Fred Buttrell

President & C.E.O.

Pictured above. Graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1985, Mr. Buttrell has been involved in aviation for more than twenty four years in several different leadership capacities.  Before leaving the US Air Force as a Captain in 1994, Fred was awarded and recognized for many prestigious accomplishments as a leader, which include a role as a mission commander during Desert Storm/Operation Southern Watch with 100% success rate and no losses. He was also chosen to brief the President of the United States on the F-15E combat systems and awarded Top Gun of his fighter squadron. 

Prior to joining Med-Trans’ Mr. Buttrell dedicated over 10 years to the commercial airline industry as the head of various departments.  Before exiting the airlines, his career drove him to the top as President and CEO of Comair Airlines, Inc and CEO of Delta Connection.  With proven leadership and successful business knowledge, Mr. Buttrell possesses components vital to MTC’s continued success in the medical aviation industry. Mr. Buttrell also possesses a MBA from Cox Business School at Southern Methodist University.

Michael Preissler

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Preissler has served in both fixed and rotor wing aviation for more than 8 years and has more than 14 years of accounting, finance, strategy, and operations experience.  He is a proven professional with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Sociology from the University of Notre Dame.  Mr. Preissler’s graduate degree is from the Yale School of Management with an emphasis in Finance.  He is also a licensed fixed wing pilot. 

Prior to joining Med-Trans, Mr. Preissler was the Director of Finance for Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services.  He has also held the position of General Manager- Strategy, Operations and Planning for Delta Airlines.  Michael was previously a Certified Public Accountant with Deloitte & Touche. 

Rob Hamilton

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Hamilton has more than 20 years of experience in the EMS and air medical industry.  He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corp, and is a graduate of the Medical Transport Leadership Institute. 

Rob’s experience and in depth knowledge is an asset to not only our organization but also to the entire air medical industry.

Connie Eastlee

Vice President of Program Operations

Ms. Eastlee is a highly accomplished executive with more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry.  She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Creighton University and a Master of Science in Organizational Development from Loyola University of Chicago. She has held various professional positions such as President of the Association for Air Medical Services (AAMS), AAMS Foundation Chair, AAMS Board of Directors, AAMS Committee Chair(s), Editorial Board of the Air Medical Journal, CAMTS Site Surveyor, Director and Chief Flight Nurse.

As V.P. of Program Operations, she is responsible for all aspects of the medical crew from initial to recurrent training, configuration of medical interiors in aircraft, medical equipment, etc. Ms. Eastlee’s leadership, experience and talents allow her to play an intricate role when establishing, servicing, and maintaining a successful Med-Trans EMS flight program.

Brian Foster

Vice President of Flight Operations

Mr. Foster is a proven leader with almost 30 years of experience in aviation operations, training and safety. Prior to joining Med-Trans, he held the Vice President, Flight Operations and Director of Operations position for another major HEMS provider gaining extensive experience in FAA 135 certificate transitions due to acquisitions. Prior to this, Brian held the positions of Director of Operations, Chief Pilot and Line Pilot within the HEMS industry.

Brian started his aviation career in 1985 attending the U.S. Army Rotor Wing Flight Training at Fort Rucker, AL. He obtained his BS in Aviation Technology from Central Missouri State University. Also, holding a fixed wing ATP license Brian has operated both turboprop and turbojet aircraft to include the positions of FAA designated examiner and Check Airman in numerous aircraft.

Ken Grimes

Vice President of Business Development

Ken has over 30 years experience in Emergency Services. He has worked as a senior leader in the public government sector, not-for-profit hospital sector, and as Regional Vice President for a publicly traded air medical company. Ken’s unique background helps him understand key issues and challenges that all types of entities face and merge best practices to develop customized solutions which meet an entities’ objective. Ken believes each community is entitled to an air medical solution that is safe, locally driven and highly responsive to the community’s needs. 

Ken earned his Masters of Public Administration, is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program (EFO) and the Medical Transport and Leadership Institute (MTLI). He is an Accreditation site surveyor for the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services (CAMTS) and the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.  Ken is a private helicopter and airplane pilot.

Tom Rohlfs

Vice President of Business Development

For over 10 years, Mr. Rohlfs has successfully led numerous customized program startups at both new and existing program locations across the country. Tom’s strong focus on partnership and attention to customer satisfaction supports the Med-Trans vision to be PREMIER in the air medical industry. Supported with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Mary, MBA from University of Tennessee-Knoxville and an FAA licensed fixed-wing pilot, Tom brings a blend of aviation and corporate leadership to the Med-Trans team.

Martin Arkus

Director of Program Support

Mr. Arkus served in the U.S. Army right out of high school and has more than 20 years of experience. Marty has worked as a flight communicator, flight paramedic, flight program manager, in business development and has extensive experience in all facets of the transport industry.  

He currently serves on the AAMS Board of Directors, a graduate of the Medical Transport Leadership Institute and has Lean Six Sigma qualifications.  His experience and natural leadership characteristics give Marty the knowledge and confidence to communicate with the entire spectrum of the EMS flight industry.  He understands what it takes for a flight team to be successful and how several components must be orchestrated to create a solid flight program.  His natural ability to communicate with all members of a flight program makes for an extremely valuable component to the MTC team. 

Josh Brannon

Director of Maintenance

Mr. Brannon has more than 16 years of rotor wing experience in positions ranging from Helicopter Maintenance Quality Assurance Inspector, Maintenance/ Production Control Supervisor, Helicopter Line Mechanic and Heavy Aircraft Maintenance Supervisor.  

Brannon is an extremely dedicated and well-respected professional in the aviation industry and his duties include managing all aircraft maintenance for Med-Trans.

Med-Trans is fortunate to have Josh on our team as he brings hands on experience with several different models of aircraft and engines.  He served in the United States Marine Corp. as an Aircraft Maintenance Mechanic and Supervisor.  As an A&P mechanic, he has professional experience in flight line operations, maintenance workload distribution, aircraft airworthiness certification, production control, corrective and preventive maintenance, quality assurance, preflight and post flight checks, trouble shooting and component overhauls.

Mr. Brannon has an outstanding rapport with all of the Med-Trans field maintenance technicians, allowing Med-Trans to fly the highest maintained fleet in the industry with minimal maintenance out of service time.

Phillip Devasia

Director Financial Planning & Analysis

For nearly 10 years, Phillip has served in various roles of both leadership and management in the financial arena. He began his career in the airline services industry while at Gate Gourmet where he championed principles of Lean Manufacturing within the organization. He was later promoted to a Controller position at their San Francisco unit. He has also worked for the city of Memphis overseeing budgeting and operations. As the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis for Med-Trans, Phillip oversees all aspects of accounting, financial planning & analysis, and budgeting.

Phillip has a degree in Industrial Engineering, from NIT in India, as well as an MBA from the University of Memphis. He brings both the knowledge and expertise to ensure Med-Trans’s continued success in the medical aviation industry. His results driven attitude and vast experience with strategy and operations, contribute to making Med-Trans the premier choice in air medical services.

Deborah Henkes

Director of Human Resources

Ms. Henkes has over 25 years of experience in human resources management.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Dallas and completed her master’s degree from Texas Women’s University. 

Ms. Henkes has held a director-level Human Resources positions for a variety of Fortune 500 companies and was most recently the World-wide Director of Human Resources for Texas Instruments in their Research and Manufacturing Division.

Bert Levesque

Director of Operations

Mr. Levesque’s military time with the Royal Canadian Air Force and 20 years of experience with the Tucson Police Department’s Aviation Division has earned him thousands of helicopter flight hours. Prior to joining Med-Trans, Bert was the Director of Operations for an EMS helicopter vendor in the southwest United States. Mr. Levesque’s responsibilities include direction of initial/recurrent flight training, direct contact with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), pilot recruitment, fleet management, and overall leadership for Base Aviation Managers.

Reid Vogel

Director of Marketing & Public Relations

Mr. Vogel is responsible for for all aspects of Med-Trans' corporate marketing, communications and public relations. He has played a key role in the development and success of more than 50 flight programs and individual brand identities, from aircraft paint scheme designs to program logos, web development, marketing strategies, outreach/education, corporate communications and business development.

Mr. Vogel has more than 20 years of senior marketing management experience in the aerospace and financial industries. Reid has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Marketing and Management. He has served on the Assoc. of Air Medical Services Public Relations and Media Relations Team and the Intl. Assoc. of Business Communicators. 

Don Savage

Chief Pilot

Don Savage began his 40+ year aviation career in the U.S. Army in 1972.  He became a helicopter instructor in 1976, a night vision goggle instructor in 1978 and taught both Initial Entry Rotary Wing students and Instructor Pilot courses at Fort Rucker, AL.  Don was selected for two tours with the Directorate of Evaluation and Standardization (DES) before retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer Four with 23 years of military service. 

Don joined the Med Trans team in 1995 and has performed duties as line pilot, base manager and company instructor pilot.  Since 2002 he has proudly and passionately served as Chief Pilot for Med Trans Corp.

Mike LaMee

Asst Chief Pilot/Training and Standardization

Mr. LaMee joined the Med-Trans team in 2003 after 20 years of service in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army. His advanced education is in Human Factors with a degree in Aerospace Physiology. During his military career, he served in the capacity as an Aerospace Physiology Specialist, Instructor Pilot, Standardization Instructor Pilot, Instrument Examiner and Flight Operations Officer. In his time with Med-Trans Corporation, Mike has served as a Line Pilot and also as an Instructor Pilot/Check Airman in the Bell 206/407 and the EC-135 for day/night/NVG and IFR operations.

K.C. Jones

Director of Clinical Services

Mr. Jones has been involved in EMS and education for more than 25 years, and has served in many educational and leadership roles.   K.C. started his EMS career as a medic and served as a Field Training Officer for Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.  He is a former tenured faculty member /program director in the Health Science Department at BYU-I. He was a flight medic/Education Coordinator for Erlanger Life Force and a flight medic for Air Idaho Rescue.

Prior to joining the Med-Trans team, he was a multi-ship HEMS program director.  K.C. has a Bachelors Degree in General Business Administration and a Masters Degree in Health Services Administration. K.C.’s primary focus at Med-Trans has been initial and recurrent education for the medical crews, working with programs on their CAMTS accreditation and assisting in new base start-ups.

Jana Williams

Vice President of Partner Development

Jana Williams is a transformational leader and has been in EMS for more than 27 years.  She most recently worked as the Program Director for AIRLIFE Denver, a busy emergency and critical care air and ground transport service, serving the Rocky Mountain region. Her career began as a volunteer EMT outside of Chicago, IL.  She has held positions in EMS, flight nursing, and EMS, Trauma & Disaster Administration.  She has experience in rotor and fixed-wing operations as well as ground transport.  She enjoys strategic planning, leadership development, program optimization and is most passionate about EMS safety. 

Williams began her nursing career in ED and ICU and was a flight nurse for seven years.  She was a part of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) for over 20 years holding leadership roles in EMS, Trauma and Disaster Management.  Williams is a Regent at the national Medical Transport Leadership Institute, teaching on transfer center development, leadership development and medical transport management and performance.  She has also authored several articles for industry publications.  Jana received the 2012 AAMS President Award for contributions to the industry.  As a National EMS Memorial Service Board Member, Jana coordinates air medical nominations, helicopter fly-overs at EMS memorial services, interfaces with the National Air Medical Memorial and National EMS Memorial Bike Ride groups as a liaison and assists with the fund raising for the permanent memorial and park. 

David Carr

Director of Safety

David Carr is a recognized leader in the aviation industry and has a tremendous performance record of implementing and overseeing successful aviation safety management systems.  Prior to joining the Med-Trans Leadership team, Mr. Carr served as a Director of Risk Management & Safety for an aviation firm in Dallas, where he created and implemented a Safety Management System and integrated a structured “Just Culture” program.   David has considerable experience as an Aviation Consulting and previously served as a Director of Safety and Security for a large aviation firm.  David has also held the position of commercial pilot for a major carrier.

Mr. Carr proudly served in the United States Army for more than 20 years, retiring in May 2005 as an Executive Officer where he was supervising more than 500 military team members and 32 aircraft operating in three states.  Mr. Carr earned his Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.  David will lead all aviation safety related topics for our organization and will be a valuable resource for the industry as a whole.