Speakers Circuit
Members of the cast of the South Arkansas Arts Center’s production of “The Addams Family, A Musical Comedy,” will be the speakers when the Rotary Club meets at noon on Monday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
Ken Kelley president and chief executive officer of ProMed Ambulance, will be the guest speaker when the Kiwanis Club meets at noon on Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church.
With more than 30 years in emergency medical services, Kelley has served as a paramedic, educator and emergency manager. He is a graduate of Crossett High School and received his bachelor’s of business administration degree from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. He obtained his paramedic education at Texarkana College and completed the EMS Management program at Rural/ Metro Corporate University in Scottsdale, Arizona.
His career has centered on EMS and emergency services. He is a national registry paramedic and is a professor of emergency medical technology serving as the EMS program director at South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado for over 25 years. He holds numerous credentials including advanced instructorships in adult and pediatric advanced life support, trauma life support, critical care, incident command and emergency management. He holds officer credentials through the National Academy of Ambulance Compliance and Coding.
Kelley was named the 1996 Arkansas Instructor of the Year and went on to place as a finalist for the Mary Ann Talley National EMT Instructor of the Year Award in 1997. That same year, he was named Outstanding Faculty by South Arkansas Community College and received the Outstanding Allied Health Faculty Award presented by the Arkansas Association of Two Year Colleges. His accomplishments in EMS education resulted in honors from the National Institute of Strategic and Organizational Development, University of Texas Austin in 1997.
He has served on many industry boards and committees and he holds memberships in state and national associations. Kelley is the past president of the Arkansas Ambulance Association. He served on the state’s founding Governor’s Trauma Advisory Council, appointed to his inaugural term by Gov. Mike Huckabee and was reappointed by Gov. Mike Beebe. He continues in an active role with the Southwest Arkansas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.