Chatham Emergency Services Chief Executive Officer Chuck Kearns Receives CEMSO Designation
Wednesday, May 20th, 2020
Chatham Emergency Services (CES) Chief Chuck Kearns recently received his Chief EMS Officer designation through the Center of Public Safety Excellence (CPSE). According to the CPSE Website, Chief Kearns is one of only 148 Public Safety Chief EMS Officers worldwide who hold this expert professional designation. The CPSE website states their credentialing is a professional designation model that recognizes career excellence and offers strategies for continuous professional improvement. The Chief EMS Officer application is open to executive level officers.
Chief Kearns has 39 years of experience in Public Safety including open water lifeguard, disaster planning and response, emergency medical services, dispatch center operations, community risk reduction programs, marine vessel emergency response, underwater dive rescue, and flight paramedic. He also has extensive experience in general and specialized government public safety agency management.
“Chief Kearns is one of the most educated and experienced emergency services professionals in the nation,” said Chatham Emergency Services Board President Tim Blanco. “Chatham Emergency Services is very lucky and proud to have his caliber of skill and leadership guiding our team. CES now has two Chief Executive Officers who have attained the highest worldwide professional credential for the specialties of both EMS and Fire Administration.”
Chief Kearns holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with dual concentrations in Information Systems and Marketing Management from the University of South Florida. He maintains numerous state and international certifications including being a licensed paramedic and EMT. He is in his third term as an elected director of the American Ambulance Association. Chief Kearns is the past president of the National Association of EMTs, served as an appointee to the FEMA National Advisory Council and received a national lifesaving award from President Reagan for saving five people from drowning. He helped launch Florida’s Trauma Hospital System and was awarded the Florida EMS Lifetime Achievement Award.