Tom P. Aufderheide, MD

Dr. Aufderheide is a nationally and internationally recognized researcher in the field of cardiac resuscitation and emergency cardiac care. He has authored numerous textbooks, chapters, CPR courses, and over 100 original research papers in the peer-reviewed literature, including 2 papers in the New England Journal of Medicine. He is a Professor of Emergency Medicine, past Basic Life Support Science Editor for the National American Heart Association, and directs the NIH-funded Resuscitation Research Center located in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Along with these significant accomplishments in research and education, Dr. Aufderheide has achieved many additional scholarly accomplishments that include: member of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s National Heart Attack Alert Program Working Group on Methods/Technologies for Early Identification of Acute Cardiac Ischemia/Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Emergency Department; member of the NIH Small Business Innovation Research Grant Review Committee; International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, developing international CPR guidelines; and member of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Steering Implementation Committee for the "EMS Agenda for the Future". Wisconsin’s governor, Tommy Thompson (past United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Welfare) recognized Dr. Aufderheide for his work in writing and supporting Automated External Defibrillation (AED) legislation in the state of Wisconsin. Dr. Aufderheide was recently elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Research. Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement, commitment to service, and have made significant contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

John C. Amato

John C. Amato is president, CEO, and founder of WorldPoint ECC, Inc. WorldPoint is a leading international distributor of life-support training materials, training manikins, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and other health-related products. John’s professional experience spans the full spectrum of business management. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant working for Touche Ross & Co. His auditing career continued with Taco Bell and was followed by an eight years tenure in Planning, Marketing, and Sales with Frito Lay, Inc. in Dallas, TX. Key areas of expertise include the development of quality efficient operational/business systems as well as financial planning. John prides himself on being a hands-on executive who believes that excellent customer service is the ‘alpha’ and the ‘omega’ for business. As a former athlete, John seeks to engender a positive team environment within his company and with business associates. John has been working with the American Heart Association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) Division since 1996, helping to increase survival rates from acute events as well as increase the number of persons trained to save lives. As part of this mission, John requires that all of his employees are trained in CPR and AED use.

John served as the Chairman for the American Heart Association Metro Chicago Board of Directors from 2007 to 2009. Additionally, WorldPoint is a model employer for the American Heart Association’s new Start! corporate wellness and walking program. He has made fitness and health a priority at WorldPoint. The company has been recognized by the American Heart Association as ‘Fit-Friendly’ company for each of the last four years.

John Amato has a BBA in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Marc Gay

Marc Gay is Executive Director for an Emergency Medical Dispatch Center in Sherbrooke Québec. He currently chairs the College of Fellows and the Dispatch CPR committee for the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch. He has served as chair of the ECC committee for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada from 1996-2003 and was a member of the AHA BLS subcommittee from 1996-2005.

Don Vardell

Don Vardell is the National Chair of Preparedness and Health & Safety Services for the National Headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. The American Red Cross is one of the nation’s leading training organizations in CPR, First Aid, AED and Water Safety related programs as well as emergency preparedness information, products and training. Don has been a board member of the Citizen CPR Foundation twice – once in 2000 – 2001 and his most recent appointment in 2006. Don’s experience includes 8 years as a US Army Reserve Officer and Desert Storm Veteran, volunteer EMS member, and over 25 years as an American Red Cross instructor, volunteer and paid staff member focusing on local chapter governance, national service delivery, health and safety program development and instructional design.

From 1994 – 2001 Don served as a project manager and then Director of Product Development for the American Red Cross, leading the development of the organization’s first AED training programs as well as serving on the team that developed the national outreach and AED sales program for the charity’s local units. These activities were part of the original grass-roots effort that resulted in AEDs being placed in airports, shopping malls, schools and other public gathering places.

Currently Don is a senior healthcare administrator with CRC Health Group and leads two private adolescent behavioral health facilities in the Salt Lake City area.

Don Vardell is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a BA in Psychology and an MS degree.

Merrilee Sweet

Merrilee Sweet is the national director of Emergency Cardiovascular Care for community markets for the American Heart Association. In this role, Sweet is focused on developing global strategies to increase survival from sudden cardiac arrest emergencies. Most recently, developing and implementing the Hands-Only CPR public awareness campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council. Prior to her current role, she was vice president of communications and marketing for the American Heart Association’s Northeast Affiliate. Sweet has more than 15 years of experience in strategic marketing, specializing in brand and project management, program development and event planning. Among her numerous honors, she received the 2004 “Women of Distinction” Award from New York Governor George E. Pataki.

Dr. Berger

Dr. Berger is Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Medical Director of the Herma Heart Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. It is under Dr. Berger’s direction that Project ADAM was established, in November of 1999, after the sudden, unexpected deaths of several student athletes in Southeastern Wisconsin. He along with others advocated for passage of the ADAM Act in the United States Congress, a bill that will provide funding for a national clearinghouse for the dissemination of information that will assist schools establish AED programs.

Dr. Berger has published several papers, chapters and has edited books in the field of pediatric cardiology as well as on the topic of sudden cardiac death in children and adolescents.

Louis Gonzales

Louis Gonzales utilized his engineering education and experiences to develop expertise in the areas of process and performance improvement as well as systems-based approaches to community cardiovascular emergencies. Starting his career over 25 years ago as a volunteer EMS provider, Louis' career now focuses on performance improvement and strategies to improve survival from sudden cardiac arrest. Louis currently serves as the Performance Management & Research Coordinator in the Office of the Medical Director for the City of Austin/Travis County EMS System in Austin, Texas. He also serves as the Program Manager for the Take Heart Austin Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Initiative.

While gaining invaluable experience as a paramedic in the King County, Washington Medic One System, Louis Gonzales also served as the Early Defibrillation Program Coordinator for King County EMS. In this role, Louis revitalized the county-wide defibrillation program by focusing on quality improvement and instructor development. During this time, Louis co-authored EMT Manual, 3rd edition under the mentorship of Dr. Mickey Eisenberg and has since written a number of articles on the topics of community CPR and AED training, workplace emergency response and community resuscitation systems of care. Inspired by world-renowned resuscitation researchers in the Seattle/King County System, Louis continues his interest in resuscitation research. He served as a member of the North American Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Trial's data safety monitoring board (DSMB) and is currently collaborating on a number of resuscitation related research projects.

Louis has also served in a number of leadership and science roles within the National American Heart Association including ECC Committee member, First Aid Subcommittee Chair, International First Aid Science Advisory Board member, Senior Oversight Editor for Student Materials and Mission Lifeline ECC Task Force member. He currently serves as the Senior Science Editor for Community products, Resuscitation Science Symposium planning committee member, and co-chairs the Capital Area Regional Mission Lifeline QI group. Louis received a Bachelor of Science in Safety Engineering from Texas A&M University and completed paramedic training through the University of Washington School of Medicine/Seattle Medic One Paramedic Training Program. He currently serves as Adjunct Faculty in the Department of EMS Professions of Temple College.