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Faculty

Donnie Woodyard

MAML, NRP
Executive Director
Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice

Donnie Woodyard Jr., MAML, NRP, is Executive Director of the Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice (U.S. EMS Compact), coordinating EMS licensure across more than 25 member states representing over 500,000 clinicians. He has served as the State EMS Director in both Colorado and Louisiana, and the Chief Operating Officer of the NREMT. A 30-year paramedic, Donnie also led the development of Sri Lanka's modern EMS system following the 2004 tsunami and has led EMS development across South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. He is the author of five books on EMS leadership and history. Donnie holds a Master's degree in Management and Leadership and was a certified Wilderness & Critical Care Paramedic. He brings operational expertise and strategic vision to interstate licensure, technology integration, and EMS innovation.

2026 Sessions

The Future of EMS: Lead the Innovation or Face Disruption

EMS stands at a critical crossroads. Rapidly scaling innovations, including artificial intelligence, agentic AI, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, and autonomous vehicles, offer unprecedented opportunities to revolutionize emergency care delivery. But these same technologies pose an existential threat to traditional EMS if we fail to embrace them.

This presentation delivers a bold examination of the profession's future. Today's patients demand transparency and outcomes-based care. They are increasingly unwilling to accept a model that delivers patients to emergency departments, which is often the wrong destination for optimal care, within an unsustainable financial structure.

Healthcare is rushing and implementing AI-driven decision support. Autonomous vehicle companies are entering the medical transport market. If EMS does not lead this transformation, other sectors will, and traditional EMS agencies risk becoming obsolete.

The window for proactive leadership is now. This presentation will challenge conventional thinking, present real-world technological capabilities, and provide a roadmap for EMS leaders to position their agencies at the forefront of innovation. Participants will leave inspired, informed, and equipped to lead their organizations into a future where EMS is smarter, safer, and more clinically effective than ever before.

Speaker

Thursday, May 28 1:00–1:30 PM
Room 403-404
Leadership and Management
Faculty

Donnie Woodyard

MAML, NRP
Executive Director
Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice

Donnie Woodyard Jr., MAML, NRP, is Executive Director of the Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice (U.S. EMS Compact), coordinating EMS licensure across more than 25 member states representing over 500,000 clinicians. He has served as the State EMS Director in both Colorado and Louisiana, and the Chief Operating Officer of the NREMT. A 30-year paramedic, Donnie also led the development of Sri Lanka's modern EMS system following the 2004 tsunami and has led EMS development across South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. He is the author of five books on EMS leadership and history. Donnie holds a Master's degree in Management and Leadership and was a certified Wilderness & Critical Care Paramedic. He brings operational expertise and strategic vision to interstate licensure, technology integration, and EMS innovation.
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