Ep 22. NAEMT Radio - The Benefits of Engaging With Your Local or Regional Healthcare Coalition

In this edition of NAEMT Radio Rob Lawrence, NAEMT Member and Lighthouse Leadership Mentor talks to returning guests, NAEMT president Elect, Chris Way, Fire Chief, Kootenai County Fire & Rescue and Brian Stennett of the Palatine Fire Dept. In this final edition of 2023, the subject of local or Regional Healthcare Coalitions are discussed. Chris and Brian highlight their composition, aims and objectives and how they can benefit EMS operations and how EMS can assist the wider coalition (including Hospitals, Emergency Management Departments and Public Health). Rob and guests also discuss how the Office of Health Care Readiness (OHCR) aims to enhance health care readiness, specifically in Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Brian identifies how we can also work with the National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) and the advice and guidance available from the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC).

Resources:

NETEC: https://netec.org/

Meet the Guests:

Chris Way – President Elect NAEMT Fire Chief, Kootenai County Fire & Rescue

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 Count EMS System for the previous seven years.

Chief Way came to Idaho from Kansas where he served in Fire and EMS roles in urban, suburban 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 the Treasurer for the National EMT Association and has served on their board and committees for several years.  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. Christopher and his wife Jennifer live in Hayden, Idaho with their two daughters and four Labradors.

Brian Stennett, MPH, EMT-P, DICO-C, Designated Infection Control Officer,

Fire Cause and Origin Investigator, Palatine Fire Department,

_{Brian has over 20 years of EMS experience in both private and municipal EMS agencies.  He has a strong background in emergency preparedness, infection control, public health and epidemiology and holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology.} 

_{Brian currently works for the Village of Palatine Fire Department (Palatine, IL) as a Firefighter/Paramedic, responding to 9000 calls for service annually.  He is the Infection Control Officer and a Fire Investigator.  Additionally, he serves as the Emergency Preparedness Manager for Northwest Community Hospital (NCH) in Arlington Heights, IL.  NCH is a healthcare organization with 4300 employees at one 509-bed hospital, 5 Immediate Care Centers and multiple surgical centers and physician group locations.}

_{Brian is a member of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and Vice-Chair of the NAEMT EMS Disaster Committee, and also the NAEMT liaison to the NETEC Steering Committee working to develop the National Special Pathogens (NSPS) Care Delivery Network. Brian serves as the President of the National Association of Public Safety Infection Control Officers and a member of the Association of Hospital Emergency Preparedness Professionals. Areas of expertise include: Public Health and Epidemiology, Emerging and Endemic Infectious Diseases, Emergency Medical and Trauma Care in the Pre-Hospital Setting, EMT/Paramedic Training and Education, Infection Control and Occupational Biohazard Exposure Management, Disaster Response and Emergency Management, National Incident Command Systems (NIMS), and Policy Writing and Enforcement. Additionally, he is a FEMA certified instructor at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in the Highly Infectious Disease course as well as a Hospital Emergency Response Taskforce training instructor.}

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_{https://www.naemt.org/join/join}