Speakers and faculty members

A.J. Heightman, MPA, EMT-P, is the editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) and Conference Chair of the International JEMS/EMS Today Conference and Exposition. Prior to his position at JEMS, A.J. was EMS Director for a large EMS office in the United States that serves 110 different ambulance districts and a regional advanced MEDCOM communications system. He then went on to serve as Operations Director for a large ambulance system in Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) and received his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Lehigh University.

Alonso Mateos completed his training as a family physician at the “Hospital 12 de Octubre” in Madrid. He began working in the Emergency Service SUMMA112 in 2003 where he holds a magister in the management of research units and starts the research activity. In 2017, he will join his current position in the Regional Coordination of Transplants of Madrid. His research work focuses on attention to emergencies and uncontrolled donation after cardiac death; He has been an Invited Scientist at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research. He is also a professor at the Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid.

MD PhD. Prehospital Emergency Physician. Associated Coordinator of the Emergency Medicine WorkGroup for Professionals and Experts of the Regional Health Public Service in Castilla La Mancha. (REPUR/SESCAM). Medical Coordinator of the Aeromedical Transport WorkGroup –GTAM-. (Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine-SEMES). GEMS and HEMS Physician for Castilla La Mancha Regional Public Health and BABCOCK Helicopters Spain (Since 1983). Doctoral Thesis: “Prehospital Fibrinolysis in AMI”. Emergencia Ciudad Real (1995) Professor University of Castilla-La Mancha. Author SiMuLe® (“MASCAL Incidents simulation using  interactive model WorkShop”.Associated Editor in “Emergencias”, Journal of Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine-SEMES (-2016). “Prehospital Emergency Medicine” Book  author (2001). Approximately 120 papers, book chapters, conferences (Resuscitation, Urgence Pratique, Emergencias, Medicina Clinica, Medicine Journals). Current research Area: Prehospital blood transfusión in HEMS.

Anne Kristine Bergem is MD from the University of Oslo 1997. She became a specialist in clinical psychiatry in 2006. She is educated in assessment of violence from molde College in 2007. Grouptherapist from Institute of Group Analysis in Oslo in 2008 and Executive Master of Management from BI, the Norweigan School of Management in 2012.

Tony Rudd is a Stroke Consultant at St Thomas’ Hospital London UK, the National Clinical Director for Stroke with NHS England and the London Stroke Clinical Director. He is Professor of Stroke Medicine at Kings College London and leads the stroke team at the Royal College of Physicians developing the National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke and running the National Stroke Audit. His research interests are stroke rehabilitation, organisation of care and quality improvement and he has over 300 peer reviewed publications. He is a past president of the British Association of Stroke Physicians and is Hon Vice President of the Stroke Association. He was awarded a CBE in the Queens birthday honours in 2013

Carmen Camacho Leis is Emergency Physician in SAMUR Civilian Protection in Madrid. She is currently Chief of Emergency Medical on call and Head of Secretary Training Units in SEMES (Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine). She holds a master’s degree in both Emergency Medicine and in Management and Direction of Emergency Services. She has spent four years as Head of Training Unit and two years as Head of Human Resources in SAMUR Civilian Protection in Madrid. Large experience as Instructor of International Trauma and CPR Education Programmes in Spain. Several congress participations as speaker, together with publications in international scientific journals regarding trauma and CPR. Associate Professor of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and contributor in other postgraduate Emergency Medicine programmes.

Christian Maschmann is a medical doctor and specialist in both Anesthesiology and Emergency Medicine. He is employed as a senior consultant at the Emergency Department as well as the Department of Anesthesiology at the Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg in Denmark. Prehospitally, he works as a staff member on one of the 5 physician manned Mobile Critical Care Units in the Capitol Region of Copenhagen, Denmark. At the 112-medical alarmcentre, the EMS-system in Copenhagen, he is employed as a medical coordinator.

As the Chairman of the national task force on the development of the 2018 National Clinical Guidelines on the Spinal Stabilisation of Adult Trauma Patients in Denmark, he was part of the group who abolished the prehospital use of the rigid cervical collar.

David is the director of the Prehospital Care Research Forum at UCLA, and field paramedic with Allina EMS. He is a PhD candidate and senior lecturer at Monash University. David serves as assessment and credentialing chair of the newly created International Paramedic Registry (IPR) and is the editor of EMS World’s Spanish language Revista. He has over 33 years of active EMS street experience. David is a site visitor for the US Committee on Accreditation and senior facilitator for the NAEMSE-NREMT Evaluating Student Competency Workshops. Recent awards include a 2017 NAEMT Presidential award, the 2016 Pinnacle Leadership award, a 2012 EMS 10 Innovator award, and the 2011 prestigious Minnesota Colleges and Universities Educator of the Year award.

Doris Østergaard, is Professor in Medical Education and Simulation, and Head of the Regional Simulation Center, CAMES – Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation, in the Capital Region of Denmark. The activities in CAMES are mainly related to postgraduate training for health professionals at a national, regional or hospital level.

Head of Training, Research and Quality Care Department of SAMUR Protección Civil– Madrid (Emergency Medical Services from Madrid) Manager of SAMUR Protección Civil– Madrid during 11 years (2003 – 2014) 31 years experience as emergency physician. Magister in Safety Administration. Honor Medal of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the University of Valladolid (Spain). More than 100 scientific works published or communicated to congresses. Experience in the management of several terrorist attacks of the terrorist band ETA Person in charge of the Prehospital Medical device in the terrorist attack of March 11 in Madrid in 2004, and the Barajas Airplane Crash at 2008. Author of the first prehospital thoracotomy in Spain.

DR Fionna Moore is Medical Director for South East Coast Ambulance Service. Fionna has served a as Chief Executive Officer of the London Ambulance Service, which is the largest public ambulance service in Europe. Joining the Service in 1998 as the first Medical Director Fionna has worked closely with the Service with responsibility for Clinical Governance, Clinical Audit and Research, and the Service’s Cardiac and Trauma Care strategies

Freddy K. Lippert, MD, Associate Professor, FERC, is CEO of the Emergency Medical Services in Copenhagen, Denmark. The EMS Copenhagen covers a population of 1.7 million, i.e. one third of the Danish population. The EMS Copenhagen includes the following: Emergency Medical Dispatch, ambulance services including physician manned mobile critical care units, psychiatric mobile unit, a medical hotline 24/7, responsibility and coordination of medical preparedness on behalf of all hospitals in the Capital Region.

Fredrik Folke is Associate Professor and Head of Research at the EMS Copenhagen, Denmark, with focus on prehospital emergency care, out- of-hospital cardiac arrest, public access defibrilation, and acute cardiac care. He has worked with epidemiology for more than a decade with a special focus on cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Besides reasearch, Fredrik is working as a senior cardiologist at Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte, Denmark.

Dr Gayathri completed her basic degree at St.George’s, London and is an Emergency Medicine Associate Consultant at Singapore General Hospital. As the former chief resident of the Singhealth Emergency Medicine program, she is interested in medical education, pre-hospital EMS, community and global health. She is interested in improving systems of care especially in low resource setting. Together with Prof Marcus Ong, they conducted a 2 day consensus meeting to discuss pre-requisites to help developing EMS systems achieve the GRA 10 steps. She is actively involved in overseas humanitarian projects and strongly believes that inter specialty and inter profession collaboration, research and education is required for humanitarian work to be effective and sustainable. In 2015, together with the Singapore Armed Forces, she was part of the Ministry of Health team that went forward to provide medical aid during the Nepal earthquake. Annually, she brings medical students to the inaccessible, mountainous regions of Nepal; with the aim of improving the systems of emergency care in these regions. She has recently achieved the Healthcare Humanitarian Award in Singapore. At home, in Singapore, she is the vice-secretary of the Association of Women Doctors’ of Singapore and helps promote the community CPR program within the Indian community.

Dr Ian Maconochie FRCPCH FCEM FRCPI FERC PhD. Consultant in Paediatric Accident & Emergency Medicine. St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial Academic Health Sciences Centre, London

Currently Registrar of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and Chair for the paediatric section of the European Society of Emergency Medicine.
He is ILCOR co-chair for Paediatrics, ERC Board member and Resuscitation Council UK paediatric group member.
He was involved in the setting up of the Association of Paediatric Emergency Medicine for the UK and Ireland (APEM), and in training for the UK and European curricula for paediatric emergency training, and is past President of the Research arm of APEM, and for the Paediatric Emergency Research Network UK and Ireland.
He has been a Visiting Professor to Queen Margaret Children’s Hospital in Perth, Australia, is an Honorary Associate Professor in the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and is a Visiting Fellow to the Centre of Reviews and Dissemination, University of York. He has authored over 100 papers, is Deputy editor of the Emergency Medicine Journal and is keen on cricket!

Isabel Casado is the Deputy Director of SAMUR-Protección Civil (EMS from Madrid) at present. Emergency physician with 26 years of experience in the field of emergencies in this EMS with tasks like chief of emergency medical on call, and Head of Training, Quality and research Department She holds a master’s degree in both Pediatric emergencies (Autonomous University of Madrid) and in management of a public administration (ESADE), as well as a Specialization Diploma in coordinated management of health resources in emergencies and disasters. She has its specialization in the area of quality care, and quality management. She has been author of more than 20 national and international publications, and speaker in more than 30 scientific events. She is part of the Board of Directors of SEMES (Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine) as a responsible for quality accreditation of EMS.

James Ward has been Medical Director of the Scottish Ambulance Service since January 2014. He graduated from Glasgow University in 1987 and subsequently trained as a GP, working in practice for 18 years and being elected a Fellow of the Royal College of GPs in 2006. He moved into full time medical management in 2009 as Medical Director of NHS Western Isles. Since joining Scottish Ambulance Service his interests have extended to include the organisation of prehospital emergency care. He chaired the scoping group that developed Scotland’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy, launched in 2015.

Jose Maria Alvarez Franco is Medical Director of SAMU-061 (Emergency Medical Services) in Baleares. 18 years experience as emergency physician (ambulance and Aeromedical Transport). Medical Officer in Emergency Department (Trauma, Thoracic surgery and Neurosurgery) at Cruces Hospital (Basque Country). Teaching activities as Instructor of Trauma Emergency, CPR Programs, critical care Ultrasound, smart-drugs, hectic patient control and Master Degree in Emergency Care . He has been dedicated the efforts on ultrasound programs  in ambulance and hospital emergency room. Author of national and international publications about prehospital ultrasound in critical patients , coauthor of book prehospital ultrasound and neurophysiology of smart-drugs.

José R. Núñez studied medicine at the Madrid Complutensis University and defended his Ph.D thesis in 1993 (cum laude). He did his training as a general surgeon at Madrid University Hospital and the Mayo Clinic, USA. Surgeon at Madrid University Hospital for 32 years and Senior Consultant since 1996. Assistant professor in 1986 and became full professor in 1995. For the last 18 years, he has worked in the field of transplantation as chief of the coordination unit and director of the tissue bank in Madrid, developing the largest programme on uncontrolled donation after cardio-circulatory arrest in Spain and being a member of the team that performed the first lung transplant in the world using lungs from an uncontrolled donor. From January 2013-July 2015, he was Medical Officer for WHO transplantation activities at Geneva-HQ, and since July 2015 Advisor on Medical Products of Human Origin at Geneva-HQ.

PhD. Judith is a medical doctor awarded by the Universitat de Lleida (Lleida University, Catalonia – Spain). Specialist in Haematology and Haemotherapy. Master in Out-Of-Hospital Emergencies awarded by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona – UAB, Spain. Assistant lecturer in Master of Clinical Research in Medicine: “Research Areas in Medicine.” Senior doctor in Haematology at the Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital, Lleida – Catalonia, Spain. She has been contributing expertise working as Medical Assistance at SEM (Emergency Medical System, EMS (Catalonia) in 2011 as well as leading the territorial area comprising the areas of Lleida, Pyrenees (higher areas) and Aran area (2015). From 2017 to present, she has become Medical Assistance Director at SEM Catalonia (Emergency Medical System, EMS – Catalonia) and in August 2018 she was at the forefront of the widely known terrorist attacks that occurred in Barcelona and Cambrils (Tarragona, Catalonia-Spain) where she was the unique in situ Operational Head.

Lars S. Rasmussen, is Professor of Emergency Medicine and Consultant in Anaesthesia, Department of Anaesthesia, Center of Head and Orthopaedics, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His Ph.D. and doctoral thesis were focusing on long-term effects of anaesthesia on brain function but in recent years, his research has increasingly been dealing with resuscitation and trauma.

Linn Andelius is a physician and PhD student at the Emergency Medical Services Copenhagen, Denmark. Her primary research field is out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and public access defibrillation. Last year’s winner of Best Abstract Audience Award at EMS2018, Copenhagen and Best Abstract Award at AHA ReSS, Chicago for her work with app activation of volunteer citizens in prehospital cardiac arrests resuscitation.

Professor Marcus Ong is a Senior Consultant, Director of Research, and Clinician Scientist, at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Singapore General Hospital. He is also Associate Professor at Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School and a consultant for the Hospital Services Division at Singapore’s Ministry of Health.

Nieves de Lucas is a PhD, Paediatrician (PICU doctor), trained in “Hospital Infantil La Paz”, Madrid. Cum Laude in Medicine. Master in “Methodology of research: design and statistics in health sciences” Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Currently working at SAMUR-Protección Civil, Madrid (Spain). Member of ERC Paediatric Science & Educational Committee, EUSEM and its Paediatric Emergency Research Network (REPEM), of  SEUP (Spanish Society of Paediatric Emergencies) and its research network RISEUP-SPERG. In recent years, she has won several scientific awards at congresses such as prizes for the second and third best communication at the European Resuscitation Council meeting, 2016, Reykjavik, or the third best communication at the European emergency congress, ECEM Turin 2015

Dr. Kudenchuk is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology/Arrhythmia Services at the University of Washington, and Medical Program Director of King County Medic One in Seattle, Washington. He is a cardiac electrophysiologist with a career-long interest in resuscitation, including antiarrhythmic drug therapies in cardiac arrest and widely published in these and other areas of cardiology and resuscitation science. He serves on the Editorial Board of Resuscitation.

Nursing Degree and a Master Degree in Critical Care and Emergency Nursing and she is also Registered Nurse by the Florida Board of Nursing (USA). She has been emergency nurse in the pre-hospital setting (ambulance and medical helicopter) since 1987 and ER nurse in the hospital setting in USA for 3 years. Since 2007, member of the management team of SAMUR-Protección Civil being part of the Quality Department. She is currently Head of Unit of Quality Assurance.

Dr. Panagos is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Neurology at Washington University in St Louis.  He has an extensive interest in acute stroke care, including pre-hospital management of the stroke patient. He has run several NIH-funded clinical trials and is currently the Principal Investigator of NIH/NINDS StrokeNet at Washington University.  He is currently the Director of Neurovascular Emergencies and Co-Director of the Washington University Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center.  He currently serves on the American Stroke Association (ASA) Scientific Statements Oversight Committee, ASA Advisory Committee, Co-Chairs the Stroke System of Care Committee and is the incoming Chair of the American Heart Association Stroke Leadership Council.  He is an Associate Editor for Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) and serves as an ABEM Oral Board Examiner.

Pierre Carli is professor and chairman of the EMS of Paris (SAMU de Paris) and the Anesthesiology and Critical Care Department of Hospital Necker. Pierre Carli is an expert in the area of the prehospital care, cardiac arrest, emergency and disaster medicine. He is President of French Resuscitation Council and Vice-President of SAMU- Urgences de France (the French EMS). Pierre Carli has furthermore been involved in the management of Paris terrorist attacks, the H1N1 outbreak, and the Ebola pandemic. In 2009, he was appointed Chairman of National Board of Hospital Emergencies by the Minister of Health

Raquel Ramos is the Medical Director of the Emergency Medical Services at National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) in Portugal. Consultant in Anaesthesiology and recognized by the National Board in Medical Emergency and Health Services Management, holds a post-graduation in trauma, and a Master of Science in Health Services Management. Experienced in pre-hospital emergency medicine, medical dispatch center and aero medical evacuation since 2003. Experienced in coordination of medical care teams on mass gathering events, disaster exercises, and medical assistance of VIP in Portugal in national and international political events. She as been the medical team leader for the medical assistance of the Portuguese Security Forces of the NATO mission in Timor, between March and April 2007. Before the actual position was the medical emergency training center coordinator in Lisbon. She is also the National Coordinator of Automated External Defibrillation (AED) Program of INEM.

Prof Lyon is a recognised international leader in Emergency Medicine & Pre-hospital Care. He is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Clinical Lead for pre-hospital care in southeast Scotland. He is Associate Medical Director of Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance and Professor of Pre-hospital Emergency Care at the University of Surrey. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the UK College of Paramedics and awarded an MBE by Her Majesty The Queen in the 2017 Birthday Honours. He is an active member of the UK International Search & Rescue Team and has previous experience in the British Armed Forces. Richard is a current member of the Resuscitation Council (UK) Executive Committee and author of several international pre-hospital guidelines.

Rosa is a graduate nurse specialized in Emergency Care, also graduate in Social and Cultural Anthropology and currently Phd candidate. She holds two Master’s Degrees, in Management Health Services and Nursing Research. She has been Director of Nursing in SAMUR – Madrid for more than 15 years and Head of Training Unit for one year. Expert in Quality Improvement (ISO Auditor and EFQM Evaluator). Instructor in Patient Safety and Basic and ALS by ERC and AHA. She has been the author and co-author of more than 50 scientific papers and communications to congresses. Professor of the European and Complutense Universities of Madrid and participant in postgraduate Nursing and Medicine programmes. She has been directly involved in innovative projects, such as implementation of socio-sanitary procedures and the development of a Patient Safety Program, unique in the Spanish pre-hospital environment. She is especially proud of the procedure for detection of children at social risk or with suspicion of abuse, implemented in the Emergency Service SAMUR-PC since 2000.

Stefan Poloczek has been Medical Director of the Emergeny Medical Services in Berlin since 2011. Prior to this and during medical studies, he worked as an EMT.Stefan Poloczek is an anaesthesiologist and emergency physician and has extensive practical experience in the field of Emergency Medical Services. Stefan Poloczek holds a Masters degree in Public Health from 2003, with a thesis about the correlation between socioeconomic factors and the utilisation of EMS. Stefan Poloczek has worked in management of ADAC Air Rescue, a big HEMS operator, for several years and as head of the division for Infectious Diseases, Emergency Medicine and Emergency Preparedness in Health Care in the State Ministry of Health in Berlin. While undertaking this function, Stefan Polczek also acted as Head for the H1N1 pandemic task force. In 2011 he returned to Emergency Medical Services, where he was responsible for a system performing around 400.000 missions per year.

Dr. Yannick NORDIN, founder of the OHEMS-SAMU de Jalisco (out of Hospital Emergency Medical System of the State of Jalisco, México). Medical Director for the EMS of the City of Guadalajara for 15 years and Mexico City in 2003. Experience in mass casualties incidents since 1992 as an EMT at Guadalajara explosion of sewers ducts causing 200 dead and more than 600 wounded. Several interventions in the field of grenade attacks by “narcos”. Hurricane White Plan coordinator 2016 and 2017 earthquake in México.  2 year experience at the SAMU Paris, foreign resident by the medicine college Hopitaux de Paris, expert by the University of Paris XII in management of Emergency Sanitary situations. Medical Director for the Michou and Mau Foundation for Mexican burn kids. MEDEVAC Doctor for the French Embassy in México and several international assessments including Ramallah, Palestine for the Red Crescent. Many MEDEVAC missions of Mexican Burn kids. Awarded by the University of Tokio and the Japanese Association of Disaster Medicine.