Dale Berry, President and CEO of Huron Valley Ambulance (HVA), Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been selected to replace Jimm Murray of La Vista, Nebraska, as business representative to the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services panel of commissioners. HVA is a nonprofit, regional provider of EMS and health transportation serving eight counties in southeast and south central Michigan. Its more than 100 paramedic ambulances cover 900,000 9-1-1 lives, transporting about 75,000 patients in 2005. In addition to providing ambulance service, HVA provides mobility transportation, nurse-based telemedicine services, 2-1-1 information and referral, medical examiner investigative services and fire department dispatching services. All of its five corporate member organizations are nationally accredited by CAAS.
Mr. Berry majored in police administration at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. During his career in law enforcement, he attended EMT and paramedic school, becoming ambulance director/public safety supervisor for the city of South Lyon, Michigan, in 1975. He was recruited to serve as general manager at HVA in 1981 and became president and CEO in 1991. Dale is currently secretary of the American Ambulance Association and has also held the office of treasurer, regional board member, and member of the ethics committee. He has twice served as president of the Michigan Association of Ambulance Services and made significant contributions to CAAS as board member and chairman of its board of directors. Mr. Berry is the first commissioner appointed by CAAS who also serves as a chief executive officer of an ambulance service.
Jimm Murray, recently retired administrator of the Wyoming Department of Health, Community, and Family Health Division in Cheyenne, sat on the CAAS Panel of Commissioners for the past six years, serving as its chair for all of that time. Jimm was also among the first on-site reviewers for CAAS and sat on its board of directors, as well.
In 1971, Jimm was one of two individuals selected to start the Wyoming EMS program. While there, he co-founded and helped to establish numerous inter-agency programs and public policy groups including The Wyoming State Poison Center and the National Association of State EMS Directors. He co-authored legislation to improve emergency medical care and legal accountability, including the Wyoming Emergency Medical Services Act of 1977, the Trauma Systems Act of 1993, and the CPR/Do Not Resuscitate Directive Act of 1993.
Jimm has authored one text as well as more than 40 articles for regional and national publications; has been an invited speaker at more than fifty state, regional and national symposia and seminars; and has received nearly twenty service awards during his distinguished career. As a charter member of NREMT, he is #3 on the list of active registered EMTS in the United States. He currently serves as vice chairman of the board of directors for the NREMT, having previously served as treasurer. He is a contributing editor to EMS INSIDER, and was recently awarded the 2005 Rocco V. Morando Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Association of EMTs. Jimm is also an active
reviewer for CECBEMS and is now working with Air Methods Corporation in their Life Net Division of air medical services.