Jerry Overton

Jerry Overton serves as the President of the the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, the organization charged with setting standards, establishing curriculum, and conducting research for public safety dispatch worldwide. In addition, he is a member of its Board of Trustees and chairs of its Board of Accreditation and Institutional Review Board. Previously, he served as the Chief Executive Officer, Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA), Richmond, Virginia, for 18 years and had overall responsibility for the internationally acclaimed performance based EMS system. Mr. Overton also served as the Chief Executive of the Kansas City, Missouri, EMS system. In addition, he provides technical assistance throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, including the design of an implementation plan for an Emergency Medical Transport program in Central Bosnia – Hercegovina during the war. Most recently, he conducted an EMS assessment for the country of Lebanon. He is the Past President of the American Ambulance Association, was a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U. S. Health System, and was the Chief Financial Officer for the World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine. He serves on the editorial boards of two leading prehospital care journals and has received numerous recognitions. As an expert in EMS system design and deployment strategies, he was named one of the 20 most influential leaders in EMS by JEMS magazine. In 2016 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of EMTs and the National Registry of EMTs.