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40 Under 40: Chase Hodges (Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service – Bolingbrook, IL)

Written by American Ambulance Association on . Posted in 40 Under 40.

40 Under 40 nominees were selected based on their contributions to the American Ambulance Association, their employer, state ambulance association, other professional associations, and/or the EMS profession.
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Chase Hodges
General Manager Illinois
Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service
Bolingbrook, IL

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LinkedIn
Nominated by: Kim Godden (AAA Board of Directors, Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service – Elmhurst, IL)

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Biography:

As the General Manager, Chase has been instrumental in reshaping the culture of EMS at Superior Ambulance. Chase’s view on safety as not a part time commitment, but a true full time commitment has helped reduced accidents by 40%. Chase sits on Superior’s retention committee, Field Training Officer and training committee, and policy and procedures committee. Chase is also a part of Superior’s Special Event team which provides EMS for events happening all over the Chicago Land area, and is a member of the Ebola transport team.

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Reason for Nomination:

Chase is being nominated for this honor for many reasons that cannot be fully expressed in such few words. Chase started in EMS with our company as a para-transit driver and also worked as a dispatcher and EMT before being chosen as a General Manager overseeing several stations, including one of our largest stations located in Chicago. Chase oversees 248 employees and through his positive attitude and understanding of every aspect of EMS, he is able to make sure staff is customer focused and patient driven. Chase also assists with our company’s recruitment and retention efforts and is always the first one (even when it involves coming into work while on vacation) to participate with important government relations meetings and ambulance ride-along events which help not only our company but the EMS industry overall.

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View all of the 2020 Mobile Healthcare 40 Under 40 Honorees

40 Under 40: Brian Walls (Huron Valley Ambulance – Ann Arbor, MI)

Written by American Ambulance Association on . Posted in 40 Under 40.

40 Under 40 nominees were selected based on their contributions to the American Ambulance Association, their employer, state ambulance association, other professional associations, and/or the EMS profession.
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Brian Walls
Paramedic Supervisor
Huron Valley Ambulance
Ann Arbor, MI

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LinkedIn
Nominated by: Paul Hood (Huron Valley Ambulance – Ann Arbor, MI)
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Biography:

Brian Walls has worked at Huron Valley Ambulance (HVA) for 15 years working his way up from Wheelchair Van Driver to Paramedic Supervisor. Brian currently serves as a Senior Critical Care Paramedic, part-time Paramedic Supervisor, and holds the roles of Medical Officer and Coordinator for the Washtenaw County Hazmat, Special Pathogens, and Technical Rescue teams at HVA. Through Brian’s responsibilities, he has had both a local and national impact on new protocols and standards for hazmat and special pathogens. Specifically, Brian assists with public health preparedness and acts as an EMS liaison to regional healthcare partners as well as regional and state health departments.

Brian has written hazmat policy, procedures, and the Special Pathogens Response Guidebook for HVA’s special response team that has been adopted by the State of Michigan. Additionally, Brian’s leadership on the Technical Rescue Team has created an invaluable resource to surrounding communities for all aspects of technical rescue response by updating and creating state treatment protocols and medical operations.

A lifelong resident of southern Michigan, Brian graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Public Safety in 2013. Brian is a volunteer firefighter in Milan, Michigan. Brian and his wife recently welcomed their first child, Riley Ann.
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Reason for Nomination:

Brian is an outgoing and personable individual who is well liked and respected by all. Brian wears many hats at HVA which includes functioning as a Senior Critical Care Paramedic, part-time Road Supervisor, and Medical Officer and Coordinator for the Technical Rescue Team and the Hazmat teams. Brian actively works in his various roles to raise the bar in EMS. Brian puts 110% into everything he does and always maintains a positive demeanor and professional attitude. Despite being so busy, Brian is always very caring, compassionate, and thorough while performing all his duties.

Recently, Brian was tasked to prepare and establish a Special Pathogens Response Team, specifically for Ebola patient transfers. Brian researched, attended multiple trainings out of state at the National Ebola Training Education Center (NETEC) and the Center for Domestic Preparedness for Highly Infectious Diseases, and visited fire departments who transported confirmed Ebola patients in 2014.

Brian continued researching for over two years, training with his team several times a month, while obtaining feedback to develop procedures and guidelines for Washtenaw County. This resulted in Brian writing a copyrighted guidebook called, The Special Pathogens Response Guidebook that guides EMS agencies through an entire patient transfer from start to finish. This includes pre-incident planning, donning and doffing, patient transfer, communications, hand off, waste disposal, disinfection, and emergency procedures. In addition to writing the response guidebook for EMS, Brian worked with his team and the local treatment center to create a custom designed Highly Infectious Disease Unit (ambulance) that improves the safety of his crew while in Hazmat suits. This custom-built ambulance improves ventilation and temperature control, thus increasing the time crew members can be in Hazmat suits. The specially designed ambulance also minimizes the amount of hazardous material waste that needs to be collected by our local treatment center and reduces the amount of time it takes to disinfect and place the ambulance back in service.

Finally, Brian reached out to the NETEC to schedule a site assessment for EMS, which it had never done before. NETEC used HVA’s Special Pathogens Response Team and Guidebook as a pilot to establish their own site assessment algorithm to help EMS programs with a special pathogens transport around the nation.

Through his hard work and dedication, Brian has expanded HVA’s response area from only transporting in a couple counties of Michigan, to becoming the backup agency to assist all EMS agencies for the entire state of Michigan. Brian continues to work with Michigan state and local health departments in special pathogens response and preparedness.

Brian’s attention to detail and dedication to positively impact policy change are what makes him stand out in EMS.

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View all of the 2020 Mobile Healthcare 40 Under 40 Honorees

40 Under 40: Craig Boschert (St. Charles County Ambulance District – St. Peters, MO)

Written by American Ambulance Association on . Posted in 40 Under 40.

40 Under 40 nominees were selected based on their contributions to the American Ambulance Association, their employer, state ambulance association, other professional associations, and/or the EMS profession.
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Craig Boschert
Deputy Chief of Operations
St. Charles County Ambulance District
St. Peters, MO

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Nominated by: Kyle Gaines (St. Charles County Ambulance District – St. Peters, MO)

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Biography:

A lifelong resident of St. Charles County, Craig Boschert has spent more than two decades providing assistance to those in need. Craig’s history of public service started in 1998 when he began volunteering with Orchard Farm Fire Protection District. Three years later, Craig earned his Paramedic certification at St. Louis Community College, and began a career with St. Charles County Ambulance District (SCCAD) shortly thereafter. In 2008, Craig was promoted to Battalion Chief – a role that enabled him to mentor dozens of new Paramedics entering the SCCAD system. Four years ago, a retirement among the District’s leadership team led to Craig’s promotion to Deputy Chief of Operations. In this role, Craig works closely with Platoon and Battalion Chiefs to ensure that each of the Ambulance District’s Paramedics are developing and promoting best practices so that the mobile healthcare provided exceeds expectations.

Craig has been married to his wife, Renee, for more than a decade. The couple resides in Orchard Farm with their sons, Caleb and Curtis.
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Reason for Nomination:

Craig Boschert began his career with St. Charles County Ambulance District (SCCAD) nearly two decades ago as a volunteer EMT, providing care and comfort to friends and neighbors in the rural communities of the District’s service area. While volunteering, Craig opted to turn his desire of helping others into a career, earning his Paramedic license and joining the SCCAD team full-time in 2002. Through the years, Craig has proved himself as a strong clinician, staunch patient advocate, and capable leader. In 2008, Craig was promoted to Battalion Chief – a role that has enabled him to mentor dozens of Paramedics throughout the years.

Though past achievements as a Paramedic and Battalion Chief are noteworthy, those undertaken since his promotion to Deputy Chief of Operations are what truly showcase Craig as a forward-thinking leader within our industry.

Craig’s ascent to Deputy Chief occurred in 2016 and came at a pivotal time in the District’s history. Call volume was rising steadily with no signs of slowing. In order to keep response times short amid significant projected growth over the next decade, the District would need to add numerous stations and vehicles at planned intervals. Craig was charged with developing a 10-year operation plan for the organization, and with assistance from his team developed a robust capital improvement framework. Craig spared no detail, gathering information from a variety of sources to chart planned neighborhoods, commercial developments, roadways, and population centers that would eventually contribute to call volume. Thanks to his foresight, District leadership was provided with a comprehensive snapshot of the next decade that enabled leadership to clearly communicate the forthcoming needs to our community when asking for their approval to issue bonds for the project.

In addition to capital needs, Craig is also responsible for ensuring that work force needs are addressed. SCCAD’s 48-hour shift staffing model requires that six full-time paramedics be promoted from our part-time non-emergency transfer division when a new 911 truck is added to our fleet. Craig is thoughtful in his timing, working closely with transfer leadership to ensure that an addition will not create trickle-down staffing challenges. Though new emergency division employees have typically been with SCCAD as transfer division paramedics for approximately two years at the time of their promotion to full-time, Craig provides a thorough orientation, clearly conveying the expectations of their new role within our organization.

As a senior leader, Craig never loses sight of the fact that SCCAD must take great care of its team in order to be successful. In recent years, the effects of post-traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma have been well-documented among first responders. For too long, individuals in our line of work pushed aside troubling experiences, simply moving on to the next call. Craig has been an instrumental part of bringing about a culture change here in St. Charles County. When crews respond to challenging calls, Craig is often at their station within short order to check on them. Craig immediately arranges Critical Incident Stress Debriefing not only for our staff, but for any others involved in the call. Craig has worked together with our human resources team to ensure employees are aware of counseling and other programs available to them, and most recently, championed the development of an employee-led Peer Support Committee.

Since assuming the role of Deputy Chief, SCCAD has faced several significant operational events. Most have been weather-related, and each time, Craig works diligently with others on our team to ensure that our community is protected, no matter how long the hours. Most significantly, our region faced historic flooding in 2019, with access to one rural town completely cut off. Working closely with our Deputy Chief of Special Operations, Craig developed a plan to staff the “island” 24/7 to ensure residents had access to emergency care if the need arose. For over 60 days, SCCAD’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force staffed the community of Portage Des Sioux, transporting patients out by boat if the necessary. The conditions were less than ideal but strong leadership and teamwork made the operation a success.

Though his workload SCCAD is substantial, Craig makes time to give back to the community he serves. Most notably, Craig has been heavily engaged in the St. Charles County CAPS (Center for Advanced Processional Studies) program, hosting groups of high school students for half-day sessions at our stations. Craig covers a wide array of topics with the students who are leaning towards careers in the health field, providing an exhaustive overview of our industry and organization. Students leave Craig’s sessions with a new outlook on EMS, and several have even enrolled in the District’s EMT training course.

Including his time spent as a volunteer firefighter, Craig Boschert has dedicated more than 20 years to serving St. Charles County. The programs and practices Craig has worked tirelessly to put in place will serve our organization and community well for decades to come, and SCCAD is proud to nominate him for the American Ambulance Association’s 40 Under 40.

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View all of the 2020 Mobile Healthcare 40 Under 40 Honorees

40 Under 40: David Basnak (EmergyCare – Fairview, PA)

Written by American Ambulance Association on . Posted in 40 Under 40.

40 Under 40 nominees were selected based on their contributions to the American Ambulance Association, their employer, state ambulance association, other professional associations, and/or the EMS profession.
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David Basnak
Operations Manager
EmergyCare
Fairview, PA

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LinkedIn
Nominated by: Karen Jakiel (EmergyCare – Erie, PA)
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Biography:

David Basnak started his emergency services career when he was sixteen years old at his local fire department in Jamestown, Pennsylvania. While a Senior in high school, David attended a locally hosted EMT class. After graduating from high school, David worked locally in Greenville, Pennsylvania as an EMT and attended Penn State University (PSU) pursuing a degree in information, science, and technology. As David’s interest in the EMS field continued to grow, he decided to attend a local Paramedic program. For fourteen months, David attended both PSU and the Paramedic program through Butler County Community College, completing both programs. After gaining experience as a Field Paramedic, David worked to continue to pursue his EMS career through various leadership positions. Over his career, David has held the titles of Continuous Quality Improvement Coordinator, Personnel Director, EMS Specialist, Senior Manager of Pre-hospital Care, and most recently Operations Manager. Currently, David oversees all field operations for EmergyCare, one of the largest non-profit EMS organizations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. EmergyCare, located in Erie, Pennsylvania, provides mobile health care to seven counties in Northwestern Pennsylvania. David holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from American Military University, is a Certified Medical Transport Executive through the Medical Transport Leadership Institute, Board Certified Emergency Manager through The International Association of Emergency Managers, and holds his Flight Paramedic Certification through the International Board of Specialty Certification. David’s current role has him on an Executive leadership track to continue his professional organizational development at EmergyCare.

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Reason for Nomination:

David Basnak should be recognized as one of the American Ambulance Association’s Forty Under 40 as he has demonstrated excellence and great promise throughout his career in pre-hospital medicine and Emergency Medical Services. David is recognized as a leader throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania and is respected by his colleagues not only in the EMS field but also clinicians in our regional health care facilities.

In his short tenure at EmergyCare, David’s leadership, guidance, and expertise has assisted EmergyCare in recruiting and retaining EMS providers (currently at 95% staffing). David has helped to redesign our new staff orientation and on boarding and he continuously leads by example by regularly jumping on a truck and answering calls with the crews.

David’s constant thirst for learning has made him a great resource for staff and our organization’s leadership. David is always willing to go above and beyond for the mission of EmergyCare. Furthermore, David is a servant leader. David puts the EmergyCare team first, by focusing on the needs of team members, acknowledging their perspectives, and giving them the support they need to be the best they can be. David involves staff in decision making when appropriate and has built a stronger sense of community among the staff.

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View all of the 2020 Mobile Healthcare 40 Under 40 Honorees

40 Under 40: Hasieb Lemar (Royal Ambulance – Hayward, CA)

Written by American Ambulance Association on . Posted in 40 Under 40.

40 Under 40 nominees were selected based on their contributions to the American Ambulance Association, their employer, state ambulance association, other professional associations, and/or the EMS profession.
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Hasieb Lemar
Chief Operating Officer
Royal Ambulance
Hayward, CA

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LinkedIn
Nominated by: Steve Grau (Royal Ambulance – San Leandro, CA)
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Biography:

Hasieb Lemar has been with Royal Ambulance for over 13 years. Hasieb’s experience includes time as a Field EMT, after which he was promoted to Field Training Officer, Operations Supervisor, Director of Operations, Vice President of Operations, and to his current role of Chief Operating Officer. Having risen through the ranks at Royal Ambulance, and being an integral part of the organization’s growth and development, Hasieb has played a critical role in shaping and developing future healthcare leaders with an emphasis on compassionate patient care. Versatile, innovative, and service oriented, Hasieb has a proven track record of successfully driving operational efficiency while maximizing business opportunities and revenue growth. Hasieb earned his degree in Criminal Justice from Cal State Hayward located in Hayward, CA where he grew up and still resides with his wife and daughter.
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Reason for Nomination:

Hasieb Lemar has risen through the ranks at Royal Ambulance, starting as an EMT in 2007, to becoming the first Chief Operating Officer at Royal Ambulance at the young age of 33 in 2019. Hasieb’s impact can’t be understated or expressed in a few short paragraphs. Driven by being a servant leader, he works tirelessly to mentor our growing team of managers and supervisors, cascading his impact to hundreds of young EMTs who serve the Bay Area communities and who have developed to become Nurses, Physicians Assistants, Firefighters, and Doctors.
Hasieb’s legendary work ethic embodies Royal’s organizational core values of being Adaptable, Driven, Engaging, and Empathetic. Hasieb has led Royal’s progressive growth from just a few ambulances running a dozen transports a day to one of California’s premier mobile health care providers, transporting over 65,000 patients a year and earning multiple recognitions as one of INC Magazine’s fastest-growing companies in the United States.

Among many awards, the one most reflective of Hasieb’s leadership is the designation of Royal Ambulance as Best Company to Work For in the US by Modern Healthcare. Hasieb’s focus on employee engagement and career development alongside process improvements and patient experience have produced superior operational, financial, and clinical results.

Hasieb spearheaded the development of Royal’s partnership with the Organ Donor Network West & San Ramon Medical Center in creating the Donor Recovery Intra-Facility Transport (DRIFT) Program. Building the program from the ground up, the team has been able to improve access to donors across Northern California and most importantly reduced precious time to provide life-saving transplants to hundreds of patients. While working with the Organ Donor Network, Hasieb presented at the University of Wisconsin to help launch a pilot program. Since Royal’s own program-launch three years ago, Royal has traveled over 67,000 miles serving the Organ Donor Network. Due to Hasieb’s efforts, countless patients have been given a new chance at a new life.

When Hasieb is not working, he is a dedicated father and husband, who finds time to serve on various committees in his home city of Hayward, including the Keep Hayward Green Task Force. Hasieb also volunteers his time on the Data and Operations Committee for the California Ambulance Association.

Royal Ambulance and the community we serve would not be the same without Haiseb’s leadership. A trusted advisor, mentor, coach, and friend; everyone and anyone who meets Hasieb and has the privilege to work alongside him, feel supported, encouraged and know he has their back no matter what.

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View all of the 2020 Mobile Healthcare 40 Under 40 Honorees

2018 AMBY Award Winners Announced

Written by Jessica Marvin on . Posted in AMBY, Annual Conference & Tradeshow, Awards, Events, Press.

The American Ambulance Association is proud to announce the recipients of the 2018 AMBY Awards. The AMBYs highlight excellence in EMS and the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that epitomize AAA members. The mission of the awards is to showcase creativity and innovation in the ambulance industry by fostering a culture of collaboration, cooperation and a passion for excellence in patient care. This year’s awards will be presented at the Annual Conference & Trade Show Awards Reception on September 7, 2018. Please join us in congratulating our 2018 winners!

Clinical Outcome Program

Medic Ambulance Service, Inc. | Vallejo, CA

Community Impact Program

NorthStar EMS, Inc. | Tuscaloosa, AL

Employee Programs

Hall Ambulance Service, Inc. | Bakersfield, CA

Innovation in EMS

Priority Ambulance | Knoxville, TN

Mercy Ambulance Service, Inc. | Savannah, GA

Public Relations Campaign

MEDIC EMS Agency | Charlotte, NC

Hall Ambulance Service, Inc. | Bakersfield, CA

Quality Improvement Program

Sunstar Paramedics | Largo, FL

Patient and Employee Safety Program

Priority Ambulance | Knoxville, TN

Once again, join us in celebrating the 2018 winners! Learn more about the AMBYs.

 

2016 AMBY Best Quality Improvement Program: Gold Cross Ambulance, Documentation Program

Written by Amanda Riordan on . Posted in AMBY, Awards, Community, News.

Congratulations to the 2016 AMBY Award Winners

Each year, the American Ambulance Association honors best practices, ingenuity, and innovation from EMS providers across the country with our AMBY Awards. 

Gold Cross Ambulance’s Documentation Project Project Awarded a 2016 AMBY for Best Quality Improvement Program

Gold Cross Ambulance | Utah

amby-congrats-gold-crossThe documentation review process at Gold Cross Ambulance had not changed much since the day of paper trip tickets. Retrospective documentation feedback was being given to crews, but they were not fully utilizing the capabilities of their technology to analyze the feedback and make significant improvements. Gold Cross Ambulance hypothesized that improved documentation goals would lead to better patient care and increased reimbursements. They knew they needed to make improvements in the review process and to better utilize the technology that was already in place. In addition to the documentation goals, they identified the opportunity to work some small, but significant, clinical improvements into a documentation project. One initial focus of clinical improvement was making sure the field crews were obtaining at least two sets of vital signs on every patient, and properly documenting these vital signs in the electronic patient care report (ePCR). Of all the performance indicators we measure, trending of vital signs touches every patient contacted. Educators from Utah EMS for Children shared research citing “inadequate recognition of and response to hypotension and hypoxia was associated with higher odds of disability and death” (Hewes H., 2016). This was such a basic thing to measure, but it had potential to impact every contacted patient. Gold Cross know that vital signs were an area in which they could improve, while also meeting their documentation goals. To do so, they implemented the following:

  1. Create a way to measure overall documentation quality.
  2. Establish a formal standard for documentation and educate crews about the documentation expectations.
  3. Improve the overall documentation of the ePCR.
  4. Improve the number of patients with properly collected and documented vital signs.
  5. Improve amount of reimbursement and decrease collection cycle time.

Gold Cross formed a work group to tackle these issues, which consisted of members of the Quality Department, Training Department, Billing Department, and Operations Department. The group meets every other week to evaluate progress and assess the need for adjustments to the system. Mid-year of 2014, the group worked to revise the program for documentation evaluation. A new standard was created based on the ePCR fields. A point system was established for documentation which gave each ePCR field a weighted number of points, equaling 100%. Incomplete or missing fields result in a loss of points for that field, which provided a way to measure documentation performance. The scoring data is tracked in our ePCR quality module, allowing us to analyze and report on the data easily. The feedback on any areas of missed points is sent to the crew via the ePCR messaging system, so it is easily accessible to the crews during regular daily tasks. Feedback is focused on improvement comments instead of punitive comments. Positive feedback is included in each evaluation. The group released an initial version of the General Instructions for the ePCR, which was an internal manual detailing expectations for every field in our ePCR. The focus was to provide clear expectations to all field crews regarding how to properly fill out the ePCR and what content should be included. The training department created an educational program on the online educational software program, detailing the documentation guidelines and testing the crews on the material. The General Instructions for the ePCR were also posted on the company training site, so crews would have easy access at any time. The Quality Department developed a class for the newly hired providers. The class emphasizes the need for quality documentation, outlines the program, and includes actual documentation examples for evaluation and discussion. Patient advocacy through documentation is instilled in the participants of this class. The Billing Department developed a class which is taught at six months after hire. In the class, documentation is reviewed from class participants. The billing department shows how the bill is processed from the documentation, and they discuss common challenges to the billing process. The program has been monitored with continuous PDSA cycles and has been adjusted as needed for continued improvement.

An initial company goal for documentation was set at 90%. From project start to current date, the company-wide documentation averages have increase from 74% at the beginning of the project to 96% currently. Field crews have expressed greater clarity in the company expectations for documentation. The overall average documentation scores by division are posted regularly for the company to view, and this has had the additional benefit of sparking a competitive streak between some of our divisions, further improving the scores. The improvement in collection of vital signs not only improved overall patient care, but resulted in a Performance Improvement Award from the Utah State Bureau of EMS in 2016. The bureau looked at pediatric vital signs and recognized two rural and two urban EMS agencies in the state for their improvements. Gold Cross Eastern Division won the award for a rural agency, and Gold Cross Salt Lake Division won for the urban agency. Their study found our agency improved the collection of pediatric vital signs by 53% in our urban area and 66% in our rural area.

The most important impact of this project is improvement in patient care, which is our primary mission. The goals for complete documentation have encouraged field crews to make sure they complete proper assessments, since they know those areas of the ePCR are evaluated and must be complete. Improvements in assessment result in better differential diagnoses and improved treatment plans and outcomes. The documentation project has positively impacted Gold Cross financially as expected. Reimbursement rates have increased and the time to complete the collection cycle has improved. Due to the documentation improvements, the billing staff spends less time researching information, following up on incomplete documentation, and fighting in appeals.

Congratulations to Gold Cross Ambulance for the Reduced Readmissions Project’s selection as a 2016 AMBY Winner for Best Community Impact Program.

 

2016 AAA Award Winners Announced

Written by Aidan Camas on . Posted in Annual Conference & Tradeshow, Awards, News, Press.

The AAA is proud to announce this year’s award winners. Awards will be presented at the AAA Annual Conference and Tradeshow Awards Reception on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Please join us in congratulating the winners.

J. Walter Schaefer Award

Randy Strozyk, American Medical Response

The J. Walter Schaefer Award is given annually to an individual whose work in EMS has contributed positively to the advancement of the industry as a whole. Randy has achieved this through his tireless dedication and service to the industry and his role in elevating the association and its members to national prominence.

Robert L. Forbuss Lifetime Achievement Award

Julie Rose, Community Care Ambulance

The Robert L. Forbuss Lifetime Achievement Award is named in honor of the first Executive Director of the American Ambulance Association. It recognizes a volunteer leader who has made a significant long-term impact on the association. Julie has held numerous leadership positions in the AAA including Membership Committee Chair, Region III Director and Alternate Director. Julie has worked tirelessly to get members of her Region to join the AAA, knowing that it is important to participate in the national organization to be part of the team finding solutions to today’s challenges in EMS.

President’s Award

Jon Howell, Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (HEMSI)
Asbel Montes, Acadian Ambulance Service
David Tetrault, St. Francois County Ambulance District

These awards are given by the President to volunteer leaders who have shown commitment to the advancement of the AAA above and beyond the call of duty. This year the three outstanding volunteers represent tireless work on behalf of the AAA.

Jon Howell has served as the chair of the AAA’s nominating committee for 4 years and in that time has worked to grown the involvement of our members to participate in the AAA nominating and election process.  Asbel Montes has worked tirelessly as Co-Chair of the Payment Reform Committee, and David Tetrault has served as a Region IV Board or Director as well as an active participant on the Membership and Education Committee.  AAA President Hall was quoted as saying, “this award is given by the sole discretion of the President of the AAA and I cannot think of three more deserving individuals than Jon, Asbel and David.  No matter what I have asked them to do for the AAA, they have taken on the task with determination, commitment and a level of servant leadership rarely seen anymore.”

Distinguished Service Award

Brian Choate, Solutions Group
Kathy Lester, MPH, JD, Lester Health Law & AAA Healthcare Consultant
Scott Moore, Esq., EMS Resource Advisors LLC & AAA Human Resources Consultant
Brian Werfel, Esq., Werfel & Werfel, PLLC & AAA Medicare Consultant

The American Ambulance Association (AAA) is proud to award Brian Choate, Kathy Lester, Scott Moore, and Brian Werfel with 2016 Distinguished Service Awards.

The Regional Workshop team worked countless hours to create the content for the four compliance, billing and reimbursement policy workshops that were presented throughout the country. The workshops were designed to help all types of services structure their billing departments more maximum efficiency and integrity.

It is for this dedication of the team members to the AAA that we are proud to recognize Brian Choate, Kathy Lester, Scott Moore, and Brian Werfel with the 2016 Distinguished Service Award.

Partner of the Year Award

National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT)

The Partner of the Year Award is given to an EMS partner whose collaboration with the AAA enhances educational programs, legislative priorities and/or member benefits. This pas year the NAEMT has partnered with the AAA on numerous projects including Medicare Relief, EMS Compass and most recently issues a joint statement regarding Payment Reform Policies for EMS.

Affiliate of the Year Award

AVESTA

The American Ambulance Association (AAA) is proud to award Avesta with the 2016 Affiliate of the Year Award. The award is given to the vendor whose supports the programs of the association. Avesta is dedicated to solely to the practice of Human Capital Management and the development of solutions that meet the unique human resource challenges of their EMS clients. This year’s Affiliate winner has shown unconditional support of the AAA Stars of Life Program. The Stars of Life event, held annually in Washington, D.C., publically recognized and celebrates the achievements and exceptional work of EMS professionals.

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