Bios – EVOLUTION 2023

Cameron Decker, MD

Cameron Decker, MD, LP, FACEP, FAEMS is a graduate of Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine.  He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine and fellowship in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at Baylor College of Medicine.  

Dr. Decker is double board certified in emergency medicine and EMS medicine, an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, a Clinical Associate Professor at Texas A&M School of Medicine, and faculty at Ben Taub Hospital.

As a Licensed Paramedic, Dr. Decker has an extensive background in pre-hospital care, having been active in EMS through multiple 911 departments.  Before becoming the Medical Director of Harris County Emergency Corps, he worked there as a Paramedic.  He is the Medical Director of Rice University EMS, Aldine Fire Rescue, Eastex Fire Department, Northwest Fire Rescue, Westfield Fire Department, and The Emergency Medical Task Force – 6, the State’s regional response network for large-scale medical incidents.  He also serves as a Medical Team Manager for Texas A&M Task Force 1, a FEMA and TDEM US&R team.  He is an honorably retired Master Peace Officer, Sergeant, and Tactical Physician from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team where he served for over fifteen years.

Steven Harvey

Steven Harvey received his paramedic certification in 2012 and has worked for Acadian since 2013.  He became an Operations Supervisor and CCT medic in 2015 and took on the Acadian Special Operations Team (Tactical Team) at its inception in late 2017.  The Acadian Special Operations Team became the TEMS team for BCSO SWAT in 2018.  Steven went to the Law Enforcement Academy in 2020 and became a Reserve Deputy for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.  He was promoted to Reserve Sgt in 2022.  Steven went on to obtain his Basic SWAT certification in mid 2022,  tried out, and made the BCSO SWAT team in late 2022.  In 2021 he helped establish the Acadian NAEMT training site for TCCC, TECC, and TECC-LEO.

Jeff Jarvis, MD

Jeff Jarvis, MD, is the CMO and System Medical Director for Metropolitan Area EMS Authority in Fort Worth, Texas.

Emily Kidd, MD

Dr. Emily Kidd attended Texas A&M University (BS), The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (MD), The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University (emergency medicine residency), and The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston/Houston Fire Department (EMS fellowship). She is board certified in Emergency Medicine and EMS and has been practicing emergency medicine for over 22 years and pre-hospital (EMS) medicine for over 18 years.

Dr. Kidd has practiced emergency medicine in Houston as well as for the Christus, Baptist, and Methodist systems in San Antonio. She served as an Assistant Medical Director for the Houston Fire Department for 3 ½ years and as an Assistant Medical Director and Interim Medical Director for the San Antonio Fire Department for 7 years. Since 2016, she has served as the Texas Medical Director for Acadian Ambulance Service.

Dr. Kidd is very actively involved in disaster and emergency management at the local, regional, state, and national levels. She was involved in field response and medical direction during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and Harvey as well as the H1N1 pandemic, Ebola crisis, West, Texas explosion, and of course the COVID pandemic and recent ice storms. Dr. Kidd held a position on FEMA’s National Advisory Council for 6 years, has sat on the Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council Disaster Committee for over 16 years, and serves as the State Medical Director for the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force. In 2022, Dr. Kidd was appointed to serve on Governor Abbott’s Private Sector Advisory Council.  She also currently serves as the Immediate Past President for the Texas Chapter of the National Association of EMS Physicians.

Dr. Kidd is married to Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Vice Chancellor for Disaster Services for Texas A&M University. They share 3 children and 1 granddaughter together.

David Miramontes, MD

Dr. David Miramontes started as a volunteer Firefighter-EMT while still in high school  and received training as a EMT Advanced , worked a total of ten years as a Registered Nurse in ER and ICU), Mobile Intensive Care Nurse, and then received his BS in Physiology at UC Davis. He attended the Medical College of Ohio and Emergency Medicine Residency at the St Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo Ohio, where he also was a Lifeflight Physician.  He was the EMS Director for the City of Toledo Fire Dept. and 18 rural and suburban EMS agencies. He assumed command as the Assistant Fire Chief and Medical Director for District of Columbia Fire Department (Wash. DC) from 2011-14 and currently serves at EMS Medical Director for the San Antonio Fire Department. 

Asbel Montes

Asbel began his career in the ambulance industry in 1999. During his EMS career he has directed and lead revenue cycle teams for air and ground ambulance agencies, culminating in his current position as Managing Partner of Solutions Group.

Throughout his career, Asbel has been a member of numerous organizations, including the Healthcare Financial Managers Association (HFMA), the American Ambulance Association (AAA), the National EMS Managers Association (NEMSMA), and the National Association of EMTs (NAEMT).

He previously served on the Board of Directors for the American Ambulance Association (AAA) and numerous committees. Notably, he chaired the AAA Payment Reform Committee helping to navigate healthcare changes and the correlation to the air and ground ambulance industry.  He has also testified as an expert witness before federal and state health committees regarding ambulance reimbursement and veteran health initiatives related to emergency medicine.

In 2016, Asbel was appointed to the Ambulance Transport Alternatives Task Force for the State of Louisiana by Governor John Bel Edwards. In 2020, Asbel was named to the Air Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee by the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation.  In 2022, he was named chair of the Ground Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee tasked by Congress to provide recommendations to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury on ways to protect consumers from balance billing when using ground ambulance services.

Asbel is a respected thought leader on reimbursement initiatives within the industry and is a requested speaker at numerous healthcare conferences. Asbel is a contributing author in several EMS magazines and co-authored the book, Management of Ambulance Services, as published by Prentice Hall in 2014.

Butch Oberhoff

Butch Oberhoff is the Director of Governmental Affairs for Acadian Ambulance Service.  He is a career EMS professional, having served as an EMT, Paramedic, EMT instructor and in several senior leadership positions.  He has served on the TEMSA board since the organization was founded.  Butch lives in San Antonio with his wife and two children.

Allyson Pharr

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer. Allyson Pharr joined Acadian Ambulance Service as Associate General Counsel in 2001. She was advanced to Vice President and General Counsel in January 2006, promoted to Executive Vice President in 2011 and named Chief Legal Officer in January of 2020. In her current capacity Mrs. Pharr has oversight of Acadian Health, Risk Management, Compliance, Public Relations, Human Resources and Legal and Governmental Affairs. Acadian is the largest employee owned ambulance service provider in the nation. They provide emergency and non -emergency ground and air services in the State of Louisiana, serve multiple counties in the State of Texas, service Jackson County, Mississippi, and the counties of  Shelby and Davidson in TN. Acadian Ambulance has been recognized nationally on numerous occasions for the heroic efforts of its employees under some of the worst conditions in U.S. history as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as during the Covid 19 pandemic. Prior to joining Acadian, Mrs. Pharr served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for TransCoastal Marine Services (“TCMS”), a publicly traded organization based in Houston, Texas, and for seven years prior Ms. Pharr served as President of The Red Fox Companies, an oilfield service company. With over thirty years of legal experience Mrs. Pharr has worked in the law firms of Todd & Hagood as well as Walsworth, Franklin, Bevins & McCall, where she was a litigator, and gained much court room experience. In addition, Ms. Pharr has appeared on many occasions in front of both State and Federal Senate and House committees as well as our Legislative Delegation Executive Branches to promote legislation or legislative change critical to the healthcare and job industry. Mrs. Pharr’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana, and a Juris Doctor degree earned in May, 1993 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She is admitted to practice law in the states of Texas and Louisiana, as well as in the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Mrs. Pharr has served on the Board of Directors of the Lafayette Education Foundation, Second Harvest of Louisiana, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Moncus Park, One Acadiana and Schools of the Sacred Heart, located in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. She is a past member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and a current member of the Louisiana and Texas Bar Associations. Mrs. Pharr currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Ambulance Association, the Tiger Athletic Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Acadiana. Mrs. Pharr is married to Mark R. Pharr, an attorney with the law firm of Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr and Smith. They have two daughters and reside in Lafayette, LA.

Taylor Ratcliff, MD

Dr. Ratcliff started his career in EMS attending EMT school in Lubbock, Texas in 1995. He later completed his Paramedic training at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 1998 and worked for Lubbock EMS, the Lubbock Fire Department and Aerocare until leaving full time prehospital care to start medical school at the Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. Ratcliff graduated medical school and started residency training in 2009 with the Scott & White, Texas A&M Emergency Medicine Residency Program in Temple, Texas, where he continues to work as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine. He is board certified in emergency medicine as well as EMS medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and holds the FAEMS designation from the National Association of EMS Physicians. Dr. Ratcliff is the Division Chief of Prehospital Medicine for the Baylor Scott & White Central Texas Division and is the Baylor Scott & White Emergency Management system medical director. He is the EMS Medical Director for the cities of Belton, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Waco, Marble Falls Area EMS, Williamson County EMS and Robertson County EMS in addition to first responders in those respective counties. He is also the medical director for Texas Airlift 1 in Waco, Airlift 5 in Weslaco, and the Associate Medical Director for STAR Flight and the Division of Clinical Performance and Education in Travis County, Texas. In addition, he provides medical direction for the Temple College Health Professions EMS program and Bell, Williamson and McLennan County emergency medical dispatch programs. Ratcliff serves as the physician medical director for the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force, region 7 team that encompasses the Central Texas area. Dr. Ratcliff serves on the Texas Governor’s Emergency and Trauma Advisory Council (GETAC) as the EMS education member and is a site visitor for CoAEMSP and is the president-elect of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of EMS Physicians. In addition to spending time with his wonderful wife and son, he continues to enjoy volunteering as a firefighter and paramedic with the Morgan’s Point Resort Fire Department.

Joseph Schmider

Joseph W. Schmider is currently the Texas Department of State Health Services and formally the Pennsylvania’s Emergency Medical Services Director since January 8, 2005.  Joe served as Acting Director for the office of Public Health Preparedness and the State EMS Director before accepting the Texas position. Previously served as the Program Manager within the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services for 2 years within the PA Department of Health.        

Ken Simpson

Ken Simpson is the CEO of the Metropolitan Area EMS Authority (dba MedStar Mobile Healthcare).

Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, hard work, resilience, integrity and leadership were tenets that were ingrained
from a young age. He was able to apply those early principles learned from the business world and apply them to a
career in healthcare. Starting his healthcare career in EMS he worked through the front-line EMS ranks until he felt a
yearning to contribute more to the healthcare industry. After completing his law degree at the University of Memphis
School of Law and passing the Tennessee Bar Ken moved into the healthcare management ranks.

Prior to coming to MedStar, Ken provided oversight and management for EMS markets of increasing size throughout the
Southeast. Through his leadership and data driven approach the teams in these markets were able to exceed growth,
profitability and customer satisfaction goals. The ability to facilitate honest, respectful and productive conversations
between stakeholders about expectations and the resources required to meet those expectations played an integral
part in building successful healthcare delivery systems.