CJ Winckler

C. J. Winckler serves as the deputy medical director for the San Antonio Fire Department, and medical director for North Channel EMS and Wilson County ESD 3. He is also the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force Regin 8 medical director. Dr. Winckler is an associate professor at the University of Texas San Antonio Health Science Center and Texas A&M College Station School of Medicine. He is the President of TX NAEMSP, Chair of GETAC EMS Medical Director’s Committee, and Vice Chair of GETAC Prehospital Whole Blood Task Force. Dr. Winckler provides daily clinical supervision, via on-scene medical direction, online medical direction, and performance improvement processes to over 2,000 EMS providers. In San Antonio he has developed telemedicine CPR for dispatch, an ECMO prehospital CPR Alert system, and the world’s first prehospital whole blood program to serve an entire metropolitan system.

Christopher Way

Christopher Way serves as the Chief of Charleston County EMS in South Carolina. CCEMS is a 911 EMS agency responding to over 77,000 requests for service annually with 350 full and part-time personnel. He assumed this role in August of 2025 after serving previously as the EMS and the Fire Chief in Kootenai County Idaho. Chief Way has been involved in emergency services for 33 years and has been a paramedic for 31 of those years. His experience spans rural, suburban and urban agencies and he maintains all of his emergency medical and firefighting certifications. In addition to his position at CCEMS he is involved at the local, state and federal level in advocacy and legislation for emergency services. He also serves as the current President of the National Association of EMTs. Chief Way is also a regular speaker on topics like Leadership in Emergency Services, Legislative Efforts, Disasters, Incident Command, Developing Systems of Care, EMS Revenue and EMS Safety. He and his wife Jennifer, a nurse, make the Low Country of South Carolina their home.