Bruce Barnhart MSN, RN, CEP 
Bruce is Senior Program Manager for the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center. He has worked to improve patient outcomes from critical, time-sensitive conditions including traumatic brain injury, cardiac arrest, seizures, and others in EMS, ED, and critical care environments. He has been instrumental in implementing statewide public health initiatives including the EPIC TBI trial, the SHARE cardiac arrest initiative, and SIREN Network trials that have dramatically improved survival across Arizona.

Elizabeth R. Benjamin, MD, PhD, FACS 
Dr. Benjamin is Professor of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine and the Trauma Medical Director and Director of Surgical Simulation at Grady Memorial Hospital. Prior to joining the teams at Emory and Grady, she was a trauma and acute care surgeon at the University of Southern California (USC), practicing at Los Angeles County Hospital, where she was also Associate Trauma Medical Director, Director of the Fresh Tissue Dissection Laboratory, and Director of Quality Improvement. She completed her residency at UCLA and her Trauma and Surgical Critical Care fellowship at the University of Texas, Southwestern/Parkland Hospital. 


Rudolfo “Rudy” Cabrera, RN, BSN, CFRN, EMT-P
Rudy is Director, Chief Flight Nurse, and Life Flight Education Director at Memorial Hermann Life Flight. He has been a nurse for 34 years, and a flight nurse practitioner for 5 years, with the majority of his training in ICU and emergency trauma. Rudy began as a staff flight nurse, then became the Life Flight Educator, moved into management as the Chief Flight Nurse, and is now the Life Flight Director of Nursing, Director of Life Flight Education, and Chief Flight nurse. He is still active on the helicopter. 

COL (Ret.) Andrew Cap, MS, MD, PhD 
Dr. Cap is an attending Hematologist at Brooke Army Medical Center, Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Hematology Consultant to the Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and a Board Director of Velico Medical. He serves as an associate editor of the journal Transfusion, as well as on the editorial boards of Shock and the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. He recently retired from the U.S. Army after 22 years of service. His last assignment was as Director of Research at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) in San Antonio, TX, where he led over 300 researchers and directed a $60 million research program. He previously served as Chief of Blood Research at USAISR. Other significant duties included serving as Consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General for Hematology and Medical Oncology, Clinical Advisor to the Armed Services Blood Program and to the Joint Trauma System, and Co-Chair, NATO Blood Panel. In addition to deployment experience in Iraq, he has supported numerous Special Operations Command training exercises and capability development efforts. Dr. Cap studied at Harvard University, MIT, and Boston University School of Medicine. He trained in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at NIH.


Major Caitlin Castle, USAF, MC
Maj. Castle is an active-duty US Air Force psychiatrist and Medical Director at the Brooke Army Medical Center Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit at Joint Base San Antonio. She previously served as the Director of Psychological Health in a deployed setting, leading Disaster Mental Health as well as Combat Operational Stress Control responses to include providing education, intervention, screening, psychological first aid, and referrals for those exposed to high-stress events.

Earl Culvey III
Earlis a paramedic supervisor with the Division of EMS at Geisinger Health Systems, in Danville, Pennsylvania. He has been in EMS for 25 years, serving in various staff and leadership roles. His interests include mass casualty incident management, trauma triage, EMS Leadership, and EMS Research. 

Brian Eastridge, MD, FACS 
Dr. Eastridge is Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Trauma and Emergency General Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Trauma Medical Director of the University Health System, and holds the Jocelyn and Joe Straus Endowed Chair in Trauma Research. He is vice chairman of the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, chairman of the regional Trauma System PI Committee, and an appointed member of the Texas Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council. He received his MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1989, during which time he was commissioned in the US Army National Guard. Dr. Eastridge did his residency in general surgery at the University of Maryland Medical System and then pursued fellowship training in surgical critical care at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, after which he spent eight years on the faculty of UT Southwestern. After 17 years of US Army Guard/Reserve service, Dr. Eastridge transitioned to active duty as COL US Army, Medical Corp in 2005 and served as Trauma Medical Director for the Brooke Army Medical Center, Surgical Critical Care Program Director for SAUSHEC, and Division Chief of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care. He was instrumental in developing and implementing the Joint Trauma System, serving as the initial Director of the Joint Theater Trauma System (Deployed) as well as serving in that deployed leadership position on two more occasions. In addition, he served as director of the Joint Trauma System (U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research of the US Army’s Medical Research and Material Command [MRMC]), and Trauma Consultant to the US Army Surgeon General. During his service, he has deployed six times to combat operations in Southwest Asia. He was appointed to the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma National Faculty and served as the Chairman of the Trauma Systems Committee and Trauma System Pillar. In 2023, he was appointed as the medical director of the Military Health System Strategic Partnership American College of Surgeons. He has been published extensively in peer-reviewed literature and has written/edited three books focused on improving the military trauma system and improving combat casualty care outcomes for our wounded warriors. His current research is grant funded and focused on remote trauma outcomes, trauma system development, and predictive modelling of injury outcomes and pre-hospital mortality. 

Mary E. Fallat, MD 
Dr. Fallat is Professor of Surgery at the University of Louisville and an attending pediatric surgeon at Norton Children’s Hospital where she has been in practice for over 35 years. Interest areas include access to surgical care, trauma, and prehospital care, particularly in rural and underserved areas of the country. She is a champion of “pediatric readiness” of trauma systems, including all emergency departments that care for children. Dr. Fallat has been funded by The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) as program director for the Kentucky Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program since 2004. She is a sub-Principal Investigator for an awarded HRSA grant to develop a national pediatric pandemic network.

Scott Kostolni, EMT-P
Scott has nearly two decades of experience in prehospital emergency medicine and specializes in high-risk critical care medical transfers and 911 emergency care for Stony Brook Medicine. A dedicated educator, Scott has mentored EMS providers as chief and probationary trainer of the Wantagh-Levittown Volunteer Ambulance Corps and has taught at both Adelphi University and Stony Brook Medicine. He is the lead author of “Whole Blood versus Blood Components in Prehospital Care,” which examines the effectiveness of different blood transfusion strategies in the field. With a strong passion for technology, Scott is developing tools to help prehospital care providers perform more efficiently, including EMScribe — a tool aimed at providing automated documentation, keeping providers’ attention on the patient instead of on their tablets or Toughbooks. 

Oliver Kreuzer, PJ (Pararescue), NREMT-P, FP-C, CCP-C, TP-C, WP-C, DiMM, DiMEM
Oliver is a Search & Rescue Flight Paramedic Instructor for Air Zermatt and US Air Force Pararescue Jumper for the 131st Rescue Squadron. He is responsible for rescuing people at high altitudes in Switzerland, including the Matterhorn, and for performing combat search, rescue, and recovery missions of isolated personnel around the globe. Oliver has performed over 1600 helicopter rescues since 2007 and serves as a Special Operations Rescue Specialist qualified in HALO (parachuting) and closed-circuit scuba diving. He is passionate about teaching, completing successful missions, and supporting his peers in their roles as search and rescue specialists and providers.

Douglas F. Kupas, MD, EMT-P, FAEMS, FACEP
Dr. Kupas is medical director for Geisinger EMS and co-director of Mobile Integrated Healthcare for Geisinger Health System, his professional home for the past 30 years. He is a professor of emergency medicine and an EMS physician who is board-certified in both EMS and emergency medicine. Dr. Kupas also serves as the director of the Resuscitation Program at Geisinger. Dr. Kupas is an avid researcher and passionate advocate for EMS practitioners and patient safety. His clinical interests include CPR, hypothermia, end-of-life care, trauma triage, EMS patient and practitioner safety and EMS airway management. Dr. Kupas’s EMS career began 40 years ago when he joined Lower Kiski Ambulance Service in Leechburg, PA, on his 16th birthday as a volunteer. He later became a paramedic and a physician. He earned his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and completed his residency in emergency medicine at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. Dr. Kupas is the Medical Director of NAEMT, President-Elect of NAEMSP, and serves on the EMS Subboard of the American Board of Emergency Medicine. In 2020, Dr. Kupas received the Rocco V. Morando Lifetime Achievement Award from NAEMT and NREMT.

Kevin Mackey, MD, FAEMS 
Dr. Mackey is the medical team manager for FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 7, the medical director for Sacramento Fire Department and Sacramento Airport Fire. He is double boarded in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). He attended medical school at St. Louis University and completed his emergency medicine residency at the University of Pittsburgh before joining Kaiser Permanente in 2004 as a full-time emergency physician. Dr. Mackey has served in a variety of roles including the EMS medical director for a multi-county EMS authority and the fire service medical director for Sacramento Regional Fire Services. His leadership in EMS includes positions in state and national organizations, currently as the treasurer for the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), the past-chair for the National Registry of EMTs, and as a scope of practice committee member for the Emergency Medical Directors Association of California. He serves on several national work groups looking at the EMS workforce shortage and he is a member of the Joint National EMS Leadership Forum. Dr. Mackey is an accomplished lecturer, having delivered EMS-focused topics at local, national, and international meetings. He currently lives in Sacramento, California.

Zaffer Qasim, MD, FRCEM 
Dr. Qasim is an associate professor of Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, and Prehospital Care at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Karachi. He completed residency and fellowship training in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care in the United Kingdom, where he also worked as an attending (consultant) emergency physician and operational EMS physician. He moved to the United States to complete training in Trauma/Surgical Critical Care at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland before moving to Philadelphia. His academic interests lie in advanced trauma and endovascular resuscitation, airway management, simulation, and prehospital care.

Battalion Chief Erik Saari  
Chief Saari is the EMS operations chief for the Sacramento City Fire Department (SFD). He has served SFD for 30 years as a firefighter paramedic, a captain, and a battalion chief. For the past several years he has been a lead instructor for MCI and “Active Shooter” (now referred to as “Intentional MCI” or IMCI operations) as well as an instructor for multiple other disciplines including Technical Rescue, Truck Company Operations, and numerous EMS subjects. He has also been an Academy Training Officer. Chief Saari served two years with the Office of Homeland Security in a regional Task Force for the state conducting emergency response exercise and evaluations. He is a CSFM Certified Company and Chief Fire Officer and graduated from Waldorf College with a Degree in Fire Administration. 

Rickquel “Rikki” Tripp, MD, MPH, FAEMS, CDR, USN
Dr. Tripp is an associate professor of Emergency Medicine, EMS faculty, and EMS medical director of four EMS agencies. She is also the assistant medical director for City of Pittsburgh EMS. She is board certified in Emergency Medicine and EMS. She serves as the first vice chair of both Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion of UPMC Graduate Medical Education and Diversity, Inclusion, & Health Equity of UPMC Department of Emergency Medicine. She is also the co-chair of UPP EM DEI Committee and former founding vice chair of the National Association of EMS Physicians DEI Committee. She is also the co-founder for Akoma United, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating life-saving skills like CPR, Narcan use, and Stop the Bleed to underserved communities. Dr. Tripp received the UPMC Award for Commitment and Excellence in Service for her outstanding accomplishments and commitment in DEI in 2019 along with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Social Justice Educator Award, Onyx Woman Leadership Award, and YWCA Bridge Builder Award in 2023. She completed her MD at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MPH at Harvard School of Public Health, emergency medicine residency at the University of Chicago, and her EMS Fellowship at UPMC. In addition to Dr. Tripp being a Commander in the US Navy Reserves and her previous service as a flight surgeon while on active duty, she is an exceptional leader, mentor, and educator within the UPMC/Pitt community and nationally. 

Jennifer Wyatt, Paramedic 
Deputy Chief Wyatt is Deputy Fire Chief, Clark County Fire Department, where she began her career in 2001. She attended paramedic school in 2003 and joined the Nevada FEMA team in Medical Logistics, earning the rank of Engineer in 2005. She was an engineer trainer and a subject matter expert for multiple promotional exams for Engineer and Captain, and later promoted to Captain where she also served as the department's representative for the Fusion Center, which resides in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Deputy Chief Wyatt worked on the Hostile Event Policy with other local fire departments and law enforcement agencies. In 2019, she was promoted to Assistant Chief of EMS and then Deputy Fire Chief in 2020. In addition to responsibilities related to EMS, she oversees the department’s Finance and Administration. She also served as the vice president of IAFF Local 1908 for seven years. Deputy Chief Wyatt graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor’s in finance and moved to Las Vegas to work as a Comptroller for EG&G, a Department of Defense contractor.