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Dr. Joe Ryan on the ‘silver tsunami’

This episode dives into geriatric healthcare and the origins of high-performance EMS

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This episode of EMS One-Stop is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

In this edition of EMS One-Stop, recorded at the Pinnacle EMS 2022 leadership conference, Host Rob Lawrence chats with Joe Ryan, MD.

Dr. Ryan is adjunct clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Stanford University and is well known as a veteran EMS medical director at some of the most notable EMS operations in the country, past and present, including MAST in Kansas City; City of Pittsburgh EMS; Sun Star in Pinellas County, Florida; Santa Clara County EMS in California; and REMSA in Reno, Nevada.

Dr. Ryan was at Pinnacle to pay homage to his lifelong friend, Jack Stout, whose life was celebrated at the conference.

In the podcast, Dr. Ryan discusses the origins of high-performance EMS and his involvement with Jack Stout as he set EMS systems up. Additionally, Rob and Dr. Ryan look to the future and discuss the “silver tsunami” in geriatric healthcare.



Rob Lawrence has been a leader in civilian and military EMS for over a quarter of a century. He is currently the director of strategic implementation for PRO EMS and its educational arm, Prodigy EMS, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and part-time executive director of the California Ambulance Association.

He previously served as the chief operating officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority (Virginia), which won both state and national EMS Agency of the Year awards during his 10-year tenure. Additionally, he served as COO for Paramedics Plus in Alameda County, California.

Prior to emigrating to the U.S. in 2008, Rob served as the COO for the East of England Ambulance Service in Suffolk County, England, and as the executive director of operations and service development for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust. Rob is a former Army officer and graduate of the UK’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served worldwide in a 20-year military career encompassing many prehospital and evacuation leadership roles.

Rob is a board member of the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) as well as chair of the American Ambulance Association’s State Association Forum. He writes and podcasts for EMS1 and is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. Connect with him on Twitter.

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