David A. Shrader, EMT-P, specializes in the design and implementation of Public Safety and EMS systems. As the former Chief Operating Officer of the HCA Medical Transportation Company, he implemented the Pinellas County, “SunStar” high performance public utility model contract. He was formerly a Corporate Vice President and the principal architect of EMS bid strategies and served as CEO, Georgia Operations for Laidlaw/AMR. At Medevac and MedTrans, David managed EMS operations in San Mateo, San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange Counties. He has had first hand experience in Hospital Based, Fire Based, Third Service, Public Utility Model and Private High Performance EMS design, implementation and management. David has extensive experience in business development including: mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and contractual relationships. He remains active as a firefighter, former Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, and currently Deputy Chief of the Southern Shores VFD and volunteers as an EMS provider in the Dare County EMS System.

Mr. Shrader can be contacted at: dshrader@thepolarisgroup.org

Edward M. Racht, MD, Medical Consultant, The Polaris Group, is a leading authority in the design and implementation of high performance clinical systems. Dr. Racht currently serves as the fulltime Medical Director to the Austin-Travis County EMS system and a number of Fire and Law enforcement agencies. He is much sought after as a speaker on clinical topics and is a frequent contributor to various EMS related journals.

Ed is usually responsible for assessing the clinical capabilities and sophistication of EMS components and participants to assure that the system design appropriately represents the clinical status of the EMS system. His role includes reviews of medical control and direction, quality improvement systems, training, protocols, clinical procedures and equipment. He provides recommendations regarding the appropriate levels of training and clinical capabilities for each component of the EMS system. Additionally, Dr. Racht generally serves as the primary contact for input from physicians and other clinical stakeholders.

Eric Ossmann, MD, FACEP is currently an Assistant Professor and Co-Section Director of the Prehospital and Disaster Medicine Section in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. He is a Board Certified Emergency Physician who completed his emergency medicine residency training at Methodist Hospital / Indiana University where he was elected Chief Resident in his final year. In addition Dr. Ossmann completed a fellowship in emergency medical services at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte North Carolina.

He is the operational medical director of Grady Emergency Medical Service and the College Park Fire Department. Grady Emergency Medical Service is the 911 emergency medical service provider for the City of Atlanta and responds to over 90,000 emergencies per year. He is also the associate medical director at Emory Flight and the medical director of the Emory First Responder Unit.

Dr. Ossmann has been involved in emergency medical services at the local, state and national level throughout his career. He is currently the director of the Emory Emergency Medicine Residency Emergency Medical Service Rotation, providing EMS education to 18 emergency physicians in training per year. In addition he is the Co-Director of the Prehospital and Disaster Medicine Fellowship at Emory University. He is a current member of the Georgia EMS Medical Directors Advisory Council and is on the American College of Emergency Physicians EMS Committee. Additionally, he has been involved nationally with the National Association of EMS Physicians and is a member of the U.S. Metropolitan Municipalities EMS Medical Directors Consortium. His current research interests include access to emergency medical care and EMS utilization.

Dr. Ossmann is also a Principal and Chief Medical Officer – Domestic Operations of STAT Medical Solutions, a small consulting and solutions company that provides a wide range of emergency medical response planning & implementation products for clients both foreign and domestic.