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A paramedic who was a first responder at the 2017 Las Vegas shooting will be the featured speaker at an event held in conjunction with the 2019 Northwest Region EMS Conference January 19-20 at the Grand Hotel.

Troy Tuke, RN, NREMT-P, Assistant Fire Chief of Clark County, will present the topic, “The Las Vegas Shooting – What We Learned,” at a preconference session on Friday, January 18, sponsored by Trinity Health.  He’ll speak at 6 p.m., followed by a discussion on post-traumatic stress at 7:30 p.m. by Christopher South, NREMT-P, a paramedic with Trinity Health Community Ambulance Service. South will present “Dead Inside” – A look at first responder mental health from a PTSD survivor’s perspective.

A registered nurse and nationally registered paramedic, Chief Tuke joined the Clark County Fire Department in 1996 as a firefighter/paramedic and worked his way up to assistant fire chief over EMS in 2010. He’s been a frequent speaker at EMS conferences around the country, recounting his role in the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.

Christopher South is a 23-year EMS veteran and a nationally registered paramedic. He’s worked in urban and rural EMS units as well as on five continents working in remote medicine.  An advocate for first responder mental health, South is actively involved in the Code Green Campaign, a nationwide effort to call a “code alert” on the mental health of firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers, police, corrections, air medical, and other types of first responders.

The main EMS conference gets underway Saturday, with emergency providers gathering from throughout northwest North Dakota. Sessions begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and continue through 5 p.m. on Sunday.  Speakers from Trinity Health, Community Ambulance, Williston Fire Department, and American Heart Association will address topics pertinent to emergency medicine as it occurs in the field.