EMS1.com Editorial Advisory Board

Maria Beermann-Foat, PhD, MBA, NRP, has over 20 years of prehospital emergency care experience in privately-owned, hospital-based and county government-based emergency services. Dr. Beermann-Foat has served the community of Johnson County (Kan.) since 1999 and currently serves as a battalion chief of operations for MED-ACT- Emergency Medical Services. Since first joining the department as a paramedic, she moved up the ranks in the roles of community education officer/PIO, captain/field training officer, battalion chief of training, and division chief of quality management.

Through her position as a course developer and instructor for the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland – operated by FEMA – her efforts have contributed toward preparing fire department and EMS department administrators in the areas of quality management and application of research methods for organizational improvement.

Dr. Beermann-Foat received the 2019 Emerging Leader Award, during the Pinnacle EMS Leadership conference, from Fitch & Associates.

Dr. Beermann-Foat holds a Ph.D. in Organization Management from Capella University and a Masters of Business Administration from MidAmerica Nazarene University. She is currently completing coursework to obtain a city and county management certificate from the University of Kansas. She holds a six sigma green belt certification through Johnson County Community College. She is a member of the International City and County Management Association (ICMA), the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), the National EMS Management Association (NEMSMA), and the American Society for Quality (ASQ) Kansas City Section. She has also held a position on the Diversity and Equity Committee for Johnson County Government since 2017.

Chris Cebollero is head of operations for QuickMedic. Cebollero is a nationally recognized Emergency Medical Services leader, best-selling author, and advocate. He is a member of the Forbes Coaching Council and is available for speaking, coaching and mentoring. Cebollero is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. Follow him on Twitter @ChiefofEMS and on Facebook.

Catherine R. Counts, PHD, MHA, is a health services researcher with Seattle Medic One in the Division of Emergency Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She received both her PhD and MHA from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Counts has research interests in domestic healthcare policy, quality, patient safety, organizational theory and culture, and pre-hospital emergency medicine. She is a member of the National Association of EMS Physicians and AcademyHealth. In her free time she trains Bruno, her USAR canine.

Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, or her website, or reach out via email at ccounts@tulane.edu.

Ann Marie Farina, BS, is a mental health advocate and educator with deep ties to the first responder community. She currently operates All-Hazards Wellness, a mental wellness company based on the emergency management principles of preparation, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation. From 2014 to 2020, she ran The Code Green Campaign, a first responder oriented non-profit organization focused on mental wellness in the workplace.

Between 2003 and 2016, Ann Marie worked as a paramedic and EMS educator in a variety of settings in Alaska and Washington. Ann Marie holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Central Washington University along with an Associate’s of Applied Science in Paramedicine from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Ann Marie is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. She can be reached at me@annmariefarina.com

Dr. Gustavo Flores is a physician and paramedic from San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has been involved in EMS for more than 15 years as a provider and educator. Gustavo is very active in EMS education. He is the director for his consulting firm Emergency & Critical Care Trainings LLC. He is a BLS, ACLS, ACLS-EP and PALS instructor as well as training center faculty and regional faculty for the American Heart Association. He also sits on the AHA’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee’s Educational Science and Programs Subcommittee at the national level. He is also a PHTLS, TCCC, EPC and AMLS Instructor for the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT). As part of NAEMT, he is an advocacy coordinator and member of the Advocacy Committee. On the clinical side, Gustavo is an air medical crew member of a fixed-wing, air medical transport company.

Michael Fraley has over 30 years of experience in EMS in a wide range of roles, including flight paramedic, EMS coordinator, service director and educator. Fraley began his career in EMS while earning a bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M University. He also earned a BA in business administration from Lakeland College. When not working as a paramedic or the coordinator of a regional trauma advisory council, Michael serves as a public safety diver and SCUBA instructor in northern Wisconsin.

David Givot, Esq., a paramedic turned attorney, graduated from UCLA Center for Prehospital Care in 1989 and spent nearly a decade working in EMS. He later transitioned into leadership roles, including director of operations for a major ambulance provider, before earning his law degree in 2008. Givot now runs a Criminal & EMS Defense Law Practice, defending California EMS providers and advocating for improved EMS education nationwide. He created TheLegalGuardian.com and teaches at UCLA Paramedic School. Givot authored “Sirens, Lights, and Lawyers: The Law & Other Really Important Stuff EMS Providers Never Learned in School.”

Kelly Grayson, AGS, NRP, CCP, has been a critical care paramedic and EMS educator for over 30 years. Kelly is a passionate EMS advocate and a frequent regional and national EMS conference speaker, podcaster, and contributing author to several EMS textbooks. He is the author of the bestselling “Life, Death and Everything In Between,” trilogy of EMS memoirs, the editor of the “Perspectives” emergency medicine and public safety anthologies, and many short stories and fiction novels. He lives in the North Country of New York where his patients constantly ask him about his Louisiana accent.

Art Hsieh, MA, NRP teaches in Northern California at the Public Safety Training Center, Santa Rosa Junior College in the Emergency Care Program. An EMS provider since 1982, Art has served as a line medic, supervisor and chief officer in the private, third service and fire-based EMS. He has directed both primary and EMS continuing education programs. Art is a textbook writer, author of “EMT Exam for Dummies,” has presented at conferences nationwide and continues to provide direct patient care regularly. Art is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board.

EMS1.com columnist Krisendath D. Kaull, a paramedic and former firefighter, specializes in technology trends and their effect in Public Safety. During almost 15 years in both rural and urban fire and EMS settings, he has enhanced technology communications between field EMS providers and emergency departments.

Rob Lawrence has been a leader in civilian and military EMS for over a quarter of a century. He is currently the director of strategic implementation for PRO EMS and its educational arm, Prodigy EMS, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and part-time executive director of the California Ambulance Association.

He previously served as the chief operating officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority (Virginia), which won both state and national EMS Agency of the Year awards during his 10-year tenure. Additionally, he served as COO for Paramedics Plus in Alameda County, California.

Prior to emigrating to the U.S. in 2008, Rob served as the COO for the East of England Ambulance Service in Suffolk County, England, and as the executive director of operations and service development for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust. Rob is a former Army officer and graduate of the UK’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served worldwide in a 20-year military career encompassing many prehospital and evacuation leadership roles.

Rob is a board member of the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) as well as chair of the American Ambulance Association’s State Association Forum. He writes and podcasts for EMS1 and is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. Connect with him on Twitter.

Dan Limmer is a paramedic, educator and police officer who has been involved in public safety for more than 35 years. He has authored more than a dozen EMS textbooks including the Emergency Care textbook and is a frequent international conference speaker. He is the Chief Knowledge Officer at Limmer Education, a company he co-founded to publish high quality study and test prep programs. Limmer is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board.

Dr. Casey Patrick is medical director for the Montgomery County Hospital District EMS service in Greater Houston, where he helped develop and produces the MCHD Paramedic Podcast. Dr. Patrick is board certified in both Emergency and EMS Medicine and works as a community emergency physician in multiple states. Additionally, he is an active member of the Texas NAEMSP State chapter and the national association, and serves as an EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board member.

Emily Pearce, BS, EMT-P, FAWM, DiMM is a paramedic and third-year medical student at the University of New Mexico. Emily has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and has been involved in EMS since 2008. She has worked as an EMT-Basic in rural Virginia, a search and rescue paramedic for the National Park Service in Grand Canyon National Park, and a prehospital educator and researcher at UNM.

Ernesto M. Rodriguez, MA, LP, is EMS chief (ret.), Austin-Travis County EMS.

David K. Tan, MD, EMT-T, FAEMS, is associate professor and chief of EMS in the division of emergency medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is double board-certified in Emergency Medicine and EMS Medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Tan remains very active in EMS at the local, state and national levels as an operational medical director for local police, fire and EMS agencies. He is chairman of the Metropolitan St. Louis Emergency Transport Oversight Commission, vice-chairman of the Missouri State Advisory Council on EMS, and president of the National Association of EMS Physicians. Dr. Tan is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. He also provides medical direction to EMS1.com and the EMS1 Academy.

Nicole M. Volpi, PhD, NRP, has experience in emergency medical services, law enforcement, military/civilian disaster response and disaster management research. She currently works full-time as a paramedic, preceptor, and emergency management disaster liaison for a hospital-based emergency medical service in Marrero, Louisiana.

She serves as one of the Louisiana Department of Health Region One EMS designated regional coordinators within the southeast area, responding to various emergencies where EMS support is needed or requested on a local/state level.

She has a PhD from Capella University in Public Safety/Emergency Management and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration from Loyola University in New Orleans.