2007 EMS Leadership Summit

On Friday, May 11, 2007, several members of the Tri-State Ambulance Team attended an Emergency Medical Services Leadership Summit provided by Mr. Chuck Kearns, MBA of the Pinellas County EMS Authority.

Mr. Kearns is the Director of Pinellas County EMS and Fire Administration and the Executive Director of the Pinellas County Emergency Medical Services Authority. Pinellas County's Public Utility Model Ambulance Service has 137 paramedic units; responds to 171,000 requests for ALS ambulance services and provides over 118,000 transports each year. The Fire Protection Agencies respond over 280 firefighting apparatus and support vehicles to over 25,000 fire-related calls per year. Chuck oversees a $111 million annual budget and was appointed in 2005 to serve a second, four-year term on the Florida EMS Advisory Council.

Author of numerous articles and a featured speaker at many national conferences, Chuck has been involved in public safety services since 1980 and a Paramedic since 1984. He has worked in government, private sector and volunteer public safety and healthcare services during his career. He is a former elected member of the Board of Directors of the American Ambulance Association, member of a local credit union Board and former Chairman of the local division of the American Heart Association. Mr. Kearns is a former member of the American Heart Association’s Florida/Puerto Rico Board and a Director of the Coalition of Advanced Emergency Medical Systems.

Mr. Kearns provided extraordinary insight and leadership training on topics including:

The View from 30,000 feet - What's Different?

Things look much different when you look at EMS system issues from 30,000 feet versus 6 feet! How will things look from this vantage point and how can you prepare yourself to see things from that level?

Making the Successful Transition from Peer to Supervisor

The transition from outstanding field provider to respected leader role poses significant challenges. What are those challenges and how do you meet them head on?

Finance & Reimbursement 101

How much does EMS really cost?? Where does the money come from?? This session will provide an overview of budgeting, finance and reimbursement issues in EMS.

Public Relations - Internal and External

Maintaining effecting internal and external relationships is an essential role for EMS managers and leaders. This session will provide you with some essential tools and skill to hone your public relations skills.

The Future of Emergency Medical Services

What is the real future of our industry? What services should EMS be providing in the next decade? How do we prepare ourselves and our workforce for the inevitable revolution ahead.

We commend the following Tri-State Ambulance Employees who successfully completed this dynamic program:

Jay Clark
Gregg Bulman
Tom Carpenter
Dave Martens
Jason Santos
Rich Schuh
Tom Tornstrom
Mike Tornstrom
John Zahn

The Summit was also attended by a representative of the Minnesota Department of Health, EMS Division; Black River Falls Fire Department, Caledonia Ambulance and Sparta Ambulance.