By Rachel Engel
WASHINGTON — Dr. Jon Krohmer, director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of EMS, will retire in November, the organization announced.
Krohmer was tapped to serve as director of NHTSA OEMS in 2016, and was part of several industry milestones, including the creation of EMS Agenda 2050, and revisions to the National EMS Scope of Practice Model and the National EMS Education Standards.
“Dr. Krohmer’s tenure at NHTSA – especially over the last year and a half as EMS clinicians have faced one of the greatest public health challenges – has been marked by real advances for the profession, thanks in no small part to his leadership,” said Nanda Srinivasan, NHTSA’s associate administrator for research and program development. “He was a true advocate at the federal level for state, tribal and local EMS systems, EMS clinicians, and patients.”
Inspired by the televsion show “Emergency!”, Krohmer earned his EMT license and worked as a volunteer in his home state of Michigan before entering medical school, solidifying his passion for EMS. Krohmer later served as the president of the National Association of EMS phsyicians from 1998 to 2000, before joining the Department of Homeland Security Office of Health Affairs as the first deputy chief medical officer in 2006.
“Working alongside EMS clinicians and the people who support them at local, state and national levels has been a privilege and a heck of a lot of fun,” Dr. Krohmer said. “The decision to leave NHTSA was difficult, but it’s made easier knowing that the team in the Office of EMS, our colleagues throughout the federal government, and leaders of EMS at state and local levels are committed to improving the lives of people in their communities and will continue to advance EMS systems everywhere.”