May 21, 2025 | 14:00 ET | Free to AAA Members
This webinar will explore how telemedicine in EMS is advancing Minnesota’s Towards Zero Deaths goals. Topics will include the use of telemedicine in rural EMS and its role in expediting patient transfers to larger tertiary centers by initiating emergency care at the first point of contact. The session will also cover how patient care improves when a higher level of clinical support is available remotely in the ambulance—providing a “second set of eyes” to guide treatment in real time.

SPEAKERS

Ann Jenson, Executive Director of Southwest MN EMS
Southwest MN EMS is one of eight regional programs in the state of Minnesota that provides support to all disciplines of emergency services. Ann helps to support 54 ambulance services, 71 first responder agencies, 70 law enforcement agencies, and fire departments. Ann plays an active role with SWRTAC, critical incident debriefing team, rural sustainability, TZD, and the MAA. Ann is also the fiscal host for the Healthcare Preparedness Program that supports 26 hospitals in the southwest region. Ann has a background in nursing, working in hospital, clinic,c and homecare settings. She has also been an EMT for 29 years, working with a rural ambulance service.

John Gruber, EMS Operations Manager for Avel eCare
John Gruber serves as the EMS Operations Manager for Avel eCare’s EMS Services. Avel’s newest solution is breaking ground, bringing years of emergency telemedicine experience to patient care in the ambulance. John is responsible for overseeing the clinical operations and ensuring technology, staff, and service are aligned with Avel’s core values. John has experience as a paramedic both on the ground and in the air, as well as working with Avel’s hospital partners as an Account Executive prior to his current role. John graduated from the University of Sioux Falls and transitioned into healthcare as a second career to align with his desire to help people and make a difference.

Lisa Rogers, MS, MPH Executive Director Translational Center for Resuscitative Trauma Care
Lisa is the Executive Director for the University of Minnesota Translational Center for Resuscitative Trauma Care. Formed in 2021, the Center’s mission is to develop and evaluate innovative, effective acute trauma care from point of injury through early post-injury in austere, low resource, rural, and emergency care settings and to create a multidisciplinary, translational research center that brings together trauma and emergency care research across the state of Minnesota into a single entity and develops faculty and trainee research careers. Our current projects include: Secondary analysis of large national, regional and state datasets: Sedation and Analgesia in Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury and Risk of Shock; EMS Level of Training is Associated with Mortality in Trauma Patients; Optimal Prehospital Airway Management in Patients with Major Trauma; EMS Interventions Associated with Length of Stay and Mortality; Mapping a Rural Trauma System to Identify Disparities in Access to Pre-Hospital Care in Traumatic Brain Injury; Qualitative Analysis of Urban and Rural EMS Provider Experiences. The Center is currently working with the Level 1 and 2 trauma centers to create a statewide database that links prehospital care, hospital care and patient outcomes to be used for further collaborative research. Additionally, the Center is collaborating with the Minnesota Department of Health for further outcomes research and developing technology-based support for EMS providers.

Dr. Gregory Beilman, MN COL (ret). Director Translational Center for Resuscitative Trauma Care
A general surgeon and ICU physician, Greg Beilman currently serves as the Associate Dean for DoD Relationships for the University of Minnesota Medical School and is Professor of Surgery at the University of Minnesota. He recently served as Senior Vice President of Acute Operations for the Minnesota Health Fairview Health System, the largest health system in the state of Minnesota, where he co-led the system response to COVID-19. Greg has an active translational research program funded by the Department of Defense, the NIH, and industry. Greg is a retired Colonel in the Army Reserves and has deployed five times; serving during one deployment as the CENTCOM Joint Theater Trauma System Director in Iraq and Afghanistan. Greg has significant experience in Global Health efforts, with his experience in the Army, a decade of patient care and research efforts in Uganda, and recent efforts in Ukraine.

Jenni Kirchner, EMT-B, Director Murray County Ambulance Service, Slayton, MN
Jenni has been an EMT for 15 years and the director of the Murray County Ambulance for 13 years. Murray County Ambulance does 500 BLS ambulance runs per year, and Jenni is the only full-time employee. Jenni is also a certified CPR instructor providing training not only for her crew but the community as well. Murray County Ambulance was the first EMS Telemedicine site in the Southwest EMS Region. On top of managing a busy ambulance service Jenni and her husband Jason have four children and own Stonegate Apple Orchard.

Rebecca Vande Kieft, BSN, CEN, RN Vice President and General Manager of Emergency and EMS Services
Rebecca Vande Kieft serves as the Vice President and General Manager of Emergency and EMS Services for Avel eCare. In her current role with Avel eCare, she is responsible for overseeing the Avel eCare Emergency, EMS, and SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) programs. With a strong belief in leading a team of great people and driving for success, she helps to improve patient outcomes via telemedicine, streamline operational efficiency, and expand upon quality metrics. With a hard work ethic due to a background in agriculture, Vande Kieft first started her nursing career 20 years ago within the walls of the Avera Health system in Sioux Falls, SD, in Emergency Medicine. First as a registered nurse in the Emergency Department of a Level II trauma center, then as a flight nurse flying both rotor and fixed wing aircraft, and then transitioned to clinical leadership roles including Supervisor, Manager, Director, and now VP/GM. During her tenure at Avel eCare, Becky has led daily operations of a virtual Emergency Department, supporting installation in more than 23e Emergency sites across the country, seeing over 20,000 patients per year, 60 SANE sites, and over 130 EMS agencies in South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Kansas. Vande Kieft graduated from South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing.