Board of Directors

Jon R. Krohmer, M.D., FACEP, FAEMS is the Principal for EMSMD LLC, a volunteer with the National EMS Museum, a member of the Panel of Commissioners for the Commission on the Accreditation of Ambulance Services and is a non-executive member of the Board of Directors for Velico Medical. He is an EMS Subject Matter Expert for Cambridge Consulting Group and Associate Medical Editor for the National Association of EMTs AMLS textbook.

He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine and is a member of the Kent County EMS Advisory Council. He is board certified in emergency medicine and emergency medical services.

He retired as the Director of the NHTSA Office of EMS in the Department of Transportation and as the EMS Medical Director for the Caroline County (MD) Department of Emergency Services. He also served as the NHTSA Acting Associate Administrator for Research and Program Development from October 2018 to January 2020. Previously, he was the principal deputy assistant secretary for DHS Office of Health Affairs and DHS deputy chief medical officer.

He began serving in that position as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) with DHS in September 2006 and served as the acting assistant secretary for health affairs and chief medical officer from August 2008 to August 2009. Dr. Krohmer was an attending physician and director of emergency medical services (EMS), emergency medicine residency and Department of Emergency Medicine at the Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus in Grand Rapids, MI, associate professor of emergency medicine at the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University and EMS medical director of Kent County Emergency Medical Services and was the medical director for the West Michigan Metropolitan Medical Response System and the Region 6 Consortium. Dr. Krohmer received his undergraduate degree at Ferris State College, School of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Mich., and is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Mich.

He completed his emergency medicine residency and EMS Fellowship at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio

John Bradley Holcomb received his M.D. from the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1985. Dr. Holcomb entered the U.S. Army in 1985, and completed his general surgery training in 1991. Dr Holcomb then deployed with the Joint Special Operations Command for the next decade. He led one of the first Military Civilian Partnerships from 1999-2001.

From 2002 to 2008, COL Holcomb was the Commander of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research and Trauma Consultant for the Army Surgeon General. Over the years he has multiple combat deployments. He is a three time recipient of the Army’s Greatest Invention award, the ‘A” Designator in Military Medicine, the Order of Military Medical Merit and the Department of the Army Research and Development Achievement Award for Leadership Excellence. COL Holcomb retired from active duty in 2008 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Trauma Resuscitation Science from the American Heart Association, the United States Special Operations Command Medal, and the Service award from the American College of Surgery. He has been a member of the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care since 2001.

From 2008-2019 Dr. Holcomb worked at UT Health, Houston, as a Professor of Surgery. In 2016 he received the MAJ Jonathan Letterman award from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine an in 2022 the Robert Danis Prize from International Surgical Society. In 2019 Dr Holcomb joined the University of Alabama, Birmingham as a Professor of Surgery. Dr. Holcomb is actively involved in clinical medicine, education, research, entrepreneurship and is a founder and board member of a health IT company (Decisio Health). He reviews papers for 44 journals, has published > 740 peer reviewed articles, consults with several companies and serves on multiple boards. Dr. Holcomb and his wife, Dr. Kelly Wirfel were married in 1998 and have 2 children.

Randall M. Schaefer (Lieutenant Colonel, US Army, Retired), DNP, RN, ACNS-BC, CEN, served 20 years as an Emergency/Trauma Nurse in operational units and fixed facilities in clinical and staff officer roles. She deployed three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve. During deployments, she established and implemented prehospital blood programs and Walking Blood Banks at the unit and strategic levels.

Upon retirement from Active Duty in 2017 until 2021, she worked at the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council (STRAC). She was the program manager for developing and implementing the country’s first multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary Regional Whole Blood Program, comprised of 18 ground EMS agencies, ten helicopter EMS bases, and numerous hospitals throughout South Texas.

She has assisted dozens of EMS agencies establish prehospital blood programs across the country. Dr. Schaefer serves as a Steering Committee Member for the Prehospital Blood Transfusion Initiative Coalition, a North Carolina EMS Regional Blood Coalition Board Member, and an AABB Prehospital Standards Working Group Committee member.

Bill has more than 30 years’ experience in the life sciences sector including as a senior executive and international commercial business leader with Johnson & Johnson’s Transfusion Medicine business (Ortho Clinical Diagnostic Systems) and as Vice President, Worldwide Sales & Marketing, with J&J’s Therakos division.

As Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Transfusion Medicine, he held strategic, commercial development. Responsibility for a $400M franchise in blood screening and immunohematology. He also served as Vice President, Marketing for Genzyme Genetics.

Prior to Velico, he launched Cambridge Executive Services, Inc., a global retained search firm serving the Life Sciences industry. Bill earned a B.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Undergraduate Division, and completed the International Executive Program at Duke University.

Gerad Troutman, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAEMS is the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Global Medical Response and medical director for the American Ambulance Association. He is an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, TX where he is the local EMS medical director and serves as a mentor to the Texas Tech Innovations Hub. He is a past president of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians and currently serves on the Governor’s EMS & Trauma Advisory Council of Texas.

EMS Community

Dr. Carlos H. Palacio, MD FACS, trained in General Surgery and critical care at the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He is an avid educator, he is the South Texas Health System GME consortium program director for General Surgery. He is the Trauma Medical Director for STHS-MCALLEN, an American College of Surgeons (ACS) verified Level 1 trauma center and he is also the ACS Chair for the Southern Texas Committee on Trauma (COT).

Gerald Beltran, DO, MPH, MSIS, MSCJA, FACEP, FAEMS works as a physician and clinical scientist with expertise in Emergency and Emergency prehospital medicine. Dr. Beltran has rendered aid and care to patients with medical and traumatic ailments in both the hospital and prehospital environments with increased attention on improving patient care through healthcare integration.

He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia and a Fellowship in EMS (Prehospital and Disaster Medicine) at Emory University. He has been working clinically teaching residents, medical students, paramedics and EMTs, first responders, paramedic students, first responder students, and advanced practitioners about acute and emergency medical care for almost 20 years.

Dr. Beltran started as an EMT over 35 years ago which fostered his admiration for the job that EMS clinicians, fire, and police do every day. His first career was as a police officer and he continues to serve in that capacity. He currently is the Division Chief for the Division of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine at Prisma Health – Upstate. Prior to that he was the founding Division Chief for the Division of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine at Baystate Health in Massachusetts. He has the privilege of serving as a Medical Officer for the Trauma Critical Care Team with the National Disaster Medical Support (NDMS) under the Department of Health and Human Services and previously with the FEMA USAR MATF-1 team. He has supported multiple EMS, Fire, and police agencies as their medical director.

Additionally, he has helped develop and support several Tactical EMS (TEMS) teams, including in the north metro-Atlanta area and Hampden County Massachusetts. He is a law enforcement officer with over 15 years of street experience. He is a Drug Recognition Expert and an instructor in the state of Massachusetts on Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, CPR/First Responder, and Mental Health.

Dr. Beltran’s work as an Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services physician specialist has provided him with the opportunity to publish various topics of interest including environmental illness, disaster preparedness, bacteriology, improving prehospital safety processes and devices, risk management, facial injuries, and prehospital care. Most of Dr. Beltran’s focus has been interweaving prehospital care impacting Emergency Medicine outcomes.

With years of experience in collaboratively integrating different key healthcare stakeholders in addressing emergency and acute care, he has been able to contribute this interest and experience in a research venue with prehospital (e.g. EMS, police, fire, first responders, public health, etc.) and academic colleagues.

Bill Salmeron has proudly served as Chief of New Orleans EMS since June of 2019. Prior to this, he was a field paramedic, supervisor, and then Coordinator of Special Events and Planning for the Department. In his tenure as Chief, he has managed the department through the challenges of both normal operations and multiple emergency operations and disasters. Prior to New Orleans EMS, he served in senior leadership positions for the American Red Cross in South Louisiana, managing primarily disaster preparedness, response, government relations, and service to military families. Chief Salmeron is a member of several associations, committees, work groups, and participates in EMS Advocacy at the state and federal level.

Susan N. Leppke, MPH is the senior director of public policy and strategic partnerships for the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) where she is responsible for advancing advocacy and driving public policy initiatives on improving access to blood and blood products, transfusion medicine and biotherapies. Ms. Leppke has over 15 years of experience in health care management, reimbursement, access-to-care policy and analysis, and stakeholder engagement. Prior to her role at AABB, Ms. Leppke served as the Director of Public and Payer

Policy at the National Marrow Donor Program where she led multi-stakeholder teams to successfully pass federal and state policies to protect access to cellular therapies for patients with blood cancer and other blood diseases and disorders. Prior to that, Ms. Leppke managed and led efforts in organ transplant policy where she provided strategic leadership and direction on organ allocation policy, transplant research, and payment analysis, strategically engaging with external stakeholders.

Her experience includes leading government affairs and policy teams to drive change in the federal, state, and local legislative and regulatory settings. Ms. Leppke has her master’s degree in public health administration and policy from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Pampee Young is the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of the American Red Cross where she oversees Red Cross’s team of physicians and the Scientific Affairs Department which focuses primarily on the advancement of blood safety and The Transfusion Innovation Department whose primary focus is on new blood product and device development. Before joining the Am Red Cross, Dr. Young was a tenured Professor at Vanderbilt Medical Center where she served as Director of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy and lead investigator of an extramurally funded research program in wound healing.

Her work is the foundation of the technology of a start-up, Eluciderm. She has coauthored over 100 peer reviewed manuscripts, serves on the editorial board of journals and various advisory committees within the industry. Her current research interests are in promoting public health and safety and blood center operations.

Bill Block assumed the top executive position at BCA in August of 2012. With a background in Economics, Bill’s entire career of 20+ years is distinguished by leadership roles and seasoned experience in the business of healthcare where he has managed two medical device companies in addition to his senior management positions at Baxter, Cardinal Health, and Allegiance. During his tenure at BCA, Bill has helped to strengthen the supply chain, and leveraged the Cooperative’s recovered and source plasma businesses. Bill has also spearheaded the donor data analytics program with over 100M donation records for members; and launched a

significant push to leverage the Advance Therapy network of its decentralized manufacturing footprint.