Speakers

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.

Dr. Larmon is currently a professor emeritus of emergency medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Founding Director of the UCLA Center for Prehospital Care. He has been actively involved in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for more than 50 years.

Dr. Larmon has a vast amount of experience in EMS. He has worked as an ambulance attendant, NREMT-B, Lifeguard-Paramedic, Firefighter, Firefighter- Paramedic, EMS Educator, Researcher, Author, and Professor.

Dr. Larmon is an innovator and a pioneer in the area of EMS Research. His goal has been to develop EMS as a recognized and respected medical profession. Dr. Larmon founded the Prehospital Care Research Forum (PCRF) more than 15 years ago. This organization’s goal is to promote, educate and disseminate EMS research.  During the last 20 years, under the direction of Dr. Larmon, PCRF has published more than 600 abstracts, in two major EMS Journals, and has educated more than 500 EMS professional’s in EMS Research Workshops.

Dr. Larmon has dedicated his life to the professionalism of EMS. Research has been his instrument to reach this goal. Dr. Larmon’s current interest is in the areas of Best Practice, Evidence Based Medicine, Community Health and Patient Safety.

Steve has been in EMS these past 36 years and is currently a working paramedic and instructor for Southwest Teller County EMS in Colorado. Believing humor is an essential amino acid in surviving pre-hospital care, Steve has written over 300 humor articles for both JEMS and EMS World magazines and has drawn over 2,000 cartoons illustrating the humorous side of EMS. As both a national and international speaker for emergency health care providers Steve seeks world peace and frequent flyer mileage.

Will Krost is 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 currently in the process of completing his Medical Degree (MD) and will graduate in 2016.

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.

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.

Scott began his EMS career in 1992. Shortly after his arrival into pre-hospital medicine, he became a Firefighter with the City of Cleburne, Texas. With his love for education, Scott became the EMS educator for his Fire Department and other local agencies in need. He also joined Tarrant County College in Fort Worth as Adjunct EMS Faculty.

In 1999, Scott became a Flight Paramedic with CareFlite in Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas.  For over 27 years, Scott continued to work both Fire and EMS as well as Flight.

He is currently the Fire Chief, a certified Master Firefighter and an EMS Instructor with the Cleburne Fire Department as well as a Certified Flight Paramedic (FP-C).  He recently “hung up his wings” after 19 years as a Flight Paramedic with CareFlite, though he still maintains his flight status just in case!

Scott has lectured at state, national, and international conferences with a reputation as a dynamic speaker. He also recently appeared in an episode of “Miracle Detectives” on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Associate Director University of Oklahoma Department of Emergency Medicine Center for Pre-Hospital and Disaster Medicine Oklahoma Highway Patrol Special Operations Division US Marshals Task Force Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department Tactical Team Bill is a frequent educator at regional, national and international conferences. His user-friendly approach to emergency management topics provides a relaxed and interactive atmosphere for all participants. His background started in 1978 in EMS and remains currently active with Fire-Rescue, EMS and Law enforcement. He is currently a member of the NAEMT Board of Directors and Regional PHTLS/TCCC Coordinator, AHA Regional Faculty and multiple committee’s on Disaster Medicine. Bill continues to assist local, state and federal law enforcement and military agencies with education and response operations.