arms blood program. He has personally transfused over 100 units of prehospital blood and facilitated the distribution of multiple large volume blood packs in preparation and response to mass casualty events in Texas.
Lieutenant Fred Carlson
Lt. Carlson is currently the Executive Officer for the FDNY Robotics Unit. He was a firefighter in Ladder 151, Forest Hills Queens from 2006-2017 and was then detailed to the Command Tactical Unit as a pilot later that year. He also serves on the FDNY Incident Management Team. He is a a member of the IAFF/IAFC work group, National Association of Public Safety GIS work group, NUSTL Big City Drone Committee, and has assisted on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) with position task book standards.
Lieutenant John Cassidy
John Cassidy is a lieutenant and 29-year member of the Fire Department City of New York (FDNY). He is assigned to Hazardous Materials Company 1 and has 21 years of experience responding to Haz Mat incidents. Cassidy is an instructor at the FDNY’s Haz Mat Technician School.
Rocco DeLuca-Hospital Corpsman (Retired)
Rocco DeLuca is the Director of Simulation Support and Training at North American Rescue. He is a certified TCCC (Tactical Combat Casualty Care) and TECC (Tactical Emergency Casualty Care) Instructor. His journey into military medicine began in 1995 when he joined the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. Over the course of his distinguished career, he served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing critical medical care in some of the most demanding conditions. He also served as an instructor at the Naval Hospital Corps School, and spent time with the 2nd Marine Division where he provided medical support for Marine Corps missions.
Hector Fuentes, MBBS FACEM
Dr. Hector Fuentes is an Emergency Physician working as a Senior Consultant at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, a major tertiary referral hospital and trauma center in Queensland, Australia. He also serves as Co-Director at St Vincent’s Private Emergency Department in Toowoomba. Since 2008, Hector has been the Medical Director of the AUS01 INSARAG Classified Heavy USAR team, and serves as the Co-Chair of the INSARAG Medical Working Group. His background includes working as a retrieval doctor on both fixed-wing and helicopter retrieval services, as well as working as a pre-hospital doctor with the Queensland Ambulance Service.
Rita Hanel DVM, DACVIM (Int Med), DACVECC
Dr. Rita Hanel has served as a professor at NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, Senior Director with BluePearl Veterinary Partners, Chief Veterinary Officer for the Gentle Care Animal Hospital Group in NC, and Director of Consultation Services for Antech Diagnostics. She currently serves as the Senior Director of ER Doctor Education for the Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG). Dr. Hanel has taught, coordinated, and led courses aimed at training first responders in canine prehospital care since 2000 for both civilian and military organizations across the nation. She currently leads K9Down, which is taught at NCSU, and serves on the BOD as past president for the National Association of Veterinary Emergency Medical Services (NAVEMS).
LCDR Lauren Kalodner, MD, MPH
LCDR Lauren Kalodner is currently serving her second tour at 2nd Medical Battalion, Bravo Surgical Company in Portsmouth, Virginia. She works clinically at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth where she also serves as the EMS Medical Director and Liaison for the hospital, Medical Director for Caladrius Interfacility Transport Team, Operational Medical Directory for Navy Fire and Emergency Services Mid-Atlantic, and Chair of the Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee. In addition to her clinical and EMS responsibilities, LCDR Kalodner also serves as the NMCP Emergency Medicine Residency Associate Program Director for the PGY3 class and EMS Specialty Track Faculty Advisor.
Christopher Kendall, PCP, EMT
Christopher Kendall is an Emergency Management Coordinator at St. Joseph’s Health in NJ. Kendall is a seasoned public safety professional with a diverse background spanning EMS, wildland firefighting, and incident management. He has served as Deputy Chief of EMS at Montclair Ambulance Unit, Medical Unit Leader for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Division A Incident Management Team, and as a Northern Region Training Officer for the New Jersey EMS Task Force.
Sylvonne Layne, MD
Sylvonne Layne is a Burn Surgery Fellow at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical College. She went to the University of Pittsburgh for her undergraduate degree and graduate school for her Master of Public Health degree. She went to medical school at Howard University College of Medicine and then continued at Howard University Hospital for general surgery residency. She is excited to continue to learn more as well as contribute to the Burn Surgery field.
Anthony Macintyre, MD
Anthony Macintyre, MD is a board certified emergency physician practicing in Washington, DC. He has served as the medical director for the Fairfax County Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Program for 24 years deploying to numerous earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorist incidents domestically and internationally. He currently serves as the Senior Medical Advisor to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Francis O’Conner, MD
COL(Ret) Francis G. O’Connor is currently the Medical Director, Consortium for Health and Military Performance, and a Professor in the Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, USUHS. A retired Colonel from the United States Army Medical Corps, he has been a leader in sports medicine education and research for the military for over 25 years. Dr. O’Connor has authored over 120 peer reviewed articles in scientific journals and numerous book chapters/technical reports/health promotion resources for the military. In addition, Dr. O’Connor is the editor of ten texts on sports medicine including, the Textbook of Running Medicine, and Sports Medicine for the Primary Care Physician 4th Edition and ACSM’s Sports Medicine: A Comprehensive Review. He has been on the board of several leading organizations in sports medicine including the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and the American Medical Athletic Association and is a past President of the American Medical Society of Sports Medicine.
Wayne Papalski, HMCS/USN, ATP, NR-P, FP-C, TP-C, WP-C, DiMM
Wayne Papalski is a subject matter expert in tactical, austere, high-altitude medicine, cold environment medical operations, and austere Search and Rescue. He has worked as a Special Operations Flight Medic, Search and Rescue Corpsman, and Special Operations Medic for over 20 years. He currently is the Senior Enlisted Leader of the Naval Special Warfare Group TWO - Tactical Medical (TACMED) training cell. Additionally, he is a voting member of the Committee on Enroute Combat Casualty Care, and SME on the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care.
Ashley Pfaff, MD
Dr. Ashley Pfaff is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care at Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU Langone Health. In addition to her clinical appointments, Dr. Pfaff’s research interests are in trauma outcomes research with a specific focus on road and traffic injuries, micromobility injuries, and chest trauma.
Mark Piehl, MD, MPH
Mark Piehl is a pediatric critical care physician at WakeMed in Raleigh, NC, and a Medical Director with WakeMed Mobile Critical Care transport. Mark is also Founder and Chief Medical Officer of 410 Medical, a company focused on improving resuscitation in shock, sepsis, and trauma. He previously served as Medical Director of the WakeMed Children's Hospital and Director of Pediatrics at WakeMed. Mark is a founding member of the SPARC (Selective Prehospital Advanced Resuscitative Care) Academy and the North Carolina Regional Prehospital Blood Coalition. Mark is also Founder of the Samaritan Health Center, a clinic for the homeless and uninsured in Durham, NC.