Kris Bauer, MN, ANP-BC, CCRN, CFRN
Kris is a flight nurse and ARNP with 37-year experience in prehospital, ED, and critical care medicine. She started her flight nursing career in Montana at a level 2 regional center then on to Seattle, WA in 1995 where she has been a flight nurse,
trauma ARNP, and clinical educator in a level 1 regional center for Airlift Northwest/University of Washington Medicine. She serves as an ASTNA TPATC instructor, has contributed to ASTNA publications, presented at national conferences, published
in the Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, and was the 2023 ASTNA Katz-Mason award recipient. Kris is passionate about teaching advanced transport medicine topics/skills and seeing students thrive in the transport environment. She lives in
the Pacific Northwest and loves anything/everything related to the outdoors; however, sun, warm water, and scuba diving is her little slice of Heaven.
Matthew Benson, BSN, RN, NRP
Matt graduated Cum Laude from Winona State University in 2015 with a BSN. He also graduated from Creighton’s University Paramedic Program in 2018 and has worked within the Critical Care Transport space for 4 years. For three of those years, he has been
with Duke Life Flight where he is Clinical Nurse IV and Chair of the Quality Committee. Matt has been published in 2021 in the Air Medical Journal for the article Critical Care Transport of the Portable Ventricular Support Device as well as a Poster Presentation
at AMTC 2022 on a Review of COVID-19 ECMO.
Nate Brown, BSN, RN
Nate is a neonatal and pediatric specialty flight nurse in Ohio. After the transition from hospital-based medicine to critical care ground transport, Nate quickly advanced to flight, where he’s worked the past two years. He has a passion for providing
high quality, evidence based care, and enjoys learning and teaching alike. Nate is determined to help those unfamiliar with the nuances of neonatal/pediatric illness and injury develop the skillset necessary to feel confident and capable when tasked
with their care. Nate will happily golf, shoot, fish, or drink a good glass of whiskey with just about anyone. He and his wife, Emily, live in central Ohio with their two golden retrievers.
Mandy Gainey
Mandy Gainey has been a flight nurse with Med-Trans since 2017 and currently serve as a Professional Development Manager. In her role as a nurse for the past 12 years, she has served communities in both South Carolina and Alabama, in healthcare settings
ranging from very large regional specialty centers to small community hospitals. Mandy never claims to know all the answers or to be an expert in all the areas, but instead, works to foster an environment that allows for questions to be asked without
fear or judgment. Mandy is passionate about teaching and finds nothing more exciting than seeing someone grasp a new concept or skill that will impact their patient care. Mandy also serves as a TPATC instructor for ASTNA. She lives with her husband
in Charleston, S.C. (who serves on the South Carolina National Guard as an Apache pilot) and they love spending time out on the water or at home with their very fat cat, Walter.
Ken Hess
Ken holds over three decades of aviation experience, commencing as a teenager with fixed wing recreational flying. In 1995, he enlisted in the Utah Army National Guard, he served as a helicopter mechanic on the AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter. Subsequently, he attended flight school, where he earned the position of UH-60A/L Standardization Flight Instructor, which included serving as an instrument flight examiner. He retired in 2016 as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 after serving 3 tours of duty overseas. Currently, Ken holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and serves as Lead Pilot and Training Captain for Metro Aviation. He is serving his twelfth year at the University of Utah AirMed program piloting the Bell 407 and served as the rotor wing representative to the AirMed progsafety committee for eight years. Additionally, Ken volunteers his time as a squadron commander within the Utah Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.
Jeanne Knepper, BSN, RN, CFRN, CEN
Jeanne is a flight nurse for the University of Utah AirMed program. She started her nursing career in the emergency department after graduating with her MSN degree from Rush University in Chicago, IL. With a variety of nursing experience in Community
ED, Level 1 Trauma ED, Pediatric ICU, and Adult Surgical/Trauma ICU, she now cares for patients in the air medical transport environment with AirMed. Jeanne is passionate about accessible education, fostering mentorship, and is honored to be a new
mentor for the CCTA program (of which she was a student in the inaugural class). Outside of work, she enjoys mountain biking, hiking, and exploring her new(ish) state of Utah.
Dan Rauh, MS, ACNP-BC, CFRN, EMT-P
Dan is currently a nocturnal intensivist managing patient's in a large medical/surgical ICU in central Indiana. He most recently retired from the University of Cincinnati as a flight nurse practitioner with UC Air Care where he spent almost 8 years and of 13 years of flight experience. He is also a member of the podcast team at Heavy Lies The Helmet. He speaks nationally on a multitude of critical care & flight medicine topics, specifically metabolic derangements, point-of-care ultrasound and critical thinking in critical care. In his spare time Dan lives on a 100 acre farm in Southeastern Indiana with his wife Sheilah. You’ll often find him on a tractor or in a deer blind with his grandson Conner and their American bully, Mugsy.
John Spratlin
John began his EMS career in 2006 along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, gaining experience in private EMS, fire service, and as an adjunct college faculty member. In 2016, he transitioned into critical care transport as a flight paramedic and found a lasting passion
for high-acuity care in dynamic environments. He currently serves as a professional development manager with Med-Trans Corporation, supporting clinician education and growth across the organization. John has held roles including clinical coach, base
educator, and base medical manager, and also contributes nationally as a TPATC coordinator with ASTNA, focusing on advancing training and standards in transport medicine. Though once tempted by the idea of becoming a meandering vagrant, he chose nursing
school, earned his CFRN, and leaned fully into his commitment to lifelong learning. He believes education is a continuous process—and that curiosity, humility, and the willingness to ask “why” are essential traits for any clinician. He lives by a
simple principle: “Do something today that makes tomorrow better than yesterday”—preferably with a little caffeine along the way.
Nick Volz, NRP, FP-C
Nick Volz began his fire and EMS career in the suburbs of Chicago in 2004. In 2007, he became a paramedic and transitioned to a flight paramedic in 2012. Nick has flown in Illinois, Colorado, and now work as a clinical base coordinator and flight paramedic
for the University of Utah AirMed and holds a Bachelors of Science in Emergency Service Leadership.
Nick enjoys time hiking, camping, skiing, and fishing with his wonderful wife (who also works as a flight coordinator), two sons (11 years old and 7 months old), and two mutts.
John vonRosenberg, PhD
John vonRosenberg, known as “Vonron” to his friends, has been in Fire, EMS, critical care, and flight medicine for over 20 years. His primary job is working as a flight paramedic and currently works with a hospital-based critical care service in North
Carolina and Virginia. In addition to his role as a bedside clinician, Vonron is an active instructor at his local college and with Impact EMS. He has a bachelor’s degree in Education, a master’s degree is in Biology, and a PhD in Cognition and Applied
Neurophysiology. His doctoral dissertation focused on social support, burnout, and performance in stressful situations such as those commonly found in pre-hospital medicine.
Vonron has spoken at multiple local, state, national, and
international conferences, including NAEMSP, AMTC, CCTMC, FDIC, ECHO, and ICON. He has published articles in the Air Medical Journal and edited various textbooks for EMS and critical care. He began his career in patient care as a volunteer Fire
Fighter, then transitioned to Ocean Rescue and EMS before beginning work in critical care. Vonron began his flight career in South Carolina and moved to North Carolina and Virginia, where he has continued to serve his community through patient
care, education, writing, and public speaking. His background in both education and clinical practice provides a unique combination for revealing and communicating insights into developing research and practice.
Robin Wallace, BSN, RN, CFRN, CEN, NRP
Robin Wallace is a Certified Registered Flight Nurse (CFRN), Paramedic, and retired chief fire officer with over 20 years’ experience in prehospital and critical care. Never described as gentle, quiet or easy-going, Robin is passionate about doing hard
things well. Her exposure to a myriad of leadership styles, changes in strategy/tactics, technology, and emerging attitudes of multigenerational crews has forged a desire to build better work. Currently, she is a flight nurse with a busy program
in the Southeast US. Serving as a faculty/mentor for CCTA for the past 6 years has challenged her to grow and excel. Robin has been published in Fire Engineering magazine, FireHouse magazine, and Journal of Emergency Nursing. Beginning with individual
accountability, her goal is to create enduring healthy team dynamics.
