The Department of Transportation appointed Ken Knipper, Kentucky State Director for the National Volunteer Fire Council and chair of NVFC’s EMS Committee, a charter member of the National EMS Advisory Council. The council was created to provide formal input to the DOT, which houses the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Office of EMS. The Office of EMS provides administrative support to the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS, which coordinates federal EMS activities and includes representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.

"I’m humbled by this appointment," Knipper said. "Over the past 30 years, EMS has emerged as an extremely important component of emergency response. NHTSA’s Office of EMS plays a vital role in executing federal EMS policy and I look forward participating in this process by representing the interests of volunteers to the best of my ability through the NEMSAC."

Knipper has been an active volunteer EMT for 25 years and helped establish EMS provision in his volunteer fire department. He represents the NVFC on the National Fire Protection Association’s EMS committee and has participated in numerous NHTSA Office of EMS initiatives, most recently in the EMS Workforce for the 21st Century project and developing "EMS 911 Guidelines and Protocols for Pandemic Flu."

The council is comprised of 24 individuals who represent a wide range of EMS functions and disciplines. Knipper was selected to represent the volunteer EMS community, which includes fire service-based and non-fire service-based systems.