Speaker Bios

Arthur graduated from the University of Tasmania Medical School MB, BS in 1978 and has worked at BC Children’s Hospital since 1991, initially as a Clinical Fellow and, since 1994, as a Staff Physician in Critical Care. 
 

Arthur worked with Dr Avash Singh, Neonatologist at BCCH to establish and then co-direct the ECLS Program, treating more than 120 patients from 1999 -2009.
 

During that time, he worked with Doug Salt, Chief Perfusionist at BCCH, to develop and then patent a universally adaptable ECLS Transport System and a circuit simulation model for staff training. The Transport System was used to transport a number of pediatric and adult patients on ECLS in both rotary and fixed wing aircraft.

Patient transport has been a career-long interest that started as an “Ambulance Officer “ (Paramedic) whilst at Medical School and then as a Registrar during Pediatric Training in New Zealand (Waikato Hospital), 
New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory in Australia and then as a Critical Care Fellow in British Columbia.

His pediatric experience has included both Neonatal and Pediatric patients. Arthur was appointed Physician Lead for Transport for BCCH ICU in 2005 and then BCEHS Director of Education for ITT in 2016. From 2016 – 2020 he was involved in a joint program training both ITT and Adult Critical Care paramedics.

Thomas Nordgaard Dahle has over 29 years of experience in prehospital emergency care, including 16 years with the air ambulance service as a rescue specialist (Redningsmann) and Helicopter Crew Member (HCM) with Norsk Luftambulanse AS (Norwegian Air Ambulance) based in Mo i Rana, Norway.

He is a registered EMT and nurse with specialization in both anaesthesia and intensive care nursing. He is a trained firefighter through the Norwegian Fire School (Norges Brannskole). His work includes research (PhD thesis) on methods for reaching patients in challenging locations where helicopters cannot land, such as mountains or, in some cases, urban areas.

Thomas’s PhD is studying different methods for reaching patients in places where helicopters cannot land – often in the mountains, but also in urban areas.

He will compare and evaluate hoist versus long-rope methods to see whether today's air ambulance service with its current crew of three can introduce helicopter hoisting into the service. Does this affect rescue technology, medical care, and flight operations when retrieving patients in rough terrain?

Why is this important? Norwegians are more outdoorsy than before, both in the mountains and in the forest. This means more people are getting sick or injured in these areas, in turn leading to more missions for the air ambulance. Therefore, there is a growing need for air operational development. Little research has been done in these areas previously.

Kyle Danielson serves as Director of Operations at Airlift Northwest / UW Medicine, a multi-state academic air medical program based in Seattle.

With a background spanning clinical practice, operations leadership, and research, he brings a unique perspective on the strategic and operational challenges facing air medical transport programs.
 

Kyle also advises air medical leaders on program expansion, network optimization, and base positioning using spatial analytics and location intelligence. His work focuses on helping programs make data-informed strategic decisions about service area design and resource allocation.
 

He earned a Master of Nursing from the University of Toronto with a specialization in resuscitation science and a Master of Public Health from Simon Fraser University, where his research focused on optimizing 
early activation of helicopter EMS for major trauma in British Columbia. 
 

Kyle serves as Clinical Liaison to the Resuscitation Engineering Science Unit (RESCU) at UW Medicine and is active in research advancing air medical transport, health systems, and resuscitation science.

Dr. Ilana Delroy-Buelles works as an Anaesthetist in a Major Trauma Centre in Sydney with special interests in Orthopaedics & Trauma.

She also works as a Prehospital & Retrieval Consultant for NSW Aeromedical both as a clinician undertaking retrievals and as the State Retrieval Consultant helping co-ordinate taskings of the NSW Aeromedical Servies.

In her involvement with critical trauma patients both in and out of hospital she has developed her interest in blood product resuscitation and currently co-ordinates governance of the state Retrieval Transfusion Procedure, supporting blood to retrieval teams and remote hospitals.

Kenny Doleac began his career as a U.S. Army officer and Black Hawk helicopter pilot, leading teams and flying MEDEVAC missions in high-pressure environments in the U.S. and Iraq. These formative years shaped his approach to leadership—mission-focused, people-centred, and grounded in operational excellence. They also offered his first perspective on the prehospital and Retrieval Medicine space and the incredible lifesaving possibilities when executed well.

Following his military service, Kenny earned dual master’s degrees—an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School—to prepare for a career at the intersection of business, public service, and systems change. He went on to lead global product launches at Apple, helping scale the early AirPods product lines from early concept to global mass production, managing teams across Cupertino and China.

After relocating to Canada with his wife and growing family, Kenny held executive roles in several start-up and scale-up technology companies and later served as Chief Strategy Officer at STARS Air Ambulance. Across these roles, he fused his operational rigor and leadership depth with innovation and product development expertise to help young organizations grow and pursue excellence. At STARS, he helped initiate a new strategy focused on innovation, new technology adoption, and system design, with the singular focus on patient care. One example was the introduction of a pre-hospital virtual care solution across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, which had a marked impact by supporting rural and remote clinicians, improving coordination of distributed inter-disciplinary clinical teams, and improving dispatch decisions.

He joined MRBC out of a desire to build something meaningful in service of a complex and worthy challenge at the intersection of government and business.  He is focused on developing a high-performing organization that blends operational discipline, clinical excellence, and community partnership to deliver care and a best-in-class global solution where and when it’s most needed.

Kenny brings a deep commitment to building teams, solving complex problems, and creating systems that work for people—especially in challenging environments. He is also a volunteer mentor with the Venture Mentoring Service of Alberta, supporting early-stage entrepreneurs.

Kenny lives in Alberta with his wife and two daughters and spends as much time outdoors as possible—camping, skiing, hiking, and exploring with his family.

Stephen is a consultant with Scotland’s Emergency Medical Retrieval Service. He led the establishment of the team from a small voluntary service in 2004 to what is now a fully government funded aeromedical retrieval organization. 

He is the author of Peak Performance Under Pressure, a book discussing decision making in high pressure situations and the effects of human factors on team and individual performance. He trains medical, rescue, military and police personnel internationally in this area.  

Stephen led the team establishing the Diploma in retrieval and transfer medicine for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He developed and contributes to the organization of the annual UK retrieval conference. Stephen is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the University of Glasgow. 

He has been an active voluntary member of Arrochar mountain rescue team for 30 years and holds the Mountain Leader Award. Stephen acted as medical officer on seven international expeditions in mountain, desert, jungle and arctic environments before establishing the first expedition medicine course in the UK. 

Stephen has been providing expert opinions in legal cases for over fifteen years. He was the Scottish Ombudsman’s first advisor in emergency medicine and prehospital care and has been an expert witness for the General Medical Council for ten years. He also works with the Procurator Fiscal in relation to fatal accident inquiries. 

Visit his website at CoreCognition.co.uk 

Gary Housty serves as the Vice President, Quality and Chief Nursing & Allied Health Officer at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). In this role, he leads clinical education, research, ethics, quality, interprofessional practice, client experience, and health systems transformation across FNHA’s clinical services. His work is grounded in advancing evidence-informed care, strengthening cultural safety and humility, and improving health outcomes for First Nations people in BC. 

​

A registered nurse with 25 years of leadership experience, Gary began his FNHA journey in 2019 as Director of Nursing Operations. He later stepped into the Executive Director role within the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer, where he has contributed to major organizational advancements and strengthened partnerships across the health system. 

​

Gary was born and raised in Bella Bella on the central coast. He is proudly Heiltsuk and carries deep connections to the houses of Nác̓i, Zíxsiwalis, and Wík̓vṇ at. His ancestral name, K̓vsḷsm̓ṇixv (“One Wolf”), and his hereditary chieftainship name, Nác̓i (“treasure box containing supernatural power”), reflect responsibilities he honours in both his  leadership and daily life. 

​

Gary brings a relational, community-centred approach to his work—shaped by his upbringing, mentors, and the values passed down through his  family. He is committed to building a culturally safe, responsive health system that supports First Nations individuals, families, and communities 
to thrive. 

​

Above all, Gary is guided by his responsibilities to his wife, three children, and future generations. He continues to champion initiatives that strengthen health access, equity, patient safety, and wellness across BC, in alignment with FNHA’s values and long-term vision.

Sam Immens serves with NSW Ambulance and the Ambulance Rescue Helicopter (Greater Sydney Area HEMS). A former emergency nurse with international experience, Sam transitioned into aeromedical care to pursue a lifelong goal of helicopter paramedicine.

He is a frequent contributor to clinical education, known for his work on pragmatic reflection frameworks and trauma care research.

Sam specializes in remote access rescue and complex inter-facility transfers, driven by the professional synergy of the multi-disciplinary HEMS team.

Mark James is a South African–trained physician who immigrated to Canada (Saskatoon) in the late 1990s. He completed Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) certification and practised Anesthesiology and Critical Care in Saskatoon before relocating to Nanaimo in 2018. He is currently an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of British Columbia and practises Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine in Nanaimo.

Over the course of his career, Mark has held several administrative leadership roles, including his current positions as NRGH ICU Clinical Lead and Chief of Staff at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

Mark is a GUE TEC 2 (mixed gas, decompression) and GUE CCR 1 diver and primarily dives cold water in the Pacific Northwest, completing close to 100 dives annually with a consistent team of experienced teammates.

Mark is deeply committed to human factors and believes that education and generational growth are essential across all communities engaged in high-risk, high-consequence activities. He sees significant overlap between technical diving and the practice of medicine, and brings a curious, systems-oriented mindset to improving team performance, safety, and patient care.

Dr. Katie Lin is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Calgary.

She works as an Emergency Physician at the Foothills Medical Centre, a Stroke Physician with the Calgary Stroke Program, a Critical Care Flight Transport Physician with STARS Air Ambulance, an expert advisor for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Deputy Director of Podcasts for EM Cases Podcast, and creator and director of the SYNAPSE: EM Neuro Essentials Course.

Dr. Lin completed her FRCPC emergency medicine residency training and stroke subspecialty training in Calgary alongside a parallel Master of Public Health through Harvard. She is an award-winning speaker and educator with interests in medical education and knowledge translation, neurocritical care, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Outside the hospital and helicopter base, you’ll find her reading, traveling, running, and hiking. 

Dr. Oelke is an Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Okanagan and Scientific Director, Rural Coordination Centre of BC. She is a health services researcher in integrated health systems with a key focus on primary healthcare.

Dr. Oelke’s areas of interest include: interprofessional teams, mental health, rural health, virtual care, health policy, and knowledge translation.

She is a mixed methods researcher, with expertise in qualitative research, evaluation, integrated knowledge translation, and deliberative dialogue.

James ('Jamie') is an emergency physician in the lower mainland, British Columbia as well as a locum physician at various rural sites in Northern BC and the Northwest Territories.

​

He completed his residency training at the University of Toronto and subspecialty training in Prehospital and Retrieval Medicine with Auckland HEMS in 
Auckland, New Zealand.

He has a special interest in education, in particular novel low- and no-cost simulation modalities in acute care settings, and has published and presented internationally on these topics. 

Outside of work, you can find him outside, in the woods, as he says, "preferably somewhere without cell service."

Nikki Robbins is a Registered Nurse, educator, and systems-level advocate with over 25 years of experience in clinical practice, leadership  development, and healthcare transformation. Her work is shaped by the dual lens of a seasoned clinician and a mother whose son, Brayden, died because of preventable gaps in the healthcare system. His life—and his loss—are the driving force behind her commitment to meaningful change. 
 

Brayden’s story revealed both the compassion within healthcare and the profound harm caused when systems fail, grounding Nikki’s belief that safety, human worth, and accountability must never be negotiable. Known for harmonizing teams and facilitating courageous conversations, she leads with clarity, compassion, and a deep respect for lived experience. 
 

As Vice President and Vice Chair of Not Just One Voice, Nikki amplifies patient, family, provider, and 
point-of-care voices to advance safer, more compassionate care. Her advocacy is grounded in evidence, shaped by experience, and fueled by  love—working through Brayden’s legacy to ensure no family endures preventable loss in silence.

Syexwaliya is a Knowledge Carrier & Elder Advisor from Squamish Nation with strong Indigenous worldviews, ancestral knowledge and traditional teachings, widely respected and acknowledged for her work and energy commitment to her community.

25 years ago, in a Twin Otter at 10 000’, with a crashing patient & frozen IV lines, Dr. Kavi Singh learned 2 things:

1. Body heat & armpits were ineffective at thawing IV lines at -30C

2. His training had not set him up for success in the harsh reality of austere medical care in N. Quebec.  

Subsequent attempts to find solutions using the medical training paradigms of the day resulted in little change and large frustration.

An epiphany occurred when he realized that, for high stress situations, his sport training in white water kayaking and combat sport was much more structured than his medical training.

Spurred on by his need to get better or get out, he applied performance training principles from sport, aviation and music to acute care medicine.

The dramatic success of this cross-disciplinary exchange led to the realization that for performance under pressure, ‘This was the Way’.
 
Taking these lessons to heart, after working for 15 years, Kavi returned to residency for an EM fellowship, with the primary goal of advancing and modernizing acute care education.

​Carolyn is an FRCPC trained emergency medicine physician. She works full time clinically at Royal Columbian Hospital as an emergency physician, trauma team leader and critical care physician.

Carolyn has a special interest in prehospital medicine especially in the wilderness and mountain environment. She holds the International Congress on Alpine Rescue(ICAR)  Diploma in Mountain Medicine  and was involved in developing and teaching a Canadian diploma program.

She volunteers with Whistler Blackcomb ski patrol as an on-hill physician and has worked as the on-site physician for Mike Weigele Helicopter skiing. She has also worked overseas for the Himalaya Rescue Association in Nepal at a remote clinic and done consulting work for a helicopter rescue company on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Recently she deployed to Jamaica as part of the medical aid response to Hurricane Melissa. Carolyn’s biggest passion outside the hospital is her work with North Shore Rescue. She is a full member of North Shore Rescue as well as a member of their advanced medical provider team. She is also an helicopter rescue technician for the team and recently took over as the Medical Advisory Chair. 

Adrienne is a second-year medical student at the University of Calgary with a background as a registered nurse in both urban acute care and, more recently, primary care in northern Alberta.

Her clinical and lived experiences in rural and remote communities have shaped her commitment to rural family medicine.

She is passionate about advancing equitable health care access for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities across Canada.

Adrienne is looking forward to learning from the ideas shared at this conference and connecting with others who share this commitment.

Natasha is an Emergency Medicine Physician who transitioned to rural practice a decade ago, moving to Terrace BC from Saint John, NB. She recently completed a UBC-BWH Fellowship in Emergency Department Leadership and is particularly interested in systems-level solutions to address rural health inequities in BC. She has a couple of cool kids - Lauren is 12, and Ella is 6 - as well as a lovely husband who has also found his professional home in rural medical practice.

Erin Wiltse is of Nlaka’pamux ancestry and a proud member of the Cooks Ferry Indian Band (Spences Bridge) in the Interior of British Columbia. She is a senior nursing and health system leader with over 16 years of experience across prehospital, remote, and community‑based care, clinical operations, and system transformation in BC.

Erin currently serves as Acting Executive Director, Clinical Operations Transformation and Integration with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), where she provides executive‑level advisory leadership on clinical operations, systems integration, primary care implementation, and professional practice across provincial and regional portfolios.

Her clinical background includes extensive frontline experience in critical care and cardiac surgery ICU, as well as certified remote nursing practice in remote nursing stations across BC. This experience has given Erin a deep, practical understanding of the realities of emergency response, transport delays, escalation of care, and medical retrieval in geographically isolated settings.

Throughout her career, Erin has worked closely with BC First Nations communities, emergency response and retrieval partners, and provincial health system leaders to strengthen clinical readiness, scope of practice, and system coordination in environments where timely access to advanced care is critical. She holds a Master’s degree in International Health Leadership from McGill University.

Erin remains passionate about advancing resilient, culturally safe, and integrated prehospital and clinical systems that support both BC First Nations and health care providers, and that improve continuity, safety, and outcomes across the full care continuum.