Sepsis Recognition & Diagnosis in Prehospital & Rural Community-based Health Settings  

Marnie Doubek, MD, FAAFP

Lead Physician, Atlantic Medical Group

Dr. Doubek began her medical career in 2000, opening a private office providing quality primary care. She helped to build a successful, respected, family practice and in 2013 became part of Atlantic Medical Group. Today, Dr. Doubek is the lead physician in their Millburn, New Jersey office. In June 2014, Dr. Doubek found herself on the patient side of things. Her 11-year-old son, Zachary, developed severe sepsis due to an aggressive infection in his femur. Zachary survived, but she recognized the need to raise awareness and recognition of sepsis both in the medical community and in the general population. Dr. Doubek received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. She attended medical school at SUNY Health Science Center, Brooklyn and graduated in 1997. She completed her residency in family medicine at Overlook Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, Summit, N.J., where she was chief resident in her third year.

Oscar Casillas, MD

Site Director, US Acute Care Solutions at MLK Jr Community Hospital

Born in Santa Monica, CA and raised in Los Angeles. Dr. Casillas obtained a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. He completed medical school at UC San Diego before returning home to Los Angeles for Emergency Medicine residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.  In 2007, he joined the medical staff at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center.  In 2015, Dr. Casillas moved into a new position as Medical Director for the Emergency Department at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH) and helped open this new non-profit hospital in South Los Angeles.  Since 2015, MLKCH has quickly grown into one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Los Angeles County.  While at MLKCH, Dr. Casillas has been an active medical staff participant, serving on the Medical Executive Committee and numerous other clinical committees. Dr. Casillas is married with four children and has also enjoyed coaching sports at the youth and high school levels for the past 20 years. 

Rommie L. Duckworth, BS, LP 

Captain, EMS Coordinator, Ridgefield (CT) Fire Department

Rom Duckworth is a dedicated emergency responder, author, and educator with more than thirty years of experience working in career and volunteer fire departments, hospital healthcare systems, and private emergency medical services. Recipient of the American Red Cross Hero award, Sepsis Alliance Sepsis Hero award, and the EMS 10 Innovators award in addition to numerous awards and citations for excellence in education and dedication to service, Rom is currently a career fire Captain and paramedic EMS Coordinator for Ridgefield (CT) Fire Department and Founder of the New England Center for Rescue and Emergency Medicine. An Advisory Board member for the Sepsis Alliance, Rom is the author of chapters in more than a dozen EMS, fire, rescue, and medical textbooks as well as over 100 published articles in fire and EMS journals, magazines, and websites Rom is an international leader in emergency services education. 

Kevin Omilusik, MD, CHCQM-PhysAdv

Medical Director, Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital

Dr Kevin Omilusik, MD, CHCQM-PhysAdv is a Board Certified, Emergency Medicine physician. He completed medical school at University of North Dakota and Emergency Medicine Residency at Butterworth Hospital (now Spectrum) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Following residency in 1998, he moved to Traverse City where he served as physician, Regional EMS Director, Emergency Department Chairman, and then Director of Emergency Services. In this capacity, in 2011 he developed protocols and processes necessary to open Munson Medical Center’s first dedicated Observation Unit. This required an increased understanding of insurance, reimbursement, inpatient case management, hospital operations and throughput. In 2015 he became a Physician Advisor for Patient Care Management and over the next year obtained Certification in Health Care Quality and Management with sub-specialty certification as a Physician Advisor. In 2018 he transitioned to Chief Medical Officer for Munson Medical Center. After 3 years in this position, he accepted a position as Medical Director of System Transfers and Physician Advisor Services for Munson Healthcare’s nine hospital system. He currently practices and serves as Medical Director at Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital, a critical access hospital 45 minutes west of Traverse City. In his leisure time he is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys ultrarunning, biking, backpacking, travel and pretty much anything that involves being in the woods. 

Recognizing Sepsis in Children

Charles Macias, MD, MPH

Chief Quality Officer and Vice Chair of Quality, Division Chief, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals/ Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospitals 

Dr. Charles Macias is a pediatric emergency medicine physician and improvement scientist. He is a graduate of Stanford University, Southwestern Medical School, and the University of Texas School of Public Health. He is the Chief Quality Officer and Vice Chair of Quality for the University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s system of care and Division Chief for Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Dr. Macias is a co-chair of the Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes quality improvement collaborative of the Children’s Hospital Association—a collaborative of over 54 institutions that has decreased mortality from pediatric sepsis nationally. He has led or co-led other quality improvement collaboratives focused on emergency care diagnosis and management of pediatric sepsis with the American Academy of pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association of Texas, and the Children’s Hospital Association. He has served on numerous committees at the local, regional, and national level focused on improving the detection and evidence behind quantifying sepsis. The most recent was sponsored by the CDC in order to elucidate a strategy for surveillance definitions of pediatric sepsis. He has co-authored numerous publications, numerous book chapters, and co-edited a textbook of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Additionally, he is the co-director of one of the two national Pediatric Disaster Centers of Excellence funded by the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. He also serves as the executive director of the national Emergency Medical Services for Children Innovation and Improvement Center, utilizing improvement science to drive better outcomes across the emergency services continuum of care. He serves in the subspecialty seat on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the largest pediatric professional society with over 65,000 members.