Introducing our Scientific Committee 2027

We are proud to present the members of our Scientific Committee, representing international leading experts in helicopter emergency services (HEMS). Their combined expertise ensures the highest academic quality and relevance of the conference programme. The Committee is chaired by Professor Marius Rehn.

Dr Susanne Ångerman

Susanne Ångerman is a Finnish physician specializing in anaesthesia and prehospital emergency medicine, with extensive experience in HEMS. She is currently serving as associate chief physician for HEMS at Helsinki University Hospital. Her research has advanced the implementation of standardized protocols in the HEMS environment, ensuring that complex interventions, such as emergency anesthesia and prehospital blood transfusion, are performed with high safety and efficacy. She has contributed to optimizing on-scene times, increasing the first pass success rates of prehospital intubations, and improving the recognition of prehospital blood transfusion needs in non-trauma patients.

Prof Urs Pietsch

Urs Pietsch is a trained anesthesiologist and intensivist with many years of experience in Swiss air rescue as a prehospital physician and intensive care physician. He is currently Deputy Head of Intensive Care Medicine at the Cantonal Hospital St Gallen/Switzerland. He has an academic career in which he has conducted research on prehospital airway management, alpine air rescue, simulation in EMS and critical care. He is passionate about patient safety, prehospital care under extreme conditions – both in his research and in his profession.

Jari Huhtinen

M.Sc. in Industrial Management and MBA, Jari Huhtinen is the CEO of FinnHEMS Ltd and Accountable Manager of FinnHEMS Flight Services Ltd. FinnHEMS is a government-owned national HEMS operator in Finland. Together with the well-being counties operating university hospitals, FinnHEMS is responsible for prehospital critical care from eight bases across the country. In recent years, the effectiveness of HEMS in Finland has been an active area of research. As a result, a governmental working group has published a strategy document outlining future value drivers for HEMS.

Assoc Prof Mikael Gellerfors

Mikael Gellerfors is a senior consultant in anesthesiology and intensive care. He works as a HEMS Doctor with Dalarna Ambulance Helicopter, Stockholm Ambulance Helicopter and as an anesthesiologist at the trauma unit of Karolinska University Hospital. Mikael is associate professor at the Karolinska Institute and research director for the Swedish Air Ambulance. He has been medical director for several prehospital services and has served on multiple prehospital expert groups.    

Amanda Tijben

Amanda Tijben is Head of Flight Operations at ANWB Medical Air Assistance, where she has spent over 12 years leading complex HEMS operations with a strong focus on safety, innovation, and operational excellence. She began her career as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy, earning a Master’s degree in Navigation Technology and completing her flight training, before gaining experience in SAR, shipborne and offshore helicopter operations. Amanda brings expertise in PinS procedures, NVIS operations, regulatory frameworks such as Age 65, operational resilience, and crew composition, and is known for her creative, solutions-driven approach to continuously improving HEMS performance in high-risk environments.

Bernd Lang

Bernd Lang has a degree in Health Management and Health Science. During these studies he specialized in human factors and learning processes as well as on organizational behavior and management systems. Bernd joined ÖAMTC Air Rescue in 2005 and currently acts there as Training Director and Compliance Manager, focusing on the areas Training & Learning, Research & Development and Quality & Compliance. He is an Aeromedical Crew Resource Management (ACRM) trainer and chairman of the EHAC ACRM working group.

Jo Griggs

Jo Griggs is a HEMS Critical Care Paramedic and Head of Research and Innovation at Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) in the United Kingdom. Jo has led research and innovation into pre-hospital blood transfusion, emergency anaesthesia and survival in trauma patients. Jo served as an Associate Principal Investigator for the national randomised controlled SWiFT Trial and works in partnership with Higher Education Institutes to support clinicians in meeting their academic aspirations, contributing to pre-hospital research internationally and translating insights into improved clinical practice.  

Dr Leif Rognås

Leif Rognås is an anaesthesiologist with more than 15 years of experience from several different pre-hospital critical care services in both Denmark and the UK. He is currently working in a split role as Base Lead Clinician and Head of Development for The Danish Air Ambulance and as a Consultant Anaesthesiologist at Aarhus University Hospital. Leif holds a PhD in pre-hospital advanced airway management and is the Danish National Coordinator for The REBOARREST Trial as well as an associate editor for The Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine.

Prof David Lockey

David Lockey is a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesia. He works clinically in Bristol at Southmead Hospital and at the Air Ambulances in London and Wales. He has worked at London’s Air Ambulance for many years holding clinical, research and trustee roles in the organisation. Since 2018 he has also been National Director of the Emergency Medical and Retrieval Service in Wales. He is an Honorary Professor at Bristol University and Honorary Clinical Professor at Queen Mary University London. He currently holds the Gibson Professorship at The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Prof Marius Rehn

Marius Rehn is a consultant anaesthesiologist and HEMS doctor working at the air ambulance department and Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital. He is a senior researcher in the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation and a clinical professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo. He holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Southern Denmark and is Editor-in-chief of the Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine.