Our team at The Compress & Shock Foundation is deeply passionate about CPR and AED education. All members of our team are giving their time and expertise because we uniformly believe that there should be no barriers to learning the skills to save a fellow person's life.
* denotes a Board Member
JACK PERKINS, MD
Founder
Executive Director
Dr. Jack Perkins is board-certified in both Emergency and Internal Medicine and currently is a faculty physician with the Virginia Tech Carilion Emergency Medicine Residency. He is an educator, spending most of his professional life teaching in the Emergency Department, at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and nationally as a lecturer for the American College of Emergency Physicians. He has a vision to deliver CPR and AED education to all and consequently founded the Compress and Shock Foundation in 2017 as a means to achieve that goal.
KAREN PERKINS, MD
Vice Director
Director of Fundraising and Grant Writing
Dr. Karen Perkins is board-certified in Family Medicine and currently is a faculty physician with the Virginia Tech Carilion Family Medicine Residency. She is a clinician and educator, spending most of her professional life teaching and seeing patients of all ages, including delivering babies. In addition to her clinical duties, she and Jack enjoy advancing the mission of the Compress and Shock Foundation and raising their three kids, ages 6, 8, and 10.
ANDREW BOULAND, MD
Director of Education
Dr. Andrew Bouland is the medical director for Wilson County EMS and associate medical director for Pitt County EMS in North Carolina. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. He completed an EMS fellowship at Atrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center and Mecklenburg EMS agency in Charlotte, NC. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Virginia Tech Carilion. Dr. Bouland has extensive background in EMS including 13+ years as an EMS provider. He has a particular interest in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and bystander CPR.
SEAGER WILSON
Director of Finance
Seager Wilson has spent his professional career as a CPA in public accounting and is currently an Accounting Manager with Brown Edwards with a focus in the healthcare industry. Seager holds a Master’s in Accountancy from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia and previously attained his bachelor’s from Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri where he was a Pole Vaulter and All-American athlete. He and his wife moved to Roanoke three years ago and regularly enjoy trail running, cycling and hiking in the area. As an advocate for health and wellness, Seager is happy for the opportunity to volunteer with the Compress and Shock Foundation.
MICHELLE MUSSER
Director of Volunteer Engagement
Michelle Musser is a 1994 Virginia Tech graduate in Mechanical Engineering. She worked for many years in multiple states as an Application and Sales Engineer for a Swiss manufacturing company. In 2010, she relocated to Roanoke, VA with her husband Carl, a Carilion Clinic cardiologist, and their two children, Dylan and Caitlin. Over the past 10 years, Michelle has tirelessly volunteered with many organizations and has also served in leadership roles. A few of these organizations include the American Heart Association, Valley AFC Women’s Soccer League, and more. Michelle has a passion for helping others and happily accepted the chance to volunteer with the Compress and Shock Foundation.
BOB ZEMPLE, MD
Board Member
Bob Zemple is currently practicing as both an Emergency Medicine (EM) and local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) physician with Aurora BayCare in Green Bay, WI. He is an avid sports enthusiast, enjoys running, and is both a member of and works with the area's YMCAs. He completed medical school in Madison, WI at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He then went on to Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA for EM residency followed by an EMS Fellowship while concurrently earning his Professional MBA from Virginia Tech. Bob then returned back home with his family to the greater Green Bay area in the summer of 2017.
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PETER O'BRIEN, MD
Board Member
Dr. Peter O’Brien attended the University of Virginia for Medical school, Internship, and Residency training. Dr. O’Brien performed his Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology fellowships at Wake Forest University. Board Certified in Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine. He is the Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab and Acute MI Program at Centra and is a founding member and current Co-chairman of the Virginia Heart Attack Coalition. He is also a member of the Virginia Cardiac Services Quality Initiative board.
Dr. O’Brien’s other passion is the treatment of cardiovascular disease in the Developing World. As an active volunteer and Medical Director of the nongovernmental organization Madaktari Africa, Dr. O’Brien led the team that performed the first cardiac catheterization in the history of Tanzania and the first PCI at a Tanzanian public hospital. Dr. O’Brien enjoys running and reading in his spare time, and attending his kids collegiate track and cross-country meets with his wife, Nancy.
SAMMY ZAKARIA, MD
Board Member
Sammy Zakaria grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, studied at the Pennsylvania State University, and attended medical school at Jefferson Medical College. He did his residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, then a cardiovascular disease fellowship and MPH at the University of Maryland. Subsequently, he became a critical care medicine fellow at UCSF before joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins, where he predominantly works in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at JHBMC and the Cardiac Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Zakaria and Dr. Perkins spent three years together at the University of Maryland while Dr. Zakaria was a fellow in Cardiovascular Disease and Dr. Perkins was a resident in Emergency Medicine.
MICHAEL ABRAHAM, MD
Board Member
Dr. Abraham completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center in 2008. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and serves as the Chairman of Emergency Medicine at University of MD - Upper Chesapeake Health System. In his spare time he can be found running track repeats and lactate threshold intervals in an attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Dr. Abraham and Dr. Perkins spent two years together as residents in Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland.
RICHARD LOVEGROVE
Board Member
JON BLANK
Board Member
Richard Lovegrove is a former newspaper and wire service reporter who retired as a university editor and writer at Virginia Tech. His wife, Lisa is a retired RN and son Spencer is an Emergency Medicine Physician, but his desire to expand free and equitable access to CPR and AEDs started with the death of his 18 years old daughter in 2005. Grace Lovegrove was running on the Newport News, VA streets with her college track team when she went into cardiac arrest. Nobody nearby knew CPR and no AED was available. Rick has helped with a few efforts to make AEDs more available over the years, but never felt at home until becoming involved with the Compress and Shock Foundation.
Jon Blank has been in Fire and EMS for the last 30 Years. Jon is currently a Fire Captain with the Roanoke County Fire and Rescue Department, and owner of The CPR Guy, a small local business that teaches CPR and AED instruction. Jon has witnessed firsthand the poor outcomes associated with no CPR and AED intervention prior to EMS arrival. He has a strong desire to see them improved. Jon holds an A.S. in Emergency Health Sciences – Paramedic and a B.S. in Health Services Management from Radford University Carilion. Jon has been heavily involved in EMS Education since the mid 1990’s teaching at Radford University Carilion and The Roanoke Valley Regional Recruit School. In Jon’s spare time he enjoys spending time with his wife, 6 kids and 2 grandchildren.
Jennifer Herriot-Trejo
Board Member
My name is Jennifer Herriot-Trejo. I was born and raised in Spotsylvania, Virginia and moved to Roanoke, Virginia in 2002 after receiving my B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from VA Tech. I later studied Spanish and became a certified English as a Second Language teacher in 2007 in Costa Rica. This
is when and where I began to develop my passion for teaching and working with the Hispanic community. I went on to receive an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Liberty University in 2008.
I became an EMT in the spring of 2022 and am currently a career EMT in Covington, Virginia and a BLS
instructor for Code One Training Solutions. I am a volunteer fire fighter/EMT with Read Mountain Fire
and Rescue in Botetourt, Virginia. I am active in my church Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana serving as the financial director.
I have been married to my wonderful husband, Alejandro Trejo-Soto for over 10 years. We have two cats, Porkchop and Oscar. In my free time, I enjoy playing guitar and fishing.
Madisyn Churn
Part-Time Consultant
Madi Churn is currently an emergency department medical scribe with the ambition to attend medical school in the near future. She graduated from Radford University in December 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. She is also a former Radford University women’s volleyball player. Madi is passionate about providing her hometown community, Franklin County, with enhanced public health awareness, education and resources. She looks forward to interacting with the community and teaching CPR and AED education classes to the public.
Virginia Wrobel
Part-Time Consultant
Ginny Wolfe is graduated from Virginia Tech in May 2022 with a degree in Public Health. At Virginia Tech, she participated in many community-based responses such as COVID Crushers and Appalachian Community Research. Ginny is passionate about serving and engaging with the community around her. She is looking forward to engaging in conversations about CPR and AED education and public health awareness with the Roanoke community and beyond.
Shaylyn Fahey
Full-Time Consultant
Shaylyn Fahey is a current third year MD/MBA candidate at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM). She earned a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from Bucknell University and before beginning medical school, worked as a postgraduate researcher at Yale School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry. Shaylyn volunteers as a Firefighter and EMT and is passionate about improving public access to health education and resources. Shaylyn is also involved in health legislation for the Medical Society of Virginia and American Medical Association.