Ep 16. NAEMT Radio – NAEMTs Political Action Committee

In this edition of NAEMT Radio Rob Lawrence, NAEMT Member and Lighthouse Leadership Mentor talks to Steven Kroll, Chair of the NAEMT EMS Political Action Committee (PAC) and NAEMT President Elect, Chris Way, also Chair of the NAEMT Advocacy Committee.

Collectively they discuss that Advocacy on behalf of the EMS profession is an important responsibility of NAEMT and the political action committee is a critical part of our advocacy program.

NAEMT’s Advocacy program has three main components:

1. NAEMT’s professional advocacy team – paid lobbyists in Washington DC who work with policymakers on legislation and regulation impacting EMS.
2. The grassroots engagement of the NAEMT members – visiting members of Congress at home, coming to Washington for EMS on the Hill each spring, sending letters to members of Congress in response to NAEMT advocacy requests, and sending letters using the NAEMT Online Legislative Service (OLS)
3. NAEMTs Political Action Committee or PAC that provides support for candidates for the US Congress – both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate – who champion the issues of importance to NAEMT members.

Resources:

NAEMT 2023 National EMS Awards of Excellence Recipients: 2023 National EMS Awards of Excellence Recipients 8-16-23 v2 (naemt.org)

About Steven Kroll

Steven Kroll, MHA, EMT, is the executive director and volunteer chief of Delmar-Bethlehem EMS in Albany County, New York. He is also the chief delivery officer at UCM Digital Health, a telehealth triage, treatment and navigation medical practice. Kroll guided the development of UCM’s EMS treat-in-place telemedicine program.

In addition to his work in prehospital care, he’s the chairperson of the Board of Trustees for Cobleskill Regional Hospital in Schoharie County, New York. 

Kroll holds a Master of Health Administration from Duke University and has extensive experience in healthcare policy, advocacy and operations. Prior roles include serving as the executive director of The Arc New York, the state’s largest developmental disability services organization; vice president of governmental affairs at the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS); and a health staffer for the U.S. Senate.

Kroll is a member and past chair of his state’s Emergency Medical Service Council. He is also NAEMT’s Advocacy Coordinator for New York and a member of the NAEMT Advocacy Committee. In 2018, he was recognized as the NAEMT/Braun Industries EMT of the Year.

About Chris Way

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.