Maria Beermann-Foat, Ph.D., NRP

Maria Beermann-Foat, Ph.D., NRP, has over 25 years of prehospital emergency care experience in privately-owned, hospital-based, county government-based, and fire-based emergency services. Dr. Beermann-Foat is the Director of the Office of EMS within the Virginia Department of Health. Prior to joining VDH-OEMS, she most recently served as the EMS Training Coordinator for the Eugene Springfield Fire Department (Oregon) during the department’s transition from a dual-role to a single-role EMS system. In this position, Dr. Beermann served as a primary change agent in the development of the newly formed EMS Division where she successfully structured an EMS-specific academy model and modified the existing EMS training program to achieve the strategic vision of becoming a regional training center. Prior to joining Eugene Springfield Fire in January 2022, Dr. Beermann-Foat served Johnson County (Kansas) MED-ACT- Emergency Medical Services, where she last held the position of Battalion Chief of Operations. Since first joining MED-ACT in 1999 as a paramedic, she moved up the ranks in the roles of community education officer/PIO, captain/field training officer, battalion chief of training, and division chief of quality management. She also held a position on the Diversity and Equity Committee for Johnson County Government.