Dr. Jack Perkins is a board-certified physician in both Emergency and Internal Medicine and has spent the better part of two decades working as an educator. He spent more than a decade as part of the Core Faculty for the Virginia Tech Carilion Emergency Medicine Residency and continues to work as a Clinical Faculty member. His primary academic interest includes quality improvement efforts to address various Social Determinants of Health faced by patients encountered in the Emergency Department. He has particular interest in non-English language speaking patients and care for the unhoused population seen at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
As part of this academic niche, Dr. Perkins spearheaded the introduction of a curriculum on 'Social Determinants of Health' for the Emergency Medicine Residency that is delivered every 18 months. He is proud to lead the Foundation in its pursuit of providing every victim of cardiac arrest an equal chance to return to their family.

Dr. Karen Perkins is board-certified in Family Medicine and currently serves as an attending physician in the clinical decision unit (ED observation) at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. She is an associate professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Family Medicine Department and is a clinician and educator. She has spent 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 children, ages 11, 13, and 15. Her main role with the foundation is grant writing, and she enjoys the opportunity to find funds to place more life-saving AEDs into all communities!

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.

Dr. Abraham completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center in 2008. He is an adjunct associate 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 enjoys outdoor pursuits including running and hiking. Dr. Abraham and Dr. Perkins spent two years together as residents in Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Sammy Zakaria specializes in critical care cardiology, and has cared for many patients that have had cardiac arrest. He is the Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC), and also works in the Cardiac Care Unit at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Zakaria earned his undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania State University, his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College, and his master of public health degree from the University of Maryland. He trained at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Internal Medicine and also practiced there as a faculty attending for one year. He then spent three years with Dr. Perkins at the University of Maryland while he was a fellow in Cardiovascular Disease and Dr. Perkins was a resident in Emergency Medicine. He then moved on to a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco before joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2008. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, and Critical Care Medicine. He is also the incoming Governor for the Maryland Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and is also heavily involved in the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

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.

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.

Dr. O’Brien received his undergraduate degree from Bucknell University. He 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, his interests include peripheral artery disease, coronary and peripheral arterial intervention, and the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

Dr. O’Brien served on the American Heart Association’s National Guideline Writing Committee for Systems of Care Development for Myocardial Infarction and on the American College of Cardiology’s Door to Balloon (D2B) initiative. He was one of the regional leads and authors of Duke University and the AHA’s Mission: Lifeline STEMI Accelerator-2 project. Dr. O’Brien is the Director of the Acute MI Program at Centra and is the Chief Quality Officer of the Heart and Vascular Institute. In 2008 he co-founded the Virginia Heart Attack Coalition and serves as its current leader. He also serves on the Board of the Virginia Cardiac Services Quality Initiative.

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.

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. Rick's 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.

Faith Quenzer, DO MPH obtained her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Cellular Biology and graduated from the Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in 2015. Dr. Quenzer did her Emergency Medicine residency at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California. After residency, Dr. Quenzer became a clinical research fellow for UC San Diego, Department of Emergency Medicine while she earned her MPH in Epidemiology through San Diego State University. Dr. Quenzer is involved in the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and is Committee Chair of Social Emergency Medicine and Population Health, Resources Subcommittee Chair of the Collaborative Steering Committee for the Border Health Collaborative. In her leadership positions, she is actively working in conjunction with nonprofits, businesses, and academic institutions on both sides of the US-Mexico border in producing research and promoting quality health care and health education for the US-Mexico border population. Dr.Quenzer is also an adjunct professor at the SDSU School of Public Health where she lectures on Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Border Health.

Karen is an Associate Professor and simulation coordinator for Averett University. She also practices part-time as an FNP in various settings, specializing in Advanced Wound Care and home-health visits. She has been an RN for 29 years; she has 17 years of experience as a nurse educator, eight years of experience in simulation in BSN nursing education, and three years educating FNP students.
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Karen earned her nursing degree from Danville Regional School of Nursing, her BSN degree from Old Dominion University, her MSN-Nurse Educator Degree from ODU, her FNP from East Tennesse University, and her Doctorate in Health Profession Education from Logan University. She is passionate about preparing and training her students to respond to cardiac arrest using a variety of scenarios with other clinical instructors in the simulation lab. Four days after intense training with students and their clinical instructors on how to respond to a code blue using the manikins, her life was saved by the same actions previously practiced by one of her colleagues. Karen had gone into cardiac arrest on 2-14-2023 at work, and her colleagues sprung into action, started CPR, and used an AED on her to bring her back to life. This life-changing experience brought a new passion to Karen to educate as many people interested in learning hands-only CPR and how to use an AED. She will present at the Virginia State Simulation Alliance on July 30th, 2024, on how she has brought her simulators out of the lab onto the campus to train and educate faculty, staff, and students on Hands-on CPR and how to use an AED. She hopes this will help other nurse professors bring their simulators out of the lab onto the campus to share this life-saving experience with students, faculty, and staff who otherwise would not be exposed to this. She is bringing awareness to others about the importance of knowing where AEDs are located and how to use the simple technique of Hands-only CPR.

She enjoys adding service learning opportunities in her courses to introduce students to social disparities working with the food bank and homeless shelter in Danville, VA.

Robert is the Local Health Emergency Coordinator for the Roanoke City Alleghany Health District. Prior to joining RCAHD he served as the Deputy Emergency Coordinator in Henrico County, VA for 3 years and the Emergency Management Coordinator in Rockbridge County for 11 years. Before transitioning to Emergency Management, he was a secondary school teacher, coach, and administrator in both Rockbridge County and Roanoke City.

Robert earned his undergraduate degree in education from Bluefield College, and his master’s in educational leadership from Virginia Tech. Robert began his career in Emergency Services when he joined the Lexington Fire Department as a volunteer, where he rose to the rank of chief, a position he held for 4 years. He was also an EMT from 2003-2010. Robert has been a member of the Virginia Emergency Management Association since 2006, and served on the Board of Directors from 2012-2023, this includes 2019-2021 as President. During his time in Emergency Services Robert has had firsthand experience in treating individuals impacted by Sudden Cardiac Arrest, while many of the patients did survive Robert understood that more needed to be done to improve outcomes of those impacted by SCA. In 2020 Robert experienced his own SCA while at home and because a deputy knew CPR and had an AED in his vehicle Robert is with us today to share his story and the importance of teaching CPR and the use of an AED to the general public. Robert truly believes in the mission of Compress and Shock and wants to work with the team to deliver this education to the public while encouraging other survivors to share their stories.

In his spare time Robert enjoys spending time with his wife, 4 kids, and 7 grandchildren, in the fall he can be found in local high press boxes calling play by play for high school football, watching college football, and basketball.

Heather graduated in 2024 with her Master's in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from Virginia Commonwealth University. At VCU, her primary research focuses are on EMS and opioid overdoses. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology at Christopher Newport University with minors in Spanish and Sociology. Heather became an EMT in 2022 and has worked helping train new EMTs. In her free time, she can be found with her 3 dogs - Dingo, Bear, and Rufus.

Leslie Chavez is a passionate public health professional and aspiring cardiologist with a heart for community. Born and raised in Herndon, Virginia, Leslie has always been driven by a desire to make a difference, especially in communities that are often overlooked. She earned both her Bachelor of Science in Science and Psychology (with a minor in Chemistry) and her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she developed a deep understanding of the challenges minority populations face in accessing quality healthcare.

Leslie’s work in public health has only strengthened her commitment to health equity. Her dream is to become a cardiologist and use her skills to serve and advocate for underserved communities—bridging the gap between data, medicine, and compassionate care.

Outside of her professional life, Leslie enjoys trying new foods, exploring the outdoors, and spending quality time with her family. Her curiosity and drive keep her moving forward, always learning and always leading with heart.