Tom P. Aufderheide, MD

Dr. Aufderheide is a nationally and internationally recognized researcher in the field of cardiac resuscitation and emergency cardiac care. He has authored numerous textbooks, chapters, CPR courses, and over 100 original research papers in the peer-reviewed literature, including 2 papers in the New England Journal of Medicine. He is a Professor of Emergency Medicine, past Basic Life Support Science Editor for the National American Heart Association, and directs the NIH-funded Resuscitation Research Center located in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Along with these significant accomplishments in research and education, Dr. Aufderheide has achieved many additional scholarly accomplishments that include: member of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s National Heart Attack Alert Program Working Group on Methods/Technologies for Early Identification of Acute Cardiac Ischemia/Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Emergency Department; member of the NIH Small Business Innovation Research Grant Review Committee; International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, developing international CPR guidelines; and member of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Steering Implementation Committee for the "EMS Agenda for the Future". Wisconsin’s governor, Tommy Thompson (past United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Welfare) recognized Dr. Aufderheide for his work in writing and supporting Automated External Defibrillation (AED) legislation in the state of Wisconsin. Dr. Aufderheide was recently elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Research. Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement, commitment to service, and have made significant contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

William H. Montgomery, MD

Dr. William H. Montgomery was a co-founder of the Foundation in 1987 and served as its President until 2004. He is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Hawaii School Of Medicine. He recently retired from the multispecialty Straub Clinic and Hospital in Honolulu where he was Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology for 38 years. He remains in private practice. During his career at Straub he held many other administrative posts including Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer. His activities outside Straub include active participation in the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), He currently serves on its Board of Directors and is the Director of the ASA Consultation Program. He is also the President of the Hawaii Society of Anesthesiologists. Additionally he is a member of the Hawaii State Ethics Commission.

Dr. Montgomery’s interest in CPR and resuscitation began in 1973 at the Hawaii Heart Association where he began teaching American Heart Association (AHA) CPR courses. In 1975 he was invited to join the AHA activities at the national level and he has been very active in teaching, writing educational materials and ECC program administration. He served as chair of the AHA national BLS, ECC and program administration committees to name a few. He was chair of the 1985 Silver Anniversary National Conference to review the Standards and Guidelines for CPR and ECC and has coordinated subsequent conferences including the most recent 2010 International Consensus Conference on CPR and ECC. His special interest is fostering international cooperation in the resuscitation field and was an organizer of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and its chairman from 1998-2006.

He has received numerous awards recognizing these achievements including the American Heart Association’s Meritorious Achievement award in 1995, induction as an Honorary Member of the European Resuscitation Council in 2004 and honored as a “Giant” in resuscitation by ILCOR and the AHA in 2000.

Dr. Montgomery served as the ECCU program chair for several of the conferences. The Foundation created the William H. Montgomery, MD Excellence in Education Award in 2006. This award, sponsored by the Laerdal Foundation for Acute Medicine, is named in his honor and serves as encouragement to ECCU concurrent session presenters to strive for excellence in their presentations.

Dr. Berger

Dr. Berger is Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Medical Director of the Herma Heart Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. It is under Dr. Berger’s direction that Project ADAM was established, in November of 1999, after the sudden, unexpected deaths of several student athletes in Southeastern Wisconsin. He along with others advocated for passage of the ADAM Act in the United States Congress, a bill that will provide funding for a national clearinghouse for the dissemination of information that will assist schools establish AED programs.

Dr. Berger has published several papers, chapters and has edited books in the field of pediatric cardiology as well as on the topic of sudden cardiac death in children and adolescents.

Richard N. Bradley, MD, EMT-P

Dr. Richard Bradley is the Chief of the Division of Emergency Medical Services and Disaster Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. His responsibilities include serving as the program director for the fellowship in Emergency Medical Services that will prepare future medical leaders in Emergency Medical Services and the emerging field of Homeland Security. Before this assignment, he accumulated seven years of experience as Medical Director or Chief of Service at two major hospital Emergency Centers in Houston. Dr. Bradley is a 1990 graduate of Santa Clara University. He completed his medical training at Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1994. Before graduating from college, Dr. Bradley accumulated ten years’ experience as a firefighter, paramedic, and 9-1-1 dispatcher. Since graduating from medical school, he has completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the Stanford-Kaiser Combined Emergency Medicine Program and a Fellowship in Emergency Medical Services with the Houston Fire Department. Dr. Bradley served as the Assistant Medical Director of the Houston Fire Department for eight years. He has fourteen years of experience in the Air National Guard, where he holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and is assigned to the 147th Medical Group in Houston. He has completed two active-duty tours of duty, serving as the senior Critical Care Air Transport Physician in Iraq for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and in Germany with forward deployment to Afghanistan for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. He also has extensive experience in Disaster Medicine, and currently has additional duties as Associate Director for EMS Preparedness for the UT Health Science Center at Houston’s Center for Biosecurity and as Public Health Preparedness and as Medical Team Manager for Texas Task Force One, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team. His deployments include the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery, and Hurricane Katrina. Short bio: Dr. Bradley is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Chief of the Division of EMS and Disaster Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He has over thirty years experience as an emergency physician, 9-1-1 dispatcher and firefighter/paramedic.

Marc Gay

Marc Gay is Executive Director for an Emergency Medical Dispatch Center in Sherbrooke Québec. He currently chairs the College of Fellows and the Dispatch CPR committee for the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch. He has served as chair of the ECC committee for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada from 1996-2003 and was a member of the AHA BLS subcommittee from 1996-2005.

Louis Gonzales

Louis Gonzales utilized his engineering education and experiences to develop expertise in the areas of process and performance improvement as well as systems-based approaches to community cardiovascular emergencies. Starting his career over 25 years ago as a volunteer EMS provider, Louis' career now focuses on performance improvement and strategies to improve survival from sudden cardiac arrest. Louis currently serves as the Performance Management & Research Coordinator in the Office of the Medical Director for the City of Austin/Travis County EMS System in Austin, Texas. He also serves as the Program Manager for the Take Heart Austin Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Initiative.

While gaining invaluable experience as a paramedic in the King County, Washington Medic One System, Louis Gonzales also served as the Early Defibrillation Program Coordinator for King County EMS. In this role, Louis revitalized the county-wide defibrillation program by focusing on quality improvement and instructor development. During this time, Louis co-authored EMT Manual, 3rd edition under the mentorship of Dr. Mickey Eisenberg and has since written a number of articles on the topics of community CPR and AED training, workplace emergency response and community resuscitation systems of care. Inspired by world-renowned resuscitation researchers in the Seattle/King County System, Louis continues his interest in resuscitation research. He served as a member of the North American Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Trial's data safety monitoring board (DSMB) and is currently collaborating on a number of resuscitation related research projects.

Louis has also served in a number of leadership and science roles within the National American Heart Association including ECC Committee member, First Aid Subcommittee Chair, International First Aid Science Advisory Board member, Senior Oversight Editor for Student Materials and Mission Lifeline ECC Task Force member. He currently serves as the Senior Science Editor for Community products, Resuscitation Science Symposium planning committee member, and co-chairs the Capital Area Regional Mission Lifeline QI group. Louis received a Bachelor of Science in Safety Engineering from Texas A&M University and completed paramedic training through the University of Washington School of Medicine/Seattle Medic One Paramedic Training Program. He currently serves as Adjunct Faculty in the Department of EMS Professions of Temple College.

Ward M. Hamilton

Ward M. Hamilton is Senior Vice President and Vice President of Marketing at ZOLL Medical Corporation a leading company in the field of resuscitation. He is actively involved in most of the company's product development and research. Prior to his current role at ZOLL, Mr. Hamilton served as Director of New Business Development and Director of Marketing for ACLS products for Laerdal Medical, and earlier was employed as Marketing Manager for defibrillators and non-invasive blood pressure monitors for Datascope Corporation. Early in his career he was an EMT, Los Angeles County paramedic and firefighter and taught emergency care and fire science. Mr. Hamilton holds a B.A. in political science from Hartwick College and a M.P.A. from the University of Southern California.

Brad Holland

Brad Holland is the General Manager of Resuscitation Programs Development for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Brad has responsibility for the management and business development of the Heart and Stroke Foundation resuscitation program. Brad has worked over 15 years in the private and public sector in Canada and the United States focusing on strategic planning, product development, business and program development.

Brad is a graduate of the University of Toronto.

David A. Johnson

Laerdal is most widely known for the introduction of Resusci Anne in 1960 marking the beginning of modern day resuscitation training. Prior to assuming the role of President in 2009 David Johnson was Vice President for the US Sales organization. During David’s tenure he has also served on the Board of Directors for the Dutchess County AHA and the Affiliate Board for HealthQuest, an integrated healthcare system in the Hudson Valley. David holds a B.S. in Business Administration with emphasis in Finance and Marketing from Susquehanna University.

James Niskanen

James E. Niskanen is the Retired Director of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods for the City of Modesto, California. Other positions he has held include: Interim City Manager; Interim Deputy City Manager; Interim Community and Economic Development Director and Interim Public Works Director. Jim also served as Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Modesto; Program Manager/Recreation Supervisor for the City of Sunnyvale, CA; Recreation Supervisor for the City of Alameda, CA; and Recreation Program Coordinator for the City of Sunnyvale. He received his B.S. degree in Recreation Administration and Leisure Services from San Jose State University (1976).

Some of his professional affiliations include: California Park and Recreation Society, Inc.; Golf Course Superintendents of America; National Institute of Golf Management; National Recreation and Park Association; Neighborhoods USA; and U.S. Golf Association. Awards and honors he has received are: Member, Chair, Building Strong Neighborhoods Impact Council of the United Way of Stanislaus County, 2004-06; Club Service Director, Modesto Sunrise Rotary, 2004-07; Trustee, National Institute of Golf Management (since 2002); Chair, National Institute of Golf Management (2000); Chair, Chair-elect and Past Chair, National Institute of Golf Management (1999); and Past President, California Park and Recreation Society, Inc., District IV (1988-89); Fellow, American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (since 2000).

Since retiring in June 2009, Jim has been a highly sought after national speaker on telling his story of surviving Sudden Cardiac Arrest in August 2008. He also is the Community Chair for the American Heart Association Heart Walk - Modesto in September 2010.

Jim also enjoys spending time with his wife of 34 years, Valeri, and their four children, spouses and two grandchildren.

Maureen O'Connor

Maureen O’Connor has been in the field of emergency services for eighteen years. Most recently she acts as the Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Program Manager for San Diego Project Heart Beat (SDPHB). SDPHB is one of our nation’s first defibrillation programs to offer such a unique opportunity for public and private venture. SDPHB was recognized by the National Center for Early Defibrillation (NCED) as best Large Community Program of the year in October of 2003. Most recently SDPHB received the 2009 Heart Safe Community Award PAD Program, Large Community from the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association’s 2009 SCAA Public Service Award. Maureen takes great pride in her involvement with the development of this internationally recognized program since its inception in 2001.

Maureen has served the communities of San Diego County as an Emergency First Responder in many different facets. Maureen has worked on some of San Diego Cities busiest paramedic units for San Diego Fire-Rescue, served as a Firefighter for the City of Poway and worked as a Ranger/Diver for the City of San Diego.

Maureen’s passion for life saving PAD programs is apparent in the success of San Diego Project Heart Beat. Maureen and her team members have helped bring the dream and foresight of Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) and Early Access Defibrillation programs into fruition within the communities of San Diego County saving 80 lives to date (March 2011) and deploying over 6500 Automated External Defibrillator’s (AED’s). Maureen won the San Diego Business Journal’s Annual Women Who Mean Business Award in October of 2004, for her success and accomplishments with the regional PAD program. She was also recognized by her department as EMS Administrative Support Person of the Year during National EMS Week in May 2005, recipient of VFW Post 3788’s 2005 Paramedic/EMT of the year award and 2008 – 2009 Outstanding Achievement Appreciation Award from the San Diego County American Heart Association Chapter. Maureen also served as Co-Chair of the Local Planning Committee for ECCU 2010.

Donna Siegfried

Donna directs the development and delivery of first aid programs to meet the needs of over 10,000 instructors and 2500 training centers worldwide. She actively works to promote the need for first aid training and preparedness in the workplace, in our homes and communities to reduce injury and illness and save lives. Donna maintains direct contact with local, state and federal agencies and monitors legislation impacting first aid and preparedness programs. Donna is an active member of several strategic alliances and partnerships including the OSHA and MSHA Alliances.

It is estimated that through her leadership, National Safety Council first aid rescuers have saved more than 11,600 lives since the Council launched their first aid programs in 1990.

Maureen has served the communities of San Diego County as an Emergency First Responder in many different facets. Maureen has worked on some of San Diego Cities busiest paramedic units for San Diego Fire-Rescue, served as a Firefighter for the City of Poway and worked as a Ranger/Diver for the City of San Diego.

Maureen’s passion for life saving PAD programs is apparent in the success of San Diego Project Heart Beat. Maureen and her team members have helped bring the dream and foresight of Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) and Early Access Defibrillation programs into fruition within the communities of San Diego County saving 80 lives to date (March 2011) and deploying over 6500 Automated External Defibrillator’s (AED’s). Maureen won the San Diego Business Journal’s Annual Women Who Mean Business Award in October of 2004, for her success and accomplishments with the regional PAD program. She was also recognized by her department as EMS Administrative Support Person of the Year during National EMS Week in May 2005, recipient of VFW Post 3788’s 2005 Paramedic/EMT of the year award and 2008 – 2009 Outstanding Achievement Appreciation Award from the San Diego County American Heart Association Chapter. Maureen also served as Co-Chair of the Local Planning Committee for ECCU 2010.

Merrilee Sweet

Merrilee Sweet is the national director of Emergency Cardiovascular Care for community markets for the American Heart Association. In this role, Sweet is focused on developing global strategies to increase survival from sudden cardiac arrest emergencies. Most recently, developing and implementing the Hands-Only CPR public awareness campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council. Prior to her current role, she was vice president of communications and marketing for the American Heart Association’s Northeast Affiliate. Sweet has more than 15 years of experience in strategic marketing, specializing in brand and project management, program development and event planning. Among her numerous honors, she received the 2004 “Women of Distinction” Award from New York Governor George E. Pataki.

Sherrie Wilson

Sherrie Wilson is a 33 year veteran firefighter and retired Paramedic with the Dallas Fire Rescue Department. She is a nationally recognized writer and speaker, and motivator. She currently serves as the Founder, Director of Education and Clinical Manager for Emergency Management Resources (EMR). EMR specializes in providing business and industry with AED programs. These programs include, providing AED equipment, web-based tracking of equipment, medical direction, 3rd party inspections and training.

Sherrie has served on editorial and advisory boards for Industrial Fire World Magazine, Emergency Medical Services Magazine, Texas EMS Magazine, and as a reviewer of EMS text for both Mosby Lifeline and Brady Publishing. She has fifty plus published Fire and/or EMS related articles, publications and conference presentations. She has authored two manuals, Rescue Team Training, published by Emergency Management Resources and Medical Terminology, published by Fun Ed Inc. She is currently working on her third book Faith and Fire, about her life and career as the first female firefighter in Dallas. Faith and Fire is scheduled for publication summer 2011.

Sherrie has also served in a number of leadership roles within the American Heart Association including ECC Committee member, International Volunteer Trainer in Russia, India and Mexico. She currently serves as a Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Life Support Regional Faculty.

Sherrie received a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from Hawthorne University and completed paramedic training through the University of Texas Health Science Center, Dallas, Texas. She is a graduate of Landmark Education Leadership and Communication Programs.

Tore Laerdal

Tore Laerdal is Chairman of the Board of the Laerdal Foundation for Acute Medicine, which since 1980 has provided financial support to nearly 2000 practically oriented research projects. www.laerdalfoundation.org

Mr Laerdal is also Chairman of the Board of the Laerdal Medical, a world leading company within training material and therapeutic equipment for acute medicine. www.laerdal.com

Mr Laerdal serves as Chairman of the Board of three external research foundations in Norway. He holds a degree from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, and has received a Honorary Doctorate in Science from the University in Hertfordshire in the UK.