Faculty

Peter W. Crane, MD, MBA is one of the newest additions to the Division of Prehospital Medicine. He recently completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at the University of Rochester and is currently an attending physician and Senior Instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Peter is a graduate of the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hahnemann School of Medicine, currently known as Drexel University School of Medicine. Additionally, he has earned his RN degree and has had prior surgical training. Peter holds EMS interests in EMS operations and operations research, tactical medicine, and disaster medicine.

Jeremy T. Cushman, MD, MS, EMT-Pserves within the Division of Prehospital Medicine as the EMS Fellowship Director, Associate Regional EMS Medical Director, Monroe County Medical Director, the medical director of many EMS and Fire agencies within Monroe County, and as Medical Director of the Monroe Community College Paramedic Program. He is also an Assistant Professor and attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Cushman completed his medical education, Emergency Medicine Residency, EMS Fellowship, and Master of Science in Emergency Health Services degree at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Colleen Davis, MD is currently the Acting Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, and Nursing. She has been involved with several funded research projects and many publications. Dr. Davis has served as the EMS liaison for Mercy Flight Central, as well as the Medical Director for local EMS agencies. She has conducted research on EMS patient safety in pediatrics and is an expert in pediatric emergency medicine. 

Eric Davis, MD, FACEP is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He joined the faculty in 1995 after completing his medical education, Emergency Medicine Residency, and Research Fellowship at Ohio State University, and an EMS Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. Only about a year after being recruited to the Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Davis established the Office of Prehospital Care, recently renamed Division of Prehospital Medicine. Dr. Davis was the former Regional EMS Medical Director and remains active in EMS education and research. He continues to be a long-standing EMS leader in the Monroe-Livingston region.

Rollin J. (Terry) Fairbanks, MD, MS, EMT-P, FACEP is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at URMC and an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Emergency Department. He currently serves as Chair of the Monroe-Livingston REMAC, Chair of the MLREMS/REMAC Quality Assurance sub-committee, and as a member of the New York State EMS Advisory Council (SEMAC) and SEMAC Medical Standards Committee. Prior to becoming a physician, Dr. Fairbanks had 15 years of experience as an EMT, intermediate, critical care, paramedic, and EMS educator. He is a human factors engineer and focuses his research on using systems engineering approaches to improve patient safety, a field in which he is nationally recognized as an expert. Dr. Fairbanks has published over 50 journal articles, book chapters, and proceedings papers in human factors engineering and medical literature.

Thomas Fletcher, RPA-C, MS is currently the Deputy EMS Medical Director for Special Operations within Monroe County. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Howard University in Washington, DC in 1981 and his Master's from Ashwood University in 2005. Thomas shares his responsibilities at the University of Rochester with the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Disaster Medicine and Emergency Preparedness. He is a Tactical Medicine Instructor for the FBI Academy and a Contract Instructor in Advanced Disaster Life Support and Decontamination. Thomas has special interests in tactical medicine, tactical EMS, and hazmat.

A. Zachary Hettinger, MD is a Prehospital Research Fellow within the Division of Prehospital Medicine. He also serves as the Medical Director for SEQ Mobile Critical Care Unit, Assistant Director for the Monroe/Livingston County RSI Program, and Clinical Instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Hettinger earned his medical degree at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and also completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at the UR, earning the role of Chief Resident in his final year. He has had authorship in multiple publications and belongs to many professional societies, including the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians (NAEMSP), the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), and the American College of Emergency Physicians/Emergency Medicine Residency Association. Dr. Hettinger has research interests in geriatric EMS and rapid sequence intubation protocols and aims to continue his involvement with the leadership and oversight of clinical care and EMS operations.

Elizabeth Murray, DO, MBA is a board certified pediatrician specializing in pediatric emergency medicine. She completed her Pediatric Residency in 2007 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and is currently a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow at Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong. Dr. Murray also serves as the Medical Director for Brighton Volunteer Ambulance and Brighton Fire Department. She is on the Executive Advisory Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Communications and the Media, Media Grand Rounds. Dr. Murray's interests are in prehospital provider education and simulation training in the area of pediatric emergency medicine.

Erik Rueckmann, MD has been an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine since 2006 and is also the Medical Director for many regional EMS agencies, including the largest in Rochester, Rural Metro Medical Services. He completed his medical education at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York and his Emergency Medicine Residency at the University of Rochester. Dr. Rueckmann became a part of the Division of Prehospital Medicine when he began and later completed the EMS Fellowship, which furthered his knowledge of and interest in emergency medicine and EMS.

Sandra Schneider, MD, FACEP has been an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine since 1993 and served as Chair of the Department for 14 years. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, completed her residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, and is currently a Professor of Emergency Medicine at URMC. Dr. Schneider was one of the original members of the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians (NAEMSP), having served on the Executive Committee for several years as the Director of the Computer Database project. She is also the former president of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), and is currently vice president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Dr. Schneider has led several research projects in EMS and aeromedical Services.

Manish N. Shah, MD, MPH, FACEP serves as the Chief of the Division of Prehospital Medicine, as well as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Associate Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine, and attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at Ohio State University; and completed a fellowship and further training in EMS research at the University of Chicago. In 2001 he returned to the University of Rochester and has been extremely active in EMS operations and research. Today he is one of the leading investigators in the field of geriatric emergency medicine. His research and publication interests focus on developing and evaluating innovative care models to prevent injuries and illnesses within the older adult population and improving the quality of emergency medical care delivered to older adults.

Research Staff

Ronnie D. Archie, EMT-B graduated as a Health and Society major from the University of Rochester in 2008. In July of that year he took over for Courtney Jones as Health Projector Coordinator for the last year of the Trauma Triage Study and currently remains in that position. He also created the recently launched Division of Prehospital Medicine website and continues to develop and maintain the site. Ronnie has had 5 years of EMS experience, working as a Crew Chief, Field Training Officer, and Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement Chair for the UR Medical Emergency Response Team and volunteer BLS medic and CPR Instructor for Henrietta Volunteer Ambulance. Ronnie will be attending medical school in the fall and has interests in the clinical teaching of medicine and joining the world of EMS operations in later stages of his medical education and career.

Theresa K. Guarrera graduated from the University of Rochester in 2007 as a Biomedical Engineering major. Upon graduating and working as Health Project Coordinator for Dr. Fairbanks' study, "Human Factors Engineering Approaches to Patient Safety in Emergency Medicine," she decided to further pursue her education in the field. As such, she is now a PhD candidate in Industrial and Systems Engineering at SUNY Buffalo, focusing her concentration in Human Factors Engineering. Her research with Dr. Fairbanks focused on usability evaluation of a commercially available patient tracking system, such as the one used in the Department of Emergency Medicine at URMC. Her additional research includes content comparison between manual and electronic patient tracking and simulation studies of an electronic patient tracking system.

Courtney M. C. Jones, MPH graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Brockport in 2005 as a Health Science and Psychology double-major. She later graduated from the University of Rochester Master of Public Health Program in 2008. While finishing the last of her Master's degree requirements, she served as Health Project Coordinator for the Trauma Triage Study within the Division of Prehospital Medicine from June 2007 through July 2008. She then continued on her academic journey and is now a PhD candidate in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Division of Epidemiology within the University of Rochester Medical Center. Courtney's research interests include predictive modeling and the epidemiology of injuries, with a particular interest in geriatric injury epidemiology.

Peter Swanson, EMT-B is the Information Analyst and Educational Program Coordinator for the Division of Prehospital Medicine. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 2009 as a Health and Society major and is currently pursuing his Master's degree in Public Health with a concentration in Clinical Research and Health Policy. He has had 6 years of EMS, firefighting, and special operations experience in multiple agencies throughout Western New York. He is also currently a Duty Operations Officer at Brighton Volunteer Ambulance, hoping to pursue medical school, expand upon his administrative tasks, and continue research. Peter has special interests in EMS operations, rural EMS, and trauma.

Support Staff

Sheri Adam, BSN, EMT-P is the Monroe-Livingston Regional QA/QI Coordinator, Chair of the Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Committee Quality Assurance Committee (REMAC QA), and Office Manager of the Division of Prehospital Medicine. She is responsible for ensuring that the NYS deliverables for the Monroe-Livingston Regional Program Agency are completed. As chair of the REMAC QA committee, she reviews all QA concerns that come through the division. Sheri is the contact for any agency within the region when there is a question about what to do, including state and local protocols and policies, and is also the contact for NYS when they have questions about agencies or providers within the region.

Serpil Aktasis one of the newest additions to the Division of Prehospital Medicine. She serves primarily as the secretarial assistant to both Dr. Jeremy Cushman and Sheri Adam. Additionally, she also supports Drs. Zach Hettinger and Erik Rueckmann as needed. Serpil works closely with Jennifer Williams, providing assistance to the research and support staff.

William (BJ) Wells has been with the Division of Prehospital Medicine for many years and currently serves as a record clerk. He is responsible for entering CME data, running reports, and tracking CME credits for the Geriatric Vodcasts and other self-study CME opportunities. BJ also maintains a record of all the Division's PowerPoint presentations and magazine articles by tracking them in an electronic database. Before the transition to electronic PCRs, BJ was primarily responsible for cleaning the data from the old PCRnet system.

Jennifer Williams has provided support to the Division of Prehospital Medicine in many capacities. Since 2002, she has served primarily as the assistant to both Drs. Manish Shah and Terry Fairbanks. In addition to those duties, she provides assistance to the research and support staff and is usually the first resource to anyone visiting or calling with inquiries about the Division.