Jimmy Apple, NRP

Jimmy Apple, NRP, known across social media and the EMS education community as EMS Avenger, is a pediatric and neonatal critical-care paramedic, educator, and national speaker dedicated to elevating clinical excellence and compassion in prehospital care. With a career rooted in frontline EMS experience, Jimmy blends evidence-based medicine, engaging storytelling, and a strong advocacy voice to challenge outdated practices and inspire providers to think differently.

Jimmy is widely recognized for his high-impact educational content, including viral social media teaching segments, conference keynotes, and innovative presentations. His work emphasizes evidence-based and data-driven best practices, progressive resuscitation, pediatric care, provider well-being, and the power of kindness in emergency medicine.

Through the EMS Avenger platform, Jimmy creates accessible, high-energy educational material for EMS clinicians around the world, aiming to uplift a profession too often overlooked. His teaching philosophy is simple: better care begins with curiosity, humility, and kindness.

When he’s not on the road speaking, creating educational content, or producing the next EMS Avenger project, Jimmy continues to advocate for EMS providers, reminding them that their work matters — and that they matter, too.

 

Sergio Camba, MD

Sergio Daniel Camba, MD, is an Emergency Physician, EMS Physician and EMS Medical Director based in Oregon. He serves as Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and provides medical direction for multiple EMS agencies and fire departments across Oregon, including rural and coastal systems.

Dr. Camba completed his EMS Fellowship at OHSU following his emergency medicine residency training at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in New Jersey. His academic and operational interests include prehospital airway management, cardiac arrest resuscitation, rural EMS systems development, and pre-hospital ultrasound.

 

Mackenzie Cook MD, FACS 

Mackenzie Cook is a trauma surgeon in OHSU’s Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery, with an added focus on ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) management and transport, surgical stabilization of rib fractures and serious illness communication.  He is an associated program director of the general surgery residency.  

 

Born in Pittsburgh, he grew up in a small town in Connecticut. He attended college at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and then spent a year backpacking and skiing in Utah before attending medical school at Duke University in Durham, N.C. He then headed west for residency at OHSU, where he completed a dedicated research year in the Trauma Research Institute of Oregon.  He graduated from residency in 2016 and completed a surgical critical care fellowship at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in 2017.  

He joined the faculty at OHSU in the fall of 2017 and has built his clinical practice around caring for the sickest and most severely injured patients in Oregon. Dr. Cook lives in Portland with his wife, Crystal, their three kids and one aging dog. Avid hikers, skiers, travelers and climbers, the Cook family is happy to call Portland home.

 

Dre Cantwell-Frank,NRP

Dre Cantwell-Frank, NRP, is the National Program Director, EMS Program Director, and a Principal Investigator at the Bridge Center at the Public Health Institute. In this role, she leads the national expansion of programs equipping emergency departments and EMS agencies to provide immediate access to addiction treatment and life-saving medications. As an expert clinical educator, Dre oversees curriculum development and technical assistance for healthcare systems nationwide. She is a published researcher in the journal of Prehospital Emergency Care and serves as a mentor for the Prehospital Care Research Forum at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. 

A paramedic and EMS educator with 19 years of experience, Dre has extensive experience serving rural and frontier communities. She previously managed EMS and mobile integrated health for the Copper River Native Association in interior Alaska, served as a consultant and infection control officer for the Montana Department of Public Health, and completed a SUD Policy Advocacy Fellowship at the USC Keck School of Medicine. For her groundbreaking work in the field, Dre received the 2025 Pittman Prize Award for her Saving Lives Through EMS Buprenorphine project and the 2026 NNPHI Outstanding Collaboration Award for co-developing Oregon’s EMS buprenorphine roadmap.

Mark Hoffman, PhD, ATC, EMT-P, FNATA

Doctor Hoffman Professor oversees the Kinesiology & Athletic Training Programs at Oregon State University and is a Paramedic and Athletic Trainer.  He has been on the faculty at OSU for the past 25 years and teaches the emergency management course in our master’s degree program.  He has been passionate about treating sports injuries for a long.

 

Chris Hamper, NRP, BS (Program Manager)

Chris Hamper is a leader in emergency medical services with deep roots in Clark County. Starting as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, Chris advanced to paramedic roles and became a respected educator, teaching at OHSU/OIT for over 15 years. Chris has published research, authored key EMS manuals, and helped launch the first community paramedic program in the Pacific Northwest. Known for innovative teaching and leadership, Chris is dedicated to strengthening EMS systems and ensuring high-quality patient care throughout the region.

 

Erin Horrax, BSN, RN, CCRN

Erin Horrax,  BSN, RN, CCRN   Burn Outreach Coordinator | Oregon Burn Center | Legacy Emanuel
Erin has been a nurse for 13 years, 11 of which have been at the Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel. Most of her years have been spent in the patient care capacity at the bedside and in the charge nurse role. Most recently she stepped into the Outreach and Education Coordinator role where she utilizes her years of burn care experience to educate healthcare professionals, first responders and the community about burn care and prevention. Erin is passionate about showcasing the specialized work the burn team provides for the region and building up the confidence of those interacting with burn patients in any capacity.  

 

Paul LeSage, EMT-P, Flight Medic, BA, AS, MIS

Paul LeSage Clinical Assistant Professor, OHSU School of Medicine, Asst. Fire Chief, TVF&R (Ret) worked for 29 years as a Firefighter/Paramedic for Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, serving several years on the Technical Rescue and Dive Team and as a Flight Paramedic with Life Flight Network.

He retired from the Fire District as the Assistant Chief of Operations in January 2010, has over 40 years of experience in emergency services as a provider and executive, and has received many awards and commendations, including the State of Oregon EMS Impact Award, several Lifesaving Awards, and the OFCA’s Golden Trumpet Award. He spent two years as the Interim Director at Oregon’s second-largest 911 Center, implementing a unique Quality and Performance Program.

Paul currently works as a Founding Partner and Senior Analyst with SG-Collaborative Solutions, where his work centers on creating reliable and resilient teams and systems that analyze and manage risk. His current clients are primarily centered in commercial aviation, air-medical programs, healthcare, and EMS. Paul also leads a Human Factors Analysis Group responsible for deconstructing and analyzing aviation, EMS, and healthcare incidents and accidents.

Paul and his teams at SG currently conduct this work across the United States, and in Canada, Central America, and Australia. He holds degrees in Organizational Communications, Human Factors Analysis, EMS, and Fire Science, and is on the faculty at the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine.

Paul has authored a popular book on Crew Resource Management in Emergency Services, and was also the founder of Informed Publishing, which created Nursing, Medic, and Emergency Service mobile apps for front-line care providers.

Marlow Macht, MD, MPH, FACEP (Medical Program Director)

Dr. Macht is board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). After working for eight years as a wildland firefighter, he graduated from paramedic school in 2000 and spent four years working as a paramedic for the City and County of Denver before attending medical school. He earned his medical degree and a Master of Public Health from Tulane University. He then returned to Denver, where he completed a residency in Emergency Medicine and a fellowship in Emergency Medical Services. Dr. Macht has been in Clark County since completing his training in 2013. In addition to serving as the Medical Program Director, he practices emergency medicine at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center. 

Jaime Montgomery, AGS, NREMT., ASCP-PBT., CHPM

Jaime Montgomery is currently the Director of Oregon Pacific Area Health Education Center for the Pacific Northwest. Jaime is an instructor for Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid for the National council for Mental Well-being with extended specialty focused training in EMS/Fire,  Veteran and Military Families & Rural Communities, older adults,  and higher education. Jaime is an American Heart Association (AHA) BLS/CPR Instructor. Jaime is also a certified Firefighter, a wildland type 2 Firefighter and holds a license as an NREMT-B/IV Technician.

Jeff Mathia AS, NRP, FPC

Jeff Mathia has spent his entire working life involved in the private industry with 23 of those years in Emergency Medical Services, both as an employee and management. He has been an EMS provider ranging from EMR to Critical Care Paramedic.  Working primarily in private ambulance as field responder, supervisor, and manager he is back in the public sector.   He is an active Firefighter/Paramedic on the Oregon Coast and also as  a volunteer EMS Chief for a small non-transport coastal community. In his words “my passion is in EMS with a desire to always want to do better and learn something new each shift. Treating each shift as a new learning or teaching experience”.

 

Lauren Snyder, DO FAWM

Growing up surfing and camping in Southern California, she explored other outdoor activities leaving the desert for medical school and New England. Graduated in 2015, completing her Emergency Medicine residency in 2018.   She obtained her Wilderness Medicine fellowship in 2019.

Lauren currently works at Portland Adventist in the Emergency Department and stills enjoys the outdoors as much as possible.

She instructs wilderness medicine courses, including the AWLS (Advance Wilderness Life Support) course, and has delivered wilderness medicine lectures all over the world including on a dive boat in the Bahamas, in a tent on Mt. Kilimanjaro, and on a bus in Guatamala.