Vice-President-Directors Division 

Courtney Terwilliger currently serves as EMS Director at Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro,

Georgia.  He has been Director of this county wide, hospital based EMS service for 30 years.

He is a member of the Region 6 EMS Council, prevously served as president of the Council, and

currently chairs the membership and by-laws committee. He has been a member of the

Georgia Emergency Medical Service Advisory Council for over 12 years and has served as

Chairman of that group for the past 6 years. He is Chairman of the Georgia Association of EMS

and has served in that position for the past 4 years.  Courtney is a member of Nunez Baptist

Church and serves as the Sunday School Director. He is the Assistant Scout Master for Troup 75

of the BSA. Courtney is married to Toni Terwilliger.  They reside in Swainsboro Georgia with

their two children.

President - Directors Division

Lee Oliver currently serves as the Director of Emergency Medical Services for the Medical Center

of Central Georgia.  Lee also serves as Vice Chairman of the Georgia Emergency Medical Services

Advisory Committee (EMSAC) which advises the Department of Human Resources Board on

issues related to EMS in Georgia.  Oliver also serves as the Vice Chairman Georgia Association of

Emergency Medical Services (GAEMS) statewide EMS organization.  He also serves as the

President of GAEMS' Director's Division. Lee is also a Council Member of the Region V Emergency

Medical Services Council, representing 23 middle Georgia counties.  In his spare time, Lee enjoys

sailing and spending time with his wife, Rebecca, and two children. 

Vice President - Providers Division 

Kelly Joiner has been a Paramedic in Georgia's EMS industry for the last 17 years, and has been a

member of the GAEMS board of directors for 7 years.  Kelly also currently serves as the Assistant

Director of the Medical Center of Central Georgia EMS.  She currently lives in Juliette, Georgia

with her husband and children.

President Providers Division 

Jeff Smith has been a paramedic since 1977.  He currently serves as the President of the GAEMS

Provider's Division, as well as serving as the Association's treasurer.  Jeff is currently Director of

Campus Safety and Security at Ogeechee Technical College in Statesboro, Georgia.  He also serves

part time at Medstar Ambulance Service.  Jeff lives in Bulloch County with his wife and 13

year old son.  In his spare time, he enjoys singing with his gospel quartet, playing golf,

and watching sports. 

At Large #3 - Directors Division

David Moore has been the Director of Candler County Emergency Services since 2002.  Candler

County  EMS is a division of the Emergency Services department as well as Emergency

Management and 911. David is married to Penny and they have three children in the Metter

area.  Penny is a Private Practice Physical Therapist.  David's daughter Madonna is a

Physician’s Assistant, and his daughter Carly will earn a degree in Community Health

in 2010.  Their son Will loves football and wrestling at Metter High School.  David believes

GAEMS is the best thing to happen to the EMS industry in Georgia and considers serving

on the Board of Directors an honor and a privilege.

Vice-President - Educators Division 

Becky has been in the EMS business for 31 years.  She was certified in 1976 as an emergency

medical technician, and became a paramedic in 1977.  Since then, she has worked in almost

every region of the state of Georgia.  Becky is currently an EMS instructor at DeKalb Technical

College.  She lives in Covington, Georgia with her cat, Jessie, and attends St. Augustine

Catholic Church.   In her spare time, she loves to cook and play card games.

At Large

Carol is the RTI Lead Paramedic Instructor with over 15 years paramedic experience - Her instructor

qualifications include: ACLS, AMLS, BTLS, CPR Instructor Trainer, PALS and many other EMS related

programs. In addition to heading up all EMS courses at Rescue Training she is a full-time

paramedic with MedstarOne based at the Level One Trauma Center in Savannah.  Carol is also

the V.A. (Veterans Administration) lieason for student affairs and the RTI Clinical Coordinator.

Carol is a member of the State of Georgia BTLS (Basic Trauma Life Support) Committee.

She is a very active National Registry Exam Coordinator, conducting approximately ten National

Registry exams each year.

 At Large 

James Turk started his EMS Career in 1987 as a First Responder. After becoming certified as a

paramedic, he met his wife on a call. Soon after, he was promoted to shift captain. After the

attacks on September 11, James became the Director of EMS for Coffee County. James is

now a Board Member of GAEMS, Chairman of Southeast GA EMS-C, Executive Committee

Member of the Southeast GA EMS Council, and Committee Member of the State EMS-C

Advisory Council.   James currently resides in Douglas with his wife and two sons. 

At Large

Randy currently works at Floyd Medical Center EMS in Rome, Georgia. Randy

is a certified paramedic and holds numerous certifications as an EMS

instructor.  He is a member of the National Association of Emergency Medical

Technicians, the Region I EMS Council, and the American Heart Association.

In 1992 and 1997, Randy was named the Floyd Medical Center Paramedic

of the Year.  In 2008, he was a nominee for Coosa Valley Tech Instructor

of the Year. 

At Large

Traci Akins is from Albany, GA and graduated from UGA with a BS degree in Education.

After graduating from EMT school, Traci worked full-time at Dougherty County EMS and

worked part-time at Lee County EMS, Phoebe Putney Critical Care Transport Team and

with the Darton College EMS program as a skills lab instructor. While working at Dougherty

County EMS, Traci chaired the Continuous Quality Improvement Committee for 5 years,

served as a Field Training Officer, and helped to develop the competency-based hiring process. 

Traci completed her master’s degree in Healthcare Management from Troy State University

and earned associate degrees in both EMS and Nursing from Darton College while employed 

there. After serving as a full-time floor nursing on the cardiac step-down unit for 18 months, she is

now the EMS Coordinator at Palmyra Medical Center in Albany.  Traci still teaches most all of the

pre-hospital continuing education courses with her husband, Jason Akins, RN/EMTP, who also

works in the ER at Palmyra Medical Center.

 President - Educators Division

Nita began her EMS career in 1982, after graduating from the Paramedic

Technology Program at Gadsden State Community College in Gadsden, Alabama. 

She relocated to Atlanta and has been heavily involved in both EMS  operations and

education here in Georgia, and on a National level, for the last twenty six years.

Nita has worked as a field medic for Grady EMS, Mid-Georgia Ambulance Service,

Medical Center of Central Georgia EMS and Monroe County EMS.  Nita has also been

a licensed EMS instructor since 1986 and worked for  the Department of Technical and

Adult Education as an instructor and an EMS Program Field Training Officer between 1986 and 1993.  

She held the position of EMS Program Manager at the Georgia Public Safety Training  Center

(GPSTC) in Forsyth, Georgia between 1993 and 2003. 

Nita has also served as Training and

Education Manager at Grady EMS, Program  Director for the Region 3 Office of EMS, and a 

General Manager for Rural Metro Ambulance Service.

Nita is now employed with Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro, Georgia through

a grant with the Office of Rural Health and is responsible for developing continuing

education programs for rural providers.

 President - Medical Directors Division