 Meet the
C.E.R.T.S. Team
C.E.R.T.S. faculty
includes some of the most experienced EMTs and medical
professionals in the area in order to provide expert CPR and first
aid training. Our instructors also include paramedics,
nurses, and other medical professionals. C.E.R.T.S. tracks the
teaching activity of over 80 instructors for the American Heart
Association, making C.E.R.T.S. one of the largest and busiest
training centers in Western New York. Our core American Heart
Association faculty collectively trained several thousand emergency
providers and healthcare professionals over the last 25 years. To
find out more about our most experienced instructors, read
below:
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Vince
Brennan - Training Center
Coordinator
Vince moved to
the Fairport area in 1981 after living in California, Maryland and
Georgia for several years. Fairport, and the Rochester area,
is the place that Vince has come to call "home". Establishing
roots and becoming active in the community, led Vince to join
Perinton Volunteer Ambulance Corps in June 1987 with the idea of
becoming a dispatcher. The desire to learn "just a little bit
more" led him to an American Red Cross Advanced First Aid class in
1989. An EMT class followed in 1990 and then, in 1994, a MCC
Paramedic course. Vince has been a member of the
Southeast Quadrant MCCU for 7 years in addition to continuing
his Basic Life Support at Perinton. Vince has been active
in Perinton Ambulance, serving on the Board of Directors from 2004
to 2006. He has also held the posts of training supervisor,
computer team member, manager of the loan cupboard and various
committees as requested. Vince assists the University of
Rochester and Monroe Community College in their EMT training
programs. He also works with the University of Rochester in
role enactment training in their medical school
program.
In his spare time
Vince runs Quality Vision Services, Inc., a nationwide field service
company that maintains precision metrology equipment. He
supervises and maintains a quality staff of over 30 direct
reports. He also spends time traveling to his son's
hockey games, and visiting his daughters in Wisconsin and
Tennessee. Vince's passion in Emergency Medical Service led
one daughter into the EMS arena during college and the other into
the medical field.
_______________________________________________________
Sharon Brennan - Business
Manager
After years of
being a silent partner, Sharon has taken over the responsibilities
of scheduling classes, logistics and developing new business
opportunities. Sharon's skill with a calendar has made CERTS a
vibrant organization that can react to almost any scheduling request
placed on her.
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Laura
Enders has been a volunteer firefighter since 1994 when she
joined the Honeoye Falls Volunteer Fire Department. She became
an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) the following year. In
1999 she was married and moved to Farmington where she now
volunteers as a Firefighter and EMT for the Farmington Volunteer
Fire Association.
In 1998, she
earned her undergraduate degree in Business and in 1999 received her
M.B.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Laura has
worked at the Monroe County EMS office since on the Health Alert
Network (HAN) Project as the lead person for the Distance Learning
focus area under the grant. She has taught several courses for
first responders via distance learning through this project.
She is now a Senior Health Project Coordinator at the University of
Rochester where she is adapting and creating distance-learning
courses for the Center for Health and Behavioral
Training.
Laura is a New York State EMS Certified Lab
Instructor and she has been teaching First Responders and Emergency
Medical Technician students. She became an American Heart
Association CPR Instructor in 1997. She is also an American Heart Association CPR
Instructor Trainer.
_______________________________________________________
Nancy
Hutteman graduated with a Bachelor
of Science degree in Health & Physical Education from the State
University of New York in Brockport. After
graduation she first taught for the City of Rochester School
District and then for the Webster School District. Nancy
enjoys the longest association as a CPR instructor with both the American
Red Cross and the American Heart Association of all
C.E.R.T.S trainers. Nancy took the first New York State EMT course
offered in Monroe County, and continues to be actively involved
teaching EMT students. She currently is also adjunct faculty for Monroe Community College .
Nancy is married and has two daughters and five
grandchildren.
_______________________________________________________
Paula
Karnisky took her degree from SUNY
Brockport in History and Social Studies. For several years she
taught for the Wayne Central School District. She has
volunteered as an Emergency Medical Technician since 1981 with the
Union Hill Volunteer Fire Department &
Ambulance, where she is also a Medic trainer. Paula
became an American Red
Cross instructor in 1990, and has also taught for the American Heart
Association for the since 2000. At the American
Heart Association Paula is an Instructor and an Instructor
Trainer. She has taught Emergency medical skills to EMT
students since 1995 and is currently adjunct faculty for Monroe Community College. While
Paula has no interest in sports, she does have an enormous rose
garden that occupies her spare time, along with a talent for sewing
and needlepoint. She is married and has three grown sons and
two delightful grandchildren.
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Karen
Kasprzak graduated with an A.A.S. degree from B.C.C. in Binghamton and works as a dental
hygienist. Her earliest memories include listening to the fire
scanners of her uncles. In 1994, with her children in school,
she felt it was time to volunteer. Karen has been an EMT at Penfield Ambulance since 1993 and is
a Certified Lab Instructor for First Responders and EMT
students. She also teaches the American
Red Cross Responding to Emergencies course.
Additionally she teaches CPR for the American Heart Association as an
Instructor and Instructor-Trainer. She enjoys time with her
family (including a twin sister, 3 grown children, a grandson, and 2
stepchildren).
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