NEW FRONTIER
EMERGENCY MEDICINE SYMPOSIUM

Dr. Ed Racht has been involved in Emergency Medical Services and healthcare systems for more than 30 years. He currently serves as Chair of the Texas EMS, Trauma and Acute Care Foundation, an organization that provides advocacy, strategic planning and healthcare system credentialing in the State of Texas. Dr. Racht has been Chief Medical Officer for American Medical Response (AMR) since 2010. Prior to this role, he served as the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs for Piedmont Newnan Hospital in metro Atlanta. Dr. Racht was the first full-time Medical Director for the Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services System, where he spent 13 years. The System was nationally recognized in the Institute of Medicine’s Report on the state of emergency care for its collaborative approach to challenging healthcare integration issues. Dr. Racht received his undergraduate and medical degree from Emory University in Atlanta and completed his residency at the Medical College of Virginia. Dr. Racht is the recipient of numerous awards including being named EMS Medical Director of the Year for the State of Texas, the American Heart Association’s Paul Ledbetter MD Physician Volunteer of the Year Award and was named a “Hero of Emergency Medicine” in 2008 by the American College of Emergency Physicians. In 2015, he was the first recipient of the Joseph P. Ornato Excellence in Clinical Leadership Award, and in 2011 received the Slovis Award for Educational Excellence by the U.S. Metropolitan Municipalities Medical Director Consortium. He is also the third Inductee in the Texas EMS, Trauma and Acute Care Foundation Hall of Fame.

Rod Landrum has spent over forty years in leadership positions and has trained thousands of individuals in productivity and self-improvement. He is a recognized speaker for delivering motivational, inspirational and positive messages to all types of audiences. Having been in leadership roles for the Franklin Covey Company and Labette Health Hospital as well as other executive positions, he laces his message with practical on- the- job examples and real life experiences. Rod and his wife Karen live in a small southeast Kansas town where they raised five boys.

I grew up in Coeur d’Alene and got my undergraduate degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University. I will receive my MD from University of Colorado in May 2021 and begin my training in General Surgery in June at the University of Colorado. I am involved in research with Emergency Medicine and Toxicology regarding snake bite epidemiology and treatment protocols and am consulting with NASA’s Exploration Medical Capabilities project to determine medical risks in long-term space missions. I am honored to be returning to New Frontier to teach in the Anatomy Lab, but am happy to talk about anatomy, pediatric surgery, transplants, and trauma at any time!

Will Krost is an Emergency Physician and Critical Care Paramedic for Mercy Health in Toledo, Ohio. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University (Washington, DC). Will was the Director of Emergency Services and Health system Access for Blanchard Valley Health system (Findlay, Ohio) and a former Flight Paramedic with SVMMC Life Flight (Toledo, Ohio). He has over eighteen years of experience in emergency medical services including prehospital education, flight medicine; critical care medicine, cardio-pulmonary perfusion, clinical research, and pre-hospital administration.

Will began his EMS career in 1992 at Put-In-Bay EMS in Erie County, Ohio.  He received his paramedic training at Providence Hospital in Sandusky, Ohio, his Adult Critical Care training at the Medical College of Ohio and his Pediatric/Neonatal Critical Care training at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  Most recently, he was the Program Manager for the Division of Emergency Medical Services and the Emergency Medicine Special Operations Institute at the University of Cincinnati.   Will also served as the Clinical Coordinator of Prehospital Research and is an Instructor of Emergency Medicine while at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Will holds Bachelor of Science in Applied Sciences degree in Allied Health Management from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio and an MBA in Healthcare Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.  Will also completed Lean Six Sigma Black belt training at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business.

Will is the author of several articles for “Emergency Medical Services Magazine” on topics such as medical protocol development, pediatric pulmonary emergencies, pediatric cardiac physiology and congenital heart defects.  Along with Joseph Mistovich and Daniel Limmer, Will was a co-author of the monthly CE article in EMS magazine entitled “Beyond the Basics”. He is a subject matter expert and author for “Fire & Emergency Television Network” (Pulse Multimedia Video series), 24-7 EMS Publishing, and Brady, Prentice-Hall publishing on various clinical subjects.  Will has also lectured extensively at the local, national, and international level on numerous topics.  He is an advisory board member of “Emergency Medical Services Magazine” and former board member for the Ohio Chapter of ACEP EMS Division.  Most notably, Will was selected as one of eleven group leaders selected nationally to direct the development of EMS Education Standards to replace the U.S.D.O.T. Emergency Medical Services National Standard Curriculum.

More information coming soon.

Dan Livengood has been a Firefighter/Paramedic for Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue for 25 years, a Flight Paramedic with Life Flight Network for 15 years and an EMT Basic instructor for 3 years.

Christopher Way Paramedic, BA Christopher Way has been an emergency service professional for 28 years. Chief Way transitioned to Kootenai County Fire and Rescue as the Fire Chief in May of 2020 after serving as the Chief Officer for the Kootenai County EMS System for the previous seven years. Chief Way came to Idaho from Kansas where he served in Fire and EMS roles in urban, sub-urban and rural settings. He was an EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and now has been a licensed paramedic since 1994 as well as a certified Firefighter. Throughout his career he has held different ranks culminating most recently in his promotion to Fire Chief.  He also has significant experience in disaster management at the local, state and national level. In addition to his full-time role as Fire Chief he is involved at the local, regional, state and national level in advocacy and leadership for emergency services.  He is a regular speaker at national conferences and in his spare time Chief Way and two partners own an Emergency Medicine education and consulting company. Passionate about emergency medical care, Governor Brad Little selected Chief Way to be the Chairman of the Idaho Time Sensitive Emergency Council in May of 2019. He has a bachelor’s degree in Management and Human Relations and maintains all of his Fire and EMS licenses/certifications.  He regularly donates time to his community, serves local non-profit organizations and is involved in his children’s many activities. Chris and his wife Jennifer live in Hayden, Idaho with their two daughters and four Labradors.

Janet has been a flight nurse for 14 years and works full time for LifeFlight Eagle Air Medical Transport out of Kansas City.

In addition to EMS, she has worked in ICU, ER and OB to be familiar with the different types of calls that she and her partner may encounter in EMS.

Janet has her bachelor’s Degree in science and Nursing and enjoys teaching part time at various EMS Conferences throughout the year in addition to writing articles for various industry magazines and continuing education modules for Medic-CE.

Her website is https://www.emsteacher.com where you can see where she will be headed next as well as the most current list of topics offered. You can email her at janettaylor6@icloud.com.

Holly began her career as an EMT in 1999. Her love of EMS drove her to become a Paramedic, and in 2002, she accomplished that goal. To gain experience, she worked on a busy 911 ambulance and eventually on the Trauma Team at a Level I Trauma Center.

All her hard work paid off in 2009 when Holly achieved another goal and became a Flight Paramedic. Her desire to advance her knowledge pushed Holly towards Nursing School, and in 2013, she earned her nursing degree.

With the ultimate dream of becoming a Flight Nurse, Holly began working in an ICU and ED to gain the required nursing experience. In 2016, she finally returned to the field as a Flight Nurse.

Along the way, Holly discovered a second love. With her years of varied experience, she began teaching outreach and continuing education courses for her flight service and local agencies in need. Holly continues to fly and teach and enjoys learning from all of the people she meets along the way.