EMS Today 2019

Skip Kirkwood
Director
Durham County EMS


Skip Kirkwood, JD, FACPE, is the director of Durham County (NC) EMS. He has been involved in EMS since 1973, as an EMT, paramedic, supervisor, educator, manager, consultant, state EMS director, and chief EMS officer. Skip holds a Master of Science in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University and a Juris Doctorate from the Rutgers University School of Law. He is a graduate of the U. S. Fire Administration’s Executive Fire Officer program, and holds the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) credential from the Centers for Public Safety Excellence. Skip served (2011-2012) as President of the National EMS Management Association, having serviced on the Board of Directors since 2004. He served as chair of the Leadership Development Project Group (2008-2011) and as principal author of NEMSMA’s leadership agenda white paper, EMS Management and Leadership Development in the United States: An Agenda for the Future. Skip’s current NEMSMA projects include the development of an implementation model and supporting materials for the EMS Field Training and Evaluation Program; serving as principal editor for NEMSMA’s contribution to the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education Consortium (FESHE) textbook collection, with a text called Managing Ambulance Services to be published next year by Pierson Publishing Company. In addition, Skip represents NEMSMA on the Joint National EMS Leadership Conference, which is made up of the presidents of most major national EMS-related associations, and serves as NEMSMA’s liaison to the International Association of Fire Chiefs – EMS Section.

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