Ep 11 NAEMT Radio – Running for a position as a Director on the NAEMT Board. – with Bruce Evans, Shannon Watson and Dennis Wilham

NAEMT Radio

In this edition of NAEMT Radio we identify how to run for and serve on the NAEMT Board of Directors. Host, Rob Lawrence welcomes NAEMT Immediate Past President, Bruce Evans, Current Board Member Shannon Watson and Dennis Wilham,Candidacy and Elections Committee Chair to discuss the topic. Bruce shares his perspectives as a long-time Board member and officer, and the rewards of helping the association grow and support the profession, while Shannon shares her experiences in running for the Board and her experiences to date on the Board. Veteran NAEMT member, Dennis Wilham explains qualifications and requirements for running for a board position.

About our Guests

Bruce Evans

Bruce Evans, MPA, CFO, NRP, is the Fire Chief at the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District. He arrived in La Plata County after serving as the EMS Chief and as an Assistant Chief at the North Las Vegas Fire Department in Southern Nevada. He had served at the Henderson (NV) Fire Department for 18 years as a fire and EMS captain.

Chief Evans is an NFPA Fire Instructor III and served as a college faculty member at the College of Southern Nevada's Fire Technology program teaching various fire and EMS topics for 21 years. He has over 38 years' experience in a variety of EMS settings and is the 2010 recipient of the International Association of Fire Chiefs James O Page award for Leadership in EMS. He was awarded the 2014 NAEMT Presidential Leadership Award. Chief Evans is NAEMT's representative to the NFPA(r) 2400, Standard for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Used for Public Safety Operations. He holds a master’s degree in public administration, bachelor’s degree in education, and Associates in Fire Management.

Chief Evans has an appointment to the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine's Preparedness Committee. He is completed a six-year appointment on the Colorado Governor's State EMS and Trauma Advisory Committee. He is a certified faculty for the International Public Safety Leadership and Ethics training program and instructor at the National Emergency Training Center authoring several courses in emergency response and incident management. Evans co-authored several textbooks, Crew Resource Management with Jones & Bartlett Learning, Management of EMS and EMS Research and Quality Management with Prentice Hall, IFSTA's Structural Series High-Rise Firefighting. He is one of the authors of the NAEMT EMS Safety Course and the NAEMT Principles of Ethics and Personal Leadership (PEPL) Course. Chief Evans is a contributor to the EMS Column in Firehouse Magazine and cases in the Journal of EMS (JEMS). Chief Evans is part of the LaPlata County Suicide Prevention Coalition and served on the SW Colorado Child Fatality Review Team.

Shannon Watson

Shannon Watson, MHA, NRP, CC-EMTP, CP, began her EMS career in North Carolina, where she attained her paramedic and associate degree in emergency medical science. She came to Christian Hospital EMS in 2008 and worked full-time as a paramedic serving north St. Louis County. She was promoted through the ranks of educator, clinical supervisor, mobile integrated health supervisor, and is currently assistant chief of EMS.

Watson is an EMS educator and teaches nationally at EMS conferences. She is secretary for the East Central Region EMS Committee for St. Louis. In 2012, Watson became a contributing author of the resuscitation chapter in the Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals book. She also serves as region 3 director for the NAEMT. Watson is passionate about leadership and mentoring others.

During her EMS tenure, Watson assisted in growing and developing the Christian Hospital EMS Academy and developing and implementing a mobile integrated health program for Christian Hospital. She has continued her education as a critical care paramedic, community paramedic, and she completed her bachelor’s in business and master’s in healthcare administration. She is married to a firefighter-paramedic, and they have three children. She enjoys spending her free time with friends and family engaging in outdoor activities.

Dennis Wilham

Dennis spent 17 years in the Planning Department within Caterpillar where he focused on N/C programming and Processing for the Primary Fabrication Manufacturing lines. During this same time, he was also the EMS Emergency Response Director responsible for all EMS Medical Direction and training of the Industrial Advanced Life Support Team. This led him to become the full time Medical Administrator and Supervisor of the Decatur Medical Department and EMS Medical Director of the Industrial Advanced Life Support Team.

Later, Dennis became the US Operations EMS Director over EMS, the Liaison Manager over Medical, Security, Food Service and HR Budget coordinator for the Aurora, Decatur, and Peoria facilities. For his final 5 years at Caterpillar, Dennis worked in the Visitor Services Center focused on providing factory & facility tours highlighting manufacturing processes and procedures of the Off-Road Heavy Equipment within Caterpillar to Customers and Dealers from around the world. During this same time, he continued to provide ALS services at the Decatur Caterpillar facility as the lead Caterpillar Medic. Dennis retired with 37-1/2 years from Caterpillar in December 2015.

Dennis currently serves as Human Resource Officer at Logan County Paramedic Association in Lincoln, Illinois where he also held the positions of board member, Vice President and President. He is also the chair of the NAEMT Candidacy and Elections Committee.

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