Air Medical Today - Episode 7

Episode 7 of the Air Medical Today Podcast has been published.  In this episode I interview Tom Judge, Jason Schwebach, and Lisa Tofil, the President, Vice President, and Executive Director of the new Association of Critical Care Transport (ACCT), formerly the Patient First Air-Ambulance Alliance (PFAA).  I also provide general News & Information and the initial report on the Southwest Medevac crash in New Mexico.  Please go to the podcast Show Notes for links to the stories.

Tom Judge serves as the Executive Director of LifeFlight of Maine, a non-profit hospital consortium based helicopter critical care system, serving the entire state of Maine. In addition he serves as the Executive Director of the LifeFlight Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization that funds aviation infrastructure and outreach education services to hospital and EMS providers in Maine. Tom is a practicing paramedic where he has served for over 30 years with the St. George Volunteer Fire Ambulance.

Tom brings a thirty year background in pre-hospital emergency medical services in roles from provider to system planner/regulator. He is the former Board Chair of Maine EMS, the State Regulatory and Licensing Agency.  He currently serves on the Board of the MedEvac Foundation International as Treasurer and is a past President of the Association of Air Medical Services.  Tom also serves on the Joint Helicopter Safety Implementation Team, one of two work groups of the International Helicopter Safety Team.  He is a member of the Air Medial Safety Advisory Council and is a 2003 Jim Charlson Award recipient.

Tom is an active professional member of the National Association of EMS Physicians, a faculty member of the National Medical Directors Course and Practicum, and serves on the Editorial Board of the Emergency Medicine Journal.  He is a graduate of Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin in English and received his paramedic training at Kennebec Valley Technical College.  Tom lives with his wife Susan in Port Clyde, Maine and is serving as the President of ACCT.

Jason Schwebach is currently the Assistant Vice President for Carolinas Healthcare System’s - MedCenter Air transport service.  He has 17 years experience in Air Ambulance transport and previously worked as the Director for the air ambulance department of Providence Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska.  Jason served 8 years as a Medevac pilot and healthcare administrator in the US Army,  and for 7 years as a Combat Search and Rescue Pilot in the United States Air Force; including an assignment with the Alaska Air National Guard as a Senior Rescue Controller.

He is the immediate past president of the North Carolina Air-ambulance Affiliation, and was the recipient of the 2008 AAMS Program Director of the Year Award.

Jason holds a Bachelors degree in Biology from the University of Rio Grande, and a Masters degree in Business & Healthcare Management from the University of LaVerne.  He is also a Certified Medical Transport Executive.
He lives Live in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife, and 2 children ages, 7 & 10.

Lisa Tofil is a Partner in the Holland and Knight Public Policy and Regulation Group.  Her practice is focused on federal relations and policy in health care, emergency medical services, and transportation issues.  She represents a number of health care organizations including trauma centers, hospitals and health systems, clinical laboratories, and air medical transport programs.

Lisa possesses an in−depth knowledge of the Medicaid and Medicare programs and in developing innovative opportunities to enhance state and federal funding for health care providers.  She spent several years on Capitol Hill as a health care legislative assistant to Senator John Chafee (Republican−Rhode Island) and served on the staff of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Labor Management.  Lisa also worked as the Government Relations Representative for Northwestern Memorial Hospital and as the Vice President for Government Relations at Carolinas Healthcare System.

In addition to the new association where she serves as Executive Director, she represents the Trauma Center Association of America, Advocates for EMS, the Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access Association, the Florida Hospital Association, the Clinical Laboratory Management Association, and a variety of health systems and medical groups.

Lisa received her Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Vermont and her law degree from the Kent College of Law in Chicago, Illinois.  She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, 3 kids, 2 dogs.  She also has 1 horse.