2025 Presenters
Whitney Brothers, RN
Whitney Brothers is the Forensic Nurse Coordinator at St. Peter’s Health in Helena, MT. She is excited to help bring education regarding sexual violence and strangulation to the Rocky Mountain Rural Trauma Symposium. While a Montana native, she graduated with her BSN from St. Catherine University in St. Paul MN. She then started her nursing career in Bismarck, ND working on a medical oncology floor. Whitney first discovered her passion for forensic nursing within the first year of being a nurse and started working for Central Dakota Forensic Nurse Examiners, a local non-profit in Bismarck, ND. She obtained the necessary training to perform forensic medical exams on adolescent/adults in 2016 and pediatrics in 2018. Whitney returned to Montana in December of 2021 when she was hired to establish and coordinate the forensic nurse program at St. Peter’s. She is proud to help bring these necessary services to the members of the Helena community.
Patricia Byrum Hanard, APRN-BC, MS, MLS聽聽
Patricia is Board certified as a family nurse practitioner with many years of training and experience in disaster life support, weapons of mass destruction response and diagnosis and treatment of multiple trauma injuries as well as WMD exposures.
Prior to retirement as a Major in the US Army she served as Medical Officer and Team Leader for the 5th WMD-CST where she received over 2000 hours of specialized CBERN training conducted by various agencies, including the US Army Chemical School, Defense Nuclear Weapons School, FEMA, National Fire Academy, EPA, Department of Defense, FBI, and US Department of Energy. Her real world experiences included being in New York during 9/11 and working with command staff in coordinating assets to New York, working with the FBI during several anthrax events and other WMD threats.
After her military career she served as planning chief and a member of the command staff as well as team leader for the AR-1 DMAT strike team where she deployed to multiple disaster responses including Katrina and several other hurricane events. She was a certified platform instructor for numerous venues for DOE and AMA instructing emergency response teams on medical effects of ionizing radiation, radiation detection, trauma care, and was lead instructor in the combat lifesaver courses taking her entire team to EMT status. She is currently a member of Team Rubicon, an international disaster response team, where she has qualified for international deployment.
Brooke Hyman, MD
Dr. Brooke Hyman is a board-certified obstetrician/ gynecologist currently located in Billings, MT. Dr. Hyman received her bachelor's degree in nutritional science and medical degree from the University of Maryland. She subsequently completed her residency training in gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University in Atlanta, GA where she also served as a chief administrative resident. Dr. Hyman worked in Georgetown, Guyana where she taught laparoscopy for the gynecologic surgeon before joining the Billings Clinic in 2023. She currently works with the Montana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MPQC) as well as the Montana Obstetrics and Maternal Support (MOMS) program to improve obstetric outcomes across the state. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, camping, and spending time with family.
Jason Johnson, DO, FACS, CAPT, MC
Dr. Johnson is a native of Winston Salem, North Carolina, but grew up in
Arvada, Colorado. Jason graduated Summa Cum Laude from East Carolina
University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry and a minor in Cellular
Physiology and Genetics. He attended The University of Health Sciences College of
Osteopathic Medicine in Kansa City, Missouri where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 1999. After medical school, he was a general surgery
resident from 1999-2004 at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in Spartanburg, South
Carolina. Following his general surgery residency, he completed a fellowship in Minimally
Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia in 2005.
In 2005, after completion of his Fellowship, Dr. Johnson was commissioned as a Major in the
United States Army and stationed at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss, TX.
While in the United State Army he was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in
2006 and 2008 as a trauma surgeon. Additionally, during his time in the Army he served as the
Program Director of the General Surgery Residency at William Beaumont Army Medical Center
from 2007-2011. In July 2011 he received an honorable discharge from the United States Army
at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In November 2017 Dr. Johnson accepted a commission in the
United States Navy Reserves, where he currently holds the rank of CAPTAIN and is the
Regional Director of Detachments – Expeditionary Medical Facility Bethesda. His military
interested are around prolonged field care and clinical guidelines.
Dr. Johnson resides in Arvada, Colorado with his wife (Jennifer), and three children (Jayden,
Josiah and Jillian) along with their two dogs (Gidget and Lucy). He is board certified in General
Surgery by the American Board of Surgery. He is the Senior Medical Director for Surgical
Specialties and Digestive Health for Intermountain Health Peaks Region where he covers
surgical specialties for the 8 Intermountain Health facilities located in Colorado and Montana. In
March of 2024 he became the Trauma Medical Director at Saint James Hospital in Butte,
Montana where he currently practices robotic, general and trauma surgery. He serves on
numerous leadership committees at local, regional and national levels. He is well published and
has established himself as a national leader in quality improvement, strategy and surgeon
leadership.
Andrew Laue, LCSW
Andrew R. Laue, LCSW is a psychotherapist in private practice in Missoula and Polson, Montana. In addition to the clinical work he does with individuals, couples and families, he supervises psychotherapists in the Western Montana region, He developed the training curricula called Dynamic Supervision, which is now taught regularly at the 91次元 School of Social Work.
In 2017, he won a National County Association award for his Secondary Trauma Group work with the Missoula County Attorney’s office. He then founded STAR -T, Secondary Trauma Activates Resilience Training. This unique training program seeks to create sustainability for human service professionals through the process of identifying secondary trauma that occurs from the intensity of human service work. He consults with many agencies about the complexities of sustainable human service work. These include First Step Missoula at St. Patrick’s Hospital, Montana Office of Public Defender, Riverstone Health, the 91次元, the United States Airforce and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe.
A leader in the LGBT community in Montana, Andrew has developed cutting edge interventions for diverse groups including his HIV prevention work with the MSM and IDU population, for which he won the Governor’s Award for HIV Prevention in 2003. A decade ago he was part of the development of the award winning documentary film, Red Without Blue (2007) which has become a founding document in the search for the equitable treatment of transgender people. He resides on the Flathead Reservation in rural Montana, and is passionate in his commitment to serve the Native American population in this region.
Terry Meissner, MS CEM
Terry Meissner, MS CEM, has over 35 years of experience in the WMD/ Hazardous materials and Emergency Services field. He retired as a Lt Col from the US Air Force where he spent the majority of his 23 year career working Nuclear, Biological and Chemical operations & issues.
During his military career he gained valuable hands-on and management experience working as a CBRNE/ Hazmat Specialist & Incident Commander at Hazmat scenes. His real-world experience includes over a dozen military and civilian aircraft crashes along with numerous responses to military CBRNE/ hazmat emergencies involving unusual chemicals, explosives or radioactive materials.
Terry is also a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Certified WMD Awareness, Operations, Technician and Incident Command (ICS) Instructor. He has trained thousands of Federal, State and Local First Responders over the last twenty five years across the country and overseas. He has also been a member of various Local Emergency Planning Commissions (LEPC’s) for the last 25 years.
Upon his retirement in 2003 he joined the US Department of Energy's Counter-Terrorism Operations Support Program at the Nevada Test Site as a Senior Counter Terrorism/WMD Specialist/Manager. He retired as a Senior Operations Planner developing emergency plans & exercises for Federal agencies involved in responding to Radiological and Nuclear incidents. He has a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice and a Master's of Science in Crisis & Emergency Management. He can be contacted at TMeissner@ESCgroup.us
Todd Mohr, PA
Todd Mohr is a Physician Assistant working at St. James Healthcare in Butte. He has worked in the Emergency Department at St. James for 15 years. Todd grew up in Deadwood, South Dakota and became interested in helping others as a teenager when he joined the Volunteer Fire Department at age 14 as a Junior Volunteer. He became an Emergency Medical Technician and worked on the Ambulance at age 16. He joined the US Air Force at age 17 as a Fire Protection Specialist and quickly rose through the ranks. Todd served primarily as a Rescue Crew Chief and was responsible for motor vehicle accident patient extrication, aircraft crash rescue pilot, and was assigned to the Space Shuttle Rescue Team while stationed in Germany. He completed the Air Force Physician Assistant Program 25 years ago and was assigned to Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, Montana. He thoroughly enjoys the opportunities that Montana provides his family to spend time together in their passion for golfing, skiing, and hunting. His other noted patient care experiences include serving as a SWAT Medic and on Helicopter EMS. Todd is the Medical Director for several Volunteer EMS Services in Southwest Montana and believes it is his way to “give back to his roots” which has allowed him to have the “most blessed career experiences in the world!”
Dave and Amanda Repsher
Dave Repsher is a critical care nurse and paramedic who worked on ski patrol, in prehospital care, intensive care and flights. Amanda Repsher is a critical care nurse and former paramedic who worked in prehospital, emergency, intensive care and trauma management. Dave was working as a flight nurse on July 3rd, 2015, when the helicopter he was in crashed in the hospital parking lot while attempting to take off. Dave sustained full thickness burns over 90% of his body and spent 397 days at the University of Colorado Hospital burn unit. Dave and Amanda currently reside in western Colorado where they own and manage a local ice-skating rink. They work continuously as advocates to improve helicopter safety standards and as burn survivor supporters, and they travel frequently to share their story. When they are not working as safety advocates, burn survivor supporters or overseeing their business, they find time to enjoy running rivers and hiking with their 2 dogs Koda and Lila.
Matthew Streger
Matthew R. Streger is a paramedic and attorney with almost forty years of EMS experience. Matthew is a Partner at the law firm of Keavney & Streger in New Jersey where he focuses his practice on the needs of EMS agencies and healthcare providers. He is the recipient of the 2018 New Jersey State Bar Association Health Law Distinguished Service Award, the 2012 Service to the Bar Award, and led his agency to the 2014 New Jersey EMS System of the Year Award. He is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. He is also a Principal at the consulting and education firm of EMSaegis, LLC.
Matthew has practiced law since 2006. He is a past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Health Law Section and a past leader in the Young Lawyers Division. Matthew has previously worked in EMS systems in New Jersey, New York, South Carolina and Ohio starting in 1986. He formerly served as the Executive Director of Mobile Health Services (EMS) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey, and as the Deputy Commissioner of EMS in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a member of the Panel of Commissioners for the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) from 2015 to 2020, and is a principal member of the CAAS 4.0 Standards Committee.
Matthew completed his paramedic certificate at the UMDNJ School of Health-Related Professions in Newark, New Jersey (1991). He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from the City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (1996), a Master of Public Administration Degree from Clemson University (1999), and a Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law (2006).
Matthew is an Adjunct Professor at Eastern Kentucky University and serves as an active EMS provider for the Cherry Hill Fire Department EMS in New Jersey.