Bios – EVOLUTION 2024

Kevin Deramus
Kevin has served 28 years in  public safety, 8 years as a flight paramedic and the last 16 years as the Agency Chief for Washington County EMS where he leads a progressive ground and rotor wing 911 system. He currently serves as the GETAC EMS Committee Chair, the Brazos Valley Prehospital Chair, and currently one of the founding Directors for the Texas Task Force Foundation.

Eric Epley
Eric Epley has been the CEO at STRAC for almost 25 years.  He was flight paramedic at AirLife, and served as a tactical operator/paramedic for 13 years. He deployed in that capacity at the Branch Davidian incident at Waco.  

Eric has been a member of Tx Task Force 1 on the Swiftwater component and was the strike team leader to Katrina for 10 days.  He has served as the GETAC Disaster comm chair since it was created and also served on Tx Emeegency Management Advisory committee and is the GETAC Prehospital Whole Blood Task Force chair.  

Jeff Jarvis

Jeff is the Chief Medical Officer for the Fort Worth EMS System, the unfortunate fellow paramedic classmate of Dudley Wait, and a proud member of the fightin’ Texas Aggie class of 1990. 

Emily Kidd, MD
Dr. Emily Kidd is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services. She was an Assistant Medical Director for the Houston Fire Department from 2005-2008, the Deputy Medical Director and Interim Medical Director for the San Antonio Fire Department from 2009-2016, and has been the Texas Medical Director for Acadian Ambulance Service since 2016. Dr. Kidd served on the FEMA National Advisory Council for 6 years and has been a founding member of the GETAC Disaster Committee, as well as the Medical Director for the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF) since 2008. She previously served as the President for the Texas Chapter of the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) and is currently a member of the Governor’s Private Sector Advisory Council, the GETAC Whole Blood Task Force, and the national Prehospital Blood Transfusion Initiative Coalition. 

Scott Lail
Scott has been in EMS for 32 years, including 19 years as a Flight Paramedic with CareFlite. He recently celebrated 30 years with the Cleburne Fire Department, where he HAS served as the Fire Chief for the past 6.5 years. In 2022, he was appointed by Governor Abbott to serve on the Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council (GETAC).

Steve Lupo
Special Agent Steve Lupo is a former police officer and detective who has been with the FBI for 21 years. He is on the crisis management squad and spent 5 years on the FBI Cyber Task Force.

Butch Oberhoff
Butch Oberhoff has worked in EMS since 1989, starting as an EMT and paramedic.  Today he is the Senior Director of Governmental Affairs at Acadian Ambulance Service and works on behalf of the Texas EMS industry by serving as a board member and current president of the Texas EMS Alliance.

Casey Patrick, MD
Dr. Casey Patrick is board-certified in Emergency Medicine and EMS Medicine and serves as the medical director for Montgomery County Hospital District EMS. His focus areas are data-driven EMS clinical quality improvement and innovative paramedic education delivery. Dr. Patrick developed and produces the MCHD Paramedic Podcast.    

Jon Puryear
Jon Puryear, Paramedic, Educator, and Owner of Jon Puryear EMS CE has been in EMS for 41 years and has presented nationwide over 25 years. Not only teaching all EMS levels NREMT prep classes, refreshers, and CE classes, but also communication skills which helps everyone improve their relationship with others.  This presentation will improve your basic communication skills no matter what position you currently hold. I present Jon Puryear.