Maria Beermann-Foat
Maria is an Iowa native and worked EMS in the Central Iowa Area until moving to Kansas City and taking a job with Johnson County MedAct. She moved up that ranks and became a Battalion Chief. She obtained her Ph.D. and continues to advance EMS through program development at the Eugene Springfield Fire Department in Oregon. Marie and I both served at the same time on the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians Board of Directors in 2022/23. Maria speaks at many National Conferences and is a regular instructor with the Ambulance Service Manager (ASM) Program through Fitch and Associates.
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Areas of Expertise
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- Operations design and management
- Employee Engagement
- Recruitment and Retention
- Survey Design and Research
- Quality Management
- Education and Training
- Leadership Training and Coaching
- Proposal development and report writing
Experience and Accomplishments
Maria Beermann-Foat, Ph.D., NRP, has over 25 years of prehospital emergency care experience
in privately-owned, hospital-based, county government-based, and fire-based emergency
services. Dr. Beermann-Foat currently serves as the EMS Training Coordinator for the Eugene
Springfield Fire Department in Oregon.
Dr. Beermann-Foat retired from Johnson County
(Kansas) MED-ACT- Emergency Medical Services in December 2021, where she last served as a
Battalion Chief of Operations. Since first joining MED-ACT in 1999 as a paramedic, she moved
up the ranks in the roles of community education officer/PIO, captain/field training officer,
battalion chief of training, and division chief of quality management. She also held a position on
the Diversity and Equity Committee for Johnson County Government.
At the national level, Dr. Beermann-Foat is involved in many organizations to further the EMS
profession and resolve issues pertaining to EMS retention and recruitment, workforce
engagement, and EMS research. Dr. Beermann-Foat served as Director, At-Large for the
National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) Board of Directors and has
served on the EMS Workforce Committee and the Membership Committee. Additionally, she
serves as:
-NAEMT Membership Coordinator for the State of Oregon
- Editorial Advisory Board member and columnist for EMS1.com on topics
pertaining to employee recruitment, retention, and engagement.
- Editorial Advisory Board member and scientific reviewer for the International Journal
of Paramedicine.
- National conference speaker and webinar presenter
- National Fire Academy course developer and instructor for courses in EMS quality
management and applied research methods for organizational improvement.
- Board member for the Fitch Leadership Foundation
Dr. Beermann-Foat received the 2019 Emerging Leader Award, during the Pinnacle EMS
Leadership conference, from Fitch & Associates.
Dr. Beermann-Foat holds a Ph.D. in Organization Management from Capella University and a
Master of Business Administration from MidAmerica Nazarene University. She obtained a City
and County Management Graduate Certificate from the University of Kansas in 2020. She holds
a six-sigma green belt certification through Johnson County Community College. She is a
member of various professional and trade associations, including the
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International City and County Management Association (ICMA)
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National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT)
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National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP)
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National EMS Management Association (NEMSMA)
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National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE)
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National Emergency Medical Services Quality Association (NEMSQA)
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American Society for Quality (ASQ) Kansas City Section.