Welcome to the Southern Pediatric EMS Conference (SoPEC)
July 8th & 9th
8:30am-5pm
Black Bear Lodge
Wentworth Room
61 Middle Ridge Rd
Stratton Mountain, VT 05155
United States
Alexandra Hartford, B.S, M.S., CPL, currently works as a U-28A Draco pilot for Air Force Special Operations Command in New Mexico. She started her career as an electrical engineer in the Air Force in 2016, before later attending Undergraduate Pilot Training in Oklahoma. Her current platform provides manned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support to humanitarian operations, search and rescue, and special operations missions. Allie holds a bachelor’s degree from Clarkson University and a master’s degree from Northeastern University.
Click on each lecture topic to learn more about the speaker
Conference Schedule Day 1
July 8th, 2023
8:30am-5pm
8:30am-9am Welcome and Registration
Wentworth Room
9am-9:30 “Emergencies in the Sky: Lessons in Crew Resource Management for High-Stakes EMS”
Alexandra Hartford, B.S, M.S., CPL, currently works as a U-28A Draco pilot for Air Force Special Operations Command in New Mexico. She started her career as an electrical engineer in the Air Force in 2016, before later attending Undergraduate Pilot Training in Oklahoma. Her current platform provides manned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support to humanitarian operations, search and rescue, and special operations missions. Allie holds a bachelor’s degree from Clarkson University and a master’s degree from Northeastern University.
Wentworth Room
9:30-10:30 Pediatric Trauma Resuscitation
Kate Soons
RN IV Educator, University of Vermont PICU
10:45-11:15 Pedi2Go
Dr. David Nelson is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at UVM Larner College of Medicine. Pediatric EM attending for 25 years. Clinical Advisor for the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition. Co-Director of Pedi2Go – a program that supports pediatric emergency education, training, and cooperation among Vermont’s EMS, EDs and Primary Care Providers.
11:15-11:45 ABCs of Pediatric Emergencies
Dr. David Nelson is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at UVM Larner College of Medicine. Pediatric EM attending for 25 years. Clinical Advisor for the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition. Co-Director of Pedi2Go – a program that supports pediatric emergency education, training, and cooperation among Vermont’s EMS, EDs and Primary Care Providers.
12pm-1pm Lunch
Delicious lunch!
1:15-2:15 Wild Child: Things to Consider When Working With Kids in the Backcountry
Dave Cohen DiMM, WP-C, NRP
Dave is a District 3 paramedic with years of experience working as a lead medic and on trail medic for pro level multi day backcountry mountain bike races all over the world. Dave holds his Diploma in Mountain Medicine from the UNM School of Medicine and its International Mountain Medicine Center.
2:30-3:30 Is This Child Abuse? Pediatric Calls Suspicious for Child Abuse and Neglect
Rebecca Jager, BA, NREMT, is a Supervisor for the Department for Children and Families, supervising investigations and assessments of child abuse and neglect in Chittenden County. She began her career with DCF, then known as SRS, in 2002, taking reports of alleged child abuse and neglect, became an investigator, and then held various roles before becoming a supervisor in 2014. She fell in love with EMS in 2011, ran as a volunteer EMT for over six years.
3:45-4:45 Pediatric Case Review
Kate Soons
5pm-6pm Networking Event
Stratton Mountain Resort
Conference Schedule Day 2
July 9th, 2023
8:30am-5pm
8:30am-9am Coffee and Day 2 Welcome
Wentworth Room
9am-10:30am Tiny Hearts, Big Problems
Meagan Oakes, PA-C currently works as a physician assistant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital in Burlington, Vermont. She has been a practicing PA-C for nearly a decade, with a predominant focus in intensive care; both in neonatal-perinatal medicine as well as surgical subspecialties. Meagan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree from Quinnipiac University.
10:45-11:45 Ockham’s Razor in Clinical Practice
Nick is currently a Critical Care Flight Paramedic for the University of Vermont Health Network. Previous to his job in HEMS, he worked as a Senior Firefighter/Paramedic for the City of Burlington, Vermont. Nick began his EMS career in 2011. While attending The University of Vermont for his Bachelor’s Degree in Public Communication, Nick worked for the Williston Fire Department, VT as an on-call firefighter. While at Williston Fire, Nick obtained Firefighter I, Firefighter II, NR-EMT, NR-AEMT, Ice Rescue Operations, Swiftwater Operations, HazMat Operations, PADO, and ICS 100-800. Nick also worked as a Per Diem member of Colchester Rescue during college. Nick also holds IBSC certifications of Flight Paramedic (FP-C), Critical Care Paramedic (CCP-C) and Tactical Paramedic (TP-C). He holds paramedic licenses in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire.
12pm-1pm Lunch
Delicious lunch!
1:15-2:15 Making Room in the Cup: Wellbeing Strategies for First Responders of Pediatric Emergencies
Beth Jacobs is a licensed clinical mental health counselor in private practice in Essex Junction, Vermont. She is certified in EMDR therapy and has been serving the first responder and veteran community since 2016. In 2018 she partnered with UVM Rescue and St. Michael’s Fire and Rescue to provide EMDR therapy rapidly to their collegiate members. She is passionate about preventing and treating post-traumatic stress, with EMDR as her primary modality. Beth is also certified in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and has participated in numerous debriefings around the state. She is also a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional and provides clinical support to the Vermont State Police, the Department of Corrections and the Department for Children and Families.
2:30-3:30 Pediatric Transportation
Stephanie Busch
Stephanie Busch, BS, AEMT, CPST, has more than 10 years of experience in the EMS and Public Health fields and currently serves as the injury-prevention manager for the state of Vermont. In her prior role as the EMS for Children manager she worked with a variety of providers and agencies working to improve pediatric emergency care including focusing recently on safe transport of all ambulance occupants. She is also currently an MPH student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
3:45-4:45 Pediatric Environmental Emergencies
Sarah is an Emergency Medicine attending physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center, Associate Professor at the Larner College of Medicine and Wilderness Medicine director in Burlington, VT. She founded and directed the medical school and Emergency Medicine residency Wilderness Medicine program and is the Wilderness Medicine Fellowship Director. She is fellowship trained in medical education and has completed her Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM) and Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) through the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS). Sarah completed medical school at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, and residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Utah. She is president for Vermont Wilderness Medicine, LLC, a wilderness medicine education company that empowers leaders through backcountry adventure and wilderness medicine training.
