Ben Wasmund has been the Director of Operations at Lakes Region EMS since 2011. Prior to becoming the director, he held numerous roles within this organization including, EMT, Paramedic, Field Lead, Supervisor and Manager. Ben has more than 24 years of diverse experience in emergency medical services and has held positions in EMS operations in both paid and volunteer EMS organizations. He began his career in a small rural BLS ambulance service and through the years helped to advance this service to a combination full time/volunteer ALS system. He recently celebrated over 24 years with this department where he still works as a Paramedic. In addition to his volunteer and front line EMS experience, he has been a firefighter and has worked and trained in the Fire and Rescue arena including: Vehicle Extrication, High Angle Rope Rescue, Dive Rescue Operations and Tactical EMS. Ben brings his leadership experience as a Director and personal experiences of working at all levels of systems as a volunteer working for different EMS systems across multiple states.