Welcome to Day 4 Of The EMS Leadership Summit
You'll receive a daily email with session reminders and links to access. All Access Pass-holders get instant and lifetime access to the sessions. Free pass-holders will get 24 hours to watch the day's sessions starting at 8AM ET. View the Playbook for a full schedule of session.
A New Approach to a Chronic Leadership Problem
Robbie MacCue & Lisa Giruzzi
About the Session:
This is a transformative workshop delving into the proven framework for creating a thriving organization that attracts and retains engaged, high performers. Through insightful discussions and practical strategies, attendees gain a profound understanding of the direct correlation between leadership effectiveness and organizational success. With illuminating conversations and powerful case studies, this workshop empowers leaders to recognize the warning signs, cultivate transformational leadership practices, and foster environments where
teams thrive.
About the Speakers:
Robbie MacCue and Lisa Giruzzi are co-founders of the EMS Leadership Academy and co-hosts of the EMS Leadership Summit, a global event dedicated to transforming EMS leadership. With decades of combined experience in emergency services, leadership development, and organizational transformation, they help EMS professionals create high-performing, people-centered organizations. Robbie brings over 20 years in EMS and an MBA in healthcare leadership, while Lisa is a best-selling author and expert in transformational communication. Together, they empower leaders at all levels to lead with confidence, clarity, and compassion.
Six Minutes to Live
Featured Panel: Hilary Gates, Bob Davis, Tom Bouthellet
Tom Bouthillet
Tom Bouthillet is a seasoned paramedic, EMS educator, and former Fire Captain/Paramedic from Hilton Head Island, SC. He’s known for advancing cardiac care education through ECG interpretation training and was instrumental in system reforms that significantly improved local survival rates from cardiac arrest.
About the Session:
In 1999, the tragic death of 21-year-old Julia Rusinek from sudden cardiac arrest in Washington, D.C., became the catalyst for a nationwide movement. Inspired by this event, journalist and former paramedic Bob Davis authored the groundbreaking 2003 USA Today series Six Minutes to Live or Die, exposing critical disparities in emergency medical response across the U.S. This investigative work spurred systemic changes in EMS protocols nationwide.
Join co-founders Bob Davis, Tom Bouthillet, and Hilary Gates as they share the origins of the "Six Minutes to Live" initiative. They will discuss how personal experiences and investigative journalism converged to drive improvements in cardiac arrest survival rates. The session will also highlight successful system changes, such as those implemented on Hilton Head Island, SC, that contributed to saving lives like that of Amber Curtiss. Participants will gain insights into actionable steps to enhance emergency response systems and prevent needless deaths from sudden cardiac arrests.
About the Speakers:
Hilary Gates is a veteran paramedic, educator, and EMS consultant. She brings decades of frontline and leadership experience to her work, with a passion for improving patient outcomes through education, advocacy, and system-wide collaboration. She is a respected voice in national EMS leadership and policy.
Bob Davis is an award-winning journalist and former paramedic whose groundbreaking USA Today series “Six Minutes to Live or Die” exposed nationwide EMS disparities. His investigative reporting sparked reforms in emergency response systems and continues to inspire action to improve sudden cardiac arrest survival rates.
Closing the Gaps: Rethinking Leadership
Featuring Rick Ruppenthal
About the Session:
Why does poor leadership communication remain a top concern in EMS year after year? This session explores the deeper, often overlooked causes behind inconsistent leadership behavior—not just the strategies, but the mindset. Through real-world examples, we’ll uncover how insecure thinking impacts support and communication, and how shifting this internal dynamic can lead to more consistent, reliable leadership in EMS.
About the Speakers:
Rick Ruppenthal, brings over 30 years of frontline and senior leadership experience in Emergency Medical Services. As a former Paramedic, District Superintendent, and Senior Leader of Education for BCEHS, Rick managed complex projects, including the Community Paramedic Program and competency-based training. Recognized with awards such as the Canadian EMS Exemplary Service Medal and a Governor General Commendation, Rick is passionate about empowering EMS leaders to thrive amidst chaos. Now a Transformative Coach and Mental Health Educator, Rick specializes in fostering resilience and clarity through understanding simple principles, helping teams and individuals lead with confidence and navigate challenges with insight.
The Culture Within
Featuring Marques Bush, Deputy Chief
About the Session:
This interview is centered around, what you permit you promote. Your culture within is based from a lack of noticing and recognize informal and formal leaders within your organization. The message that they send to the members and the public are critical to your success of providing high quality service to your customers.
About the Speaker:
Chief Bush is a 28 year student of Fire & EMS. Most recently becoming the Operations Chief for a medium sized fire based EMS department. Chief Bush is an advocate for dynamic outputs with member growth and development at the forefront
Quality as a Competitive Advantage and Political Asset
Featuring Mic Gunderson, EMT-P (Ret.), FAEMS
About the Session:
Leaders of EMS organizations of all types should always be on the lookout for things that give your organization an edge up. That can translate into building up a competitive advantage over other organizations - even over departments within your same unit of local government. It can also translate into building up political capital that can be used in times of crisis or when making an important ask for support. Quality management programs are commonly perceived as something your organization needs to do but would prefer not to have to deal with if given the option. What if your quality management program could become the basis for competitive advantage and a source of political capital? What would that even look like? How could you pull it off? This presentation will show you how.
About the Speaker:
Mic Gunderson has been involved in EMS since 1975 in various clinical, teaching, leadership, and consulting roles with third service, fire, private, and military EMS systems, research teams, colleges, EMS medical direction groups, professional associations, and consulting firms. He is currently the President of the Center for Systems Improvement and the EMS Quality Academy. He is also the Chief Strategy Officer for the Cambridge Consulting Group and serves as the Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Paramedicine.
Building Relationships as a Leader
It's not a soft skill any more
Featuring Dr. Megan McElheran, Clinical Psychologist & CEO
About the Session:
This presentation will bring an evidence-based focus to discussing employee morale and how leaders can engage with their employees from a relational perspective. The importance of basic relationship skills will be highlighted and consideration given to how leaders can incorporate new strategies into employee engagement without creating excessive burden on the leaders themselves. A focus on relational and process-based skills is increasingly being demonstrated to produce enhanced satisfaction, morale and employee performance.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Megan McElheran has been providing clinical mental health services to uniformed service personnel and trauma exposed professionals for over 20 years. She has dedicated her research and clinical pursuits towards understanding effective ways to mitigate the effect of high trauma and stress exposure in public safety and first response occupations. She developed an evidence-informed, upstream training program for frontline workers called Before Operational Stress, which has been deployed to over 75,000 frontline professionals across North America. She has been integrating results from this research into the development of organizational curriculum to enhance psychological safety within high trauma-exposed workplaces.
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