Panel of ComCare Judges

Just click on the names below for more information on the ComCare judges for the Telematics Update Awards 2003

Kathy Robinson, RN (Chair) Kevin K. McGinnis, MPS, EMT-P William R. Gillis, Ph.D. Michael P. Pietrzak, M.D., F.A.C.E.P. Jack Gillis Anthony Haynes Angelo Salvucci, MD Richard Taylor Carl C. Van Cott Please click on the names to read the complete judges bio's
	Kathy Robinson, RN (Chair) Kathy Robinson, RN, is the 32nd president of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), the specialty nursing association serving the emergency nursing profession through research, publications, professional development, and injury prevention. Ms. Robinson is currently the EMS Planning and Clinical Systems Manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Health. She has served on the ENA board since 1997 as a director-at-large, and most recently as the president-elect. She has also served on the boards of Emergency Nurses Care (EN CARE), the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN), and the Emergency Nurses Association Foundation (ENAF). Nationally, she has served as the chairperson of the National EMS Alliance, the assistant editor for the Journal of Emergency Nursing, EMS Insider, and Portable Emergency and Primary Care Information Database (PEPID-RN). She is a member of the Susquehanna chapter of ENA. Ms. Robinson has been a liaison to several national EMS groups, including the National EMS Alliance, National EMS Management Forum, and the National Forum on EMS Education. She has served on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) National Review Team(s) for the National Standard Curriculum for Medical Direction, National EMS Research Agenda, EMT Paramedic and Paramedic-Intermediate Continuing Education National Guidelines and National Standard Curriculum for Paramedic and Paramedic-Intermediate. Ms. Robinson has also served on NHTSA's EMS Interfacility transport and Patient Safety in Emergency Medical Services input groups. She is a member of the ComCARE Alliance Automatic Crash Notification Task Force. Locally, she serves on the Susquehanna Critical Incident Stress Management Team in Sunbury, PA. A national lecturer and author on emergency nursing, emergency trends and management, Ms. Robinson earned her nursing diploma from the Geisinger Medical Center School of Nursing in Danville, Pa., and her bachelor of science degree in health care administration from Almeda College in Cromwell, CT. She holds a certificate in nursing management from Pennsylvania State University, and is a certified emergency nurse (CEN) and a certified EMT-Paramedic. She is the 2001 recipient of the Rita Celmer Award for nursing excellence from the Pennsylvania Emergency Nurses Association and has been awarded the Governors Highway Safety Award from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for Safety Education. Back to top
	Kevin K. McGinnis, MPS, EMT-P Kevin McGinnis began studying EMS systems in 1974, and has been an EMS system builder ever since. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brown University and Cornell University in health care delivery systems and hospital administration, has held EMT, EMT-Intermediate and Paramedic licenses in New York and Maine, and is or has been a certified instructor in PreHospital Trauma Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, and first responder through EMT-I state course instruction/coordination. Kevin has been a regional EMS coordinator, a hospital emergency department director, Maine's state EMS director from 1986 through 1996 (he served as interim state E9-1-1 director for a year during that period as well). He has been an EMS system consultant for the past 6 years, evaluating systems and ambulance services, and has served NHTSA as a member of state EMS system technical assistance teams for five statewide evaluations. For the past three years, Kevin has been a Program Advisor for the National Association of State EMS Directors. He is also the director of a hospital-based ambulance system in the western mountains of Maine, and serves as the Maine EMS trauma system development coordinator. He continues his active paramedic practice of the past 25 years. Kevin lives in Hallowell, Maine with his wife, Nancy who is the town's library director and a free-lance writer/photographer. Their daughter Sarah attends Colby-Sawyer College and is studying graphic design. Back to top
	William R. Gillis, Ph.D. Dr. William Gillis is an Associate Professor of Rural Sociology and Director of the WSU Center to Bridge the Digital Divide. The Center provides policy research and assistance to businesses, individuals and governments in the use of telecommunications to create new economic opportunities and improved access to education, health care and civic participation. Prior to joining the Washington State University faculty in January of 2001, Gillis served as one of three Washington State Public Utility Commissioners responsible for regulatory oversight of the state's private telecommunications, energy and other public service companies (1994-2000). During his tenure as a state Public Utility Commissioner, Gillis served as Chair of an FCC appointed Rural Task Force charged with reforms of the nation's universal service system. He also initiated and served as the first chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Committee on Consumer Affairs. His diverse career as an applied private, public and academic economist and public policy leader includes service as tenured faculty member of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Penn State University, where he created a statewide outreach program to help local communities generate new economic development opportunities (1983-1988). In 1988 he was selected as the first Director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania in which he assisted the state legislature in developing new initiatives to improve health care, transportation and job opportunities in rural areas (1988-1991). In 1991, Gillis returned to his native state of Washington and co-founded The Gillis Group, a private economic development and transportation planning firm located in Ritzville, Washington (1991-1994). Gillis has an extensive background in public sector economics. His unique combination of experience in academics, government and private consulting includes a particular focus on developing new economic opportunities in rural regions and low-income urban neighborhoods. Gillis obtained a BS and MS degree from Washington State University (1973-1979) and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin (1979-1983). Back to top
	Michael P. Pietrzak, M.D., F.A.C.E.P. Dr. Pietrzak is the founder and principal of Knowledge Management Solutions, a consulting firm working in areas of medicine, security and technology application. He is the Director of Project ER One and charged with leading the federally funded initiative developing the design features, concepts and specifications for the "all risks" medical facility in the multi-threat environment. The project gained national recognition for its concepts of threat mitigation at medical facilities. Dr. Pietrzak had a distinguished military career with several assuagements involving medical facility design. Serving as chief medical officer of TRICARE Southwest from 1997 - 1999 he oversaw medical affairs for the Department of Defense (DOD)/Military Health System in the Southwest Region of the United States. His responsibilities included clinical oversight of a 1.8 billion dollar managed care contract covering 1 million beneficiaries. He also coordinated the clinical integration of all DOD treatment facilities in the region, including two of the DOD's largest facilities; Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center and Brooke Army Medical Center. This involved the strategic planning of facility scope and sizing reconciling the needs of readiness and daily medical operations. Prior to that, from 1995 to 1997, Dr. Pietrzak was the commander of the 11th Medical Group, of Bolling Airforce Base in Washington, D.C. In this chief executive position, he was responsible for the Air Force's medical facilities, operations and staff of the Bolling Air Force Base and the Pentagon. His understanding of potential threats to the Pentagon led him to champion the idea of more than one location for medical care in that structure. As chief of Clinical Medicine at the Headquarters Air Education and Training Command from 1994 - 1995, he was charged with development and coordination of policy and quality oversight for the clinical activities of 20 Air Force medical facilities through out the command. During this the assignment Dr Pietrzak led the effort in the design and development of the Aero-Medical Base Units for USAF use. These modular units can be rapidly installed into virtually any aircraft type to allow transport of critical patients when needed. He also served as a consultant to the surgeon general in Emergency Medicine from 1992 - 1995 and the Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Malcolm Grow United States Air Force Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base from 1991 to 1994. During this assignment he had the principle oversight and input for the design and development of the new emergency department at Andrews AFB on of the first in the military to incorporate decontamination capability. Dr. Pietrzak has held several academic positions including Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Georgetown University, Associate Clinical Professor at George Washington University and Department of Military Emergency Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) from 1989 - 1994. He also was one of the founding directors of the Counter Narcotics Tactical Operations Medical Support (CONTOMS) while at the USUHS- one of the earliest entities evaluating the multi-threat environment in medicine outside the military. Awards and recognition include being the First Recipient of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Award for Excellence in Military Medicine, presented by Chairman, General Colin Powell in 1993. He also won the Sirkorsky Award for Life Saving Mission in Air Evacuation in 1981. Dr. Pietrzak is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians having served as an officer and as well as on numerous committees including the ACEP Bio-terrorism Task Force. Over the years, he has been actively involved in numerous other professional societies including; the American College of Physician Executives, the Society of Chief Medical Officers, the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, the Aerospace Medical Association, Society of Academic Emergency Medicine and the Society of Air Force Clinical Surgeons. Back to top
	Jack Gillis Jack Gillis is Director of Public Affairs for the Consumer Federation of America, the nation's largest consumer advocacy organization, representing over 240 national, state and local pro-consumer groups with 50 million individual members. He joined CFA in 1983. He is also a noted consumer advocate, author and columnist. He is author of The Car Book, The Used Car Book, The Truck, Van and 4x4 Book, and The Car Repair Book (HarperCollins), How to Make Your Car Last Almost Forever (Putnam), The Social Security Book for Women (AARP), co?author of The Childwise Handbook: A Complete Guide to Buying the Safest and Best Products for Your Children, The Armchair Mechanic (Harper & Row), and How to Fly: Consumer Federation of America's Airline Survival Guide, editor of The Bank Book (Harcourt Brace), The Product Safety Book (Dutton) and Money in the Bank (Putnam). He was a Contributing Editor and Columnist for Good Housekeeping and Child magazine. His articles have appeared in Consumers Digest and Parade, and he was a contributor to Paramount TV's "America." In 1994, Gillis joined NBC where he is a contributing correspondent for "The Today Show." He is frequently called upon by the national media to comment on public policy issues. He has appeared on all three network evening news programs as well as "Donahue," "Oprah," "Nightline," "Good Morning America," and "The Larry King Show." Newsday called Gillis "one of the best and the brightest in Washington's bureaucracy," and The New York Times featured Gillis as a leader in a new breed of consumer advocates. He is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, Money magazine, The Washington Post, and USA Today. Gillis was cited by the National Press Club as one of the best in consumer journalism. Two of his books were among the "10 Best Personal Finance Books of 1988" chosen by Money magazine, and Sylvia Porter's Personal Finance Magazine selected him as one of America's personal finance heroes. He has testified before both the Senate and the House at the invitation of Republicans and Democrats, and he is a former adjunct professor at The George Washington University, where he taught in the Graduate School of Government and Business Administration. He is a board member of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. He is also the Executive Director of the Certified Automotive Parts Association, a non-profit organization that sets standards and certifies the quality of automobile body parts. CAPA's goal is to ensure the availability of high quality, competitively priced auto body parts. He received his MBA from The George Washington University and BA from the University of Notre Dame. Gillis is married to Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis and they have four children. Back to top
	Anthony Haynes Anthony Haynes serves as the Executive Director of the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board. The Board serves as the state's authority for directing the implementation of wireless E-911 on behalf of all Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPS). The Board also has financial oversight for the101 local 911 districts in Tennessee. Haynes has extensive legislative and public policy experience in the areas of energy and telecommunications. In Washington, Haynes directed the governmental affairs program for a national association and also served as a Congressional liaison for two Secretaries of Agriculture. While at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), he served as the Department's lead policy staff in the areas of electric deregulation, telecommunications and e-commerce. He was as a member of the White House Task Force on Electric Restructuring, as well as White House Working Groups on Telecommunications, and E-Commerce. While at USDA, Haynes served as the Deputy Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), formerly the Rural Electrification Administration, and Deputy Governor of the Rural Telephone Bank. The RUS had more than $43 billion in outstanding electric, telecommunications, water and sewer loans. As the Deputy Administrator, Haynes served as the agency's number two executive directing the day to day operations and responsible for all policy development. Haynes also served as a Vice President at National Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC based consulting and public policy firm. At National Strategies, he provided staff assistance to the ComCARE Alliance. Back to top
	Angelo Salvucci, MD Angelo Salvucci, MD, FACEP is a Governor's appointee and the chair of the California Commission on Emergency Medical Services (EMS). As an emergency physician for over 20 years and as assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Dr. Salvucci has been involved in the practice and teaching of emergency medicine. Dr. Salvucci is active in education, system development, and medical oversight of EMS systems, and is the author of numerous articles and a textbook chapter on EMS medical care. He is currently medical director of EMS for Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, California. Over the past 15 years Dr. Salvucci has chaired and participated in a number of committees that have shaped the current EMS and trauma systems in California. Back to top
	Richard Taylor Richard Taylor is administrator for the State of North Carolina Wireless 9-1-1 Board and second vice president for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). Back to top
	Carl C. Van Cott Carl C. Van Cott is President of the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, the leading certifying and standard-setting organization for public-safety emergency communications, with over 33,000 members throughout the U.S., Canada, and 15 other countries. He has served as Communications Director for the North Carolina State Office of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for over 25 years, where he undertook the planning, designing, and coordination of North Carolina's State-wide Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) program. Mr. Van Cott is a recognized leader in communications standards and technology and has served as Chair to the APCO EMS Committee and ASTM Standards Subcommittee on EMS Communications. Back to top