CONFERENCE SPEAKERS A-L

Stephanie Ashford is the division chief of clinical practice and standards for the St. Charles County Ambulance District in St. Peters, Missouri. She has worked in EMS for 29 years and serves as faculty for the National Association of EMS Physicians Quality Improvement & Patient Safety Course, as well as co-director for the NAEMSE/NAEMSP Educator Collaborative and Life-Long Learning course. She has presented around the world on EMS Quality, Safety, Education, Pediatrics, and Resuscitation.

Susan Bailey serves as the Director of the Louisiana Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and is a part-time faculty member at Columbia Southern University. She has been active in the EMS Industry since 1989, with experience in both rural and urban settings. She currently serves as the NAEMT representative on the Commission on Accreditation of Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPCE) Board of Directors and chaired it from 2018 to 2022. A lifetime NAEMT member and the Immediate Past President, Susan served as Vice Chair of NAEMT’s Advocacy Committee, Chair of the Disaster Preparedness Committee, and Chair of the Affiliate Advisory Council, and is currently the Affiliate Advisory Council Vice Chair and Chair of the Events Committee. She also served on the Education Committee and the Finance Committee. In 2014, she was awarded the NASCO/NAEMT Paramedic of the Year Award. In 2016, she received the NAEMT Education Service Award for her innovative approach to delivering NAEMT education programs in rural areas. Susan is a lifetime member of the Louisiana Association of National Registered EMTs (LANREMT). LANREMT awarded her the Instructor of the Year Award in 1999, a Presidential Meritorious Award in 2013, and an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2018. She has received several Raising the Bar Recognitions from Columbia Southern University, in which students nominate faculty for this recognition. This year, she also received the Vanguard Award from the American Ambulance Association. Recipients of this award have over 35 years of experience in EMS and have demonstrated leadership in the EMS Profession. Passionate about the EMS Industry, Susan strives to bring positive attention to the work that EMS Practitioners do. She encourages EMS practitioners to expand their knowledge to keep pace with the ever-changing scope of practice within the EMS industry. A Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Susan has a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Southeastern Louisiana University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and earned her Master’s Degree in Emergency Management from Millersville University in Pennsylvania.

Remle Crowe, PhD, NREMT is an expert in EMS research and quality improvement. Prior to earning her PhD in public health from The Ohio State University, her EMS career began as a volunteer EMT and instructor with the Red Cross in Mexico City, where she also worked at Ford Motor Company as a Powertrain Quality engineer certified as a Black Belt in Six Sigma. Now, Dr. Crowe blends her background in research and improvement science to improve community health and safety through the power of data as Director of Research at ESO in Austin, Texas.

Joseph Finney is a Washington University pediatric emergency medicine and EMS physician. Dr. Finney is board certified in pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine, and emergency medical services (EMS). He serves as the director of EMS at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Missouri EMS for Children Director of Prehospital Readiness. 

Dr. Finney is committed to simplifying the prehospital care of children through interactive education, research, and quality improvement. In addition to his clinical and educational activities, Dr. Finney focuses his time on prehospital research in pediatric seizure management and manual ventilation with particular interest in the use of ketamine for prehospital benzodiazepine refractory status epilepticus.

Brian Froelke graduated from University of Cincinnati School of Medicine in 2002, graduated from his Emergency Medicine Residency at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital in 2006 as chief resident, and was the inaugural fellow in EMS at Washington University graduating in 2007. Dr. Froelke is board certified in Emergency Medicine and holds a subspecialty certification in EMS. Dr. Froelke is the Medical Director for Christian Hospital EMS and the associated municipalities. He has served in several political roles including regional EMS Medical Director for the Missouri East Central Region since 2007 and was the State EMS Medical Director for Missouri from 2013-1016. Dr. Froelke also participates in leadership and consultation roles for several organizations including Chief Medical Officer for Missouri Disaster Response System, the Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative, and FluidIQ and is the EMS Medical Advisor for Center for Patient Safety, Danny’s Dose Alliance, MedAware Solutions and Ploto, Inc.

Scott Gilmore is the Medical Director of St. Louis Fire Department, Affton Fire Protection District and Lemay Fire Protection District. He started his career in EMS over 20 years ago as an EMT-A working in a fire-based system. He continued his training and became an EMT-I, EMT-P and EMS Educator. Prior to becoming the Medical Director of the St. Louis Fire Department, he served as the Assistant Medical Director. In addition to being the Medical Director, he works as an attending physician in the Emergency Department at Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis, Missouri and serves on the Board of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Mic Gunderson has been involved in EMS for over 50 years in managerial and clinical roles with third service, fire, private and military EMS systems, research teams, EMS medical direction groups, and as an consultant/educator. He has served on the boards of directors for several national EMS organizations and the editorial boards for several academic EMS journals. He is currently the President of the Center for Systems Improvement and the Chief Strategy Officer for the Cambridge Consulting Group. He is also the Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Paramedicine. Among his previous positions, Mic served as the National Director - Clinical Systems at the American Heart Association; Executive Director for the Kent County EMS System in Grand Rapids, MI; National Director for Quality, Education and Research with the Rural/Metro Corporation; Director of Research and Education with the Office of the Medical Director in the Pinellas County, Florida EMS system; and as a Research Associate in the Department of Surgery at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. 

Joe Holley is the Medical Director for the State of Tennessee Department of Emergency Medical Services as well as the Memphis and Shelby County Fire Departments and several municipal and private ambulance services in West Tennessee. He also holds the position of Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Holley received his Medical Degree from the University

of Mississippi School of Medicine, followed by an internship and residency at University Medical Center in Jackson. Dr. Holley has served on over 50 deployments, including Hurricane Katrina and the Pentagon on 9/11, as the Medical Director of the Tennessee Task Force 1, Urban Search & Rescue Team and serves on the national FEMA Incident Support Team. Dr. Holley is the Medical Director for Tier 1 Group, one of the nation’s leading Military training facilities as well as the Tennessee Fire Academy. He is a member of the CPACE Board of Directors, the National Association of EMS Physicians and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Holley is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services.

Dr. Holman has served in various medical leadership positions over several decades: as Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Clinical Medical at Georgetown University School of Medicine, as the Internal Medicine Discipline Director for Unity Health Care (DC’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center), and as the longest serving medical director of Washington, DC’s Fire and EMS Department. He has received twelve teaching awards while at Georgetown and was the recipient of the 2024 Paul E. Pepe, MD “Eagle of the Year” award given to one EMS medical director annually by the EMS Eagles Global Alliance.

Michael Kaduce, MPS, NRP is the director of the Falck Health Institute, where he leads the initial education initiatives for Falck. Michael began his EMS journey as an EMT in Iowa and later became a paramedic/firefighter for the Urbandale Fire Department. After four years, Michael became an EMS Educator at the University of Iowa, providing EMT and paramedic initial and continuing education. Michael then joined the UCLA Center for Prehospital Care at the David Geffen School of Medicine as the EMT program director, overseeing the country’s largest EMT education program for 6 years. He has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security and Public Health. Michael has been published on prehospital patient care and EMS educational best practices and serves as an author for the most widely used EMT and paramedic textbooks. Michael is the West Coast representative for the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians Board of Directors and has taught NAEMT courses around the globe. Michael is also a research associate for the UCLA Prehospital Care Research Forum.

Mark D. Levine, MD is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medicine Course Director at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He started his career as an Emergency Medical Technician—Basic. He graduated from New York University School of Medicine and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the MetroHealth Medical Center/Cleveland Clinic program in Cleveland, Ohio, where he served as a Flight Physician for Metro Life Flight. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services. He was the former Medical Director of the St. Louis Fire Department, and now serves as the Assistant Medical Director. He has lectured locally, nationally, and internationally on Emergency Medicine and Pre-hospital Medicine, has edited a textbook on Emergency Medicine, and is a reviewer for EMS World Magazine.