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38 EMS leaders graduate from Fitch & Associates’ leadership program

EMS professionals completed Fitch & Associates’ 2025 Spring Ambulance Service Manager program, culminating in a peer-selected leadership award

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Florian “Flo” Hammer, Assistant Chief at Pettis County Ambulance District in Sedalia, Missouri.

Fitch & Associates

PLATTE CITY, Mo. — Fitch & Associates recently honored the graduates of its 2025 Spring Ambulance Service Manager program in San Antonio, Texas.

Thirty-eight EMS professionals from across the country completed the blended learning program, which combined online coursework with two in-person classroom sessions. The rigorous curriculum was designed to develop and strengthen the leadership skills essential for today’s EMS professionals.

Participants gained valuable insight and practical knowledge from a distinguished group of instructors, including Frank Gresh, Todd Stout, Joe Coons, Roxanne Peek, MBA, Michael Poynter, Brandon Hill, Jay Fitch, PhD, Anthony Minge, EdD, Hannah Fitch, M.Div., and other veteran EMS industry leaders.

Each ASM class selects one student to receive a leadership award, an honor bestowed by their peers. The award recognizes a classmate who demonstrates outstanding personal and professional leadership qualities throughout the course and exemplifies the best of EMS. For the Spring 2025 ASM program, the Leadership Award was presented to Florian “Flo” Hammer, assistant chief at Pettis County Ambulance District in Sedalia, Missouri.

“ASM fostered a cohesiveness among participants that I have not experienced at previous seminars, which gives you more perspective, tools, and communication skills to continue your journey as a manager and leader,” Hammer said.

Two project presentations from the ASM program were selected as stand-out projects and will be showcased at Pinnacle 2025. The winning projects are “EMS: Empower, Mobilize, and Support — Creating Employment Pathways for People with Disabilities,” presented by Scott Morell, Richard Harrison, Pam Maness-Keller, Jacob Stockwell and Casey Sturgis, and “Why They Stay: A 2025 Analysis on Employee Retention within Emergency Medical Services,” presented by Russell Carter, Justin Bedrosian, Diane Johnson, Justin Lemke, Jennifer Moss and Chris Wheeler.

Graduates will be formally recognized at the Pinnacle EMS Leadership Forum, taking place in Phoenix, Arizona, from July 14–18, 2025. More information and registration details can be found at www.pinnacle-ems.com.

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Bill Carey is the associate editor for FireRescue1.com and EMS1.com. A former Maryland volunteer firefighter, sergeant, and lieutenant, Bill has written for several fire service publications and platforms. His work on firefighter behavioral health garnered a 2014 Neal Award nomination. His ongoing research and writings about line-of-duty death data is frequently cited in articles, presentations, and trainings. Have a news tip? He can be reached at news@lexipol.com.