.png)
Emergency Readiness Conference
Speakers Corner
Welcome to the Emergency Readiness Conference Speaker Bios section. Here, you can explore detailed biographies of the esteemed speakers who will share their expertise and insights during the conference. Learn more about each speaker's background, experience, and contributions to emergency preparedness and response.
Joan Pachuta, Mental Health Strategies, LLC
Joan Pachuta's journey is marked by a relentless dedication to creating positive change in the mental health landscape. As a certified professional, she stands at the forefront of initiatives that contribute to building resilient communities and breaking down barriers to mental health support.
With a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding mental health and substance abuse challenges, Joan strives to bridge the gap between perceptions of mental well-being and physical wellness. Her work at Mental Health Strategies, LLC, reflects a commitment to providing valuable education, fostering a supportive environment, and empowering individuals to identify, understand, and respond effectively to mental health concerns.
Joan Pachuta has earned several certifications as a mental health instructor. Joan has earned certification to instruct Adult Mental Health First Aid and has taught several dozen courses. This program is managed, operated, and issued by the National Council on Mental Wellbeing. Her expertise extends to teach the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Family-to-Family eight-week course for the past seven years. This certification showcases her commitment to supporting families affected by mental health challenges.
Joan's qualifications also include graduation and certification in Critical Incident Stress Management, demonstrating her proficiency in managing and mitigating the impact of critical incidents on mental health.
Joan Pachuta has a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Elmira College
Gerald Beltran, DO : Preparedness Integration
Gerald Beltran, DO, MPH, MSIS, MSCJA, FACEP, FAEMS, works as a medical provider and clinical scientist with expertise in Emergency and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) medicine. Dr. Beltran has rendered aid and care to patients with medical and traumatic ailments in both the hospital and prehospital environments, with increased attention on improving patient care through healthcare integration. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia and a Fellowship in EMS (Prehospital and Disaster Medicine) at Emory University. He has been working clinically teaching residents, medical students, paramedics and EMTs, first responders, paramedic students, first responder students, and advanced practitioners about acute and emergency medical care for over 10 years.
Dr. Beltran started as an EMT over 35 years ago which fostered his admiration for the job that EMS clinicians do every day. His first career was as a police officer and he still works in that capacity. He currently is the Division Chief for the Division of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine at Prisma Health – Upstate. Prior to that he was the founding Division Chief for the Division of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine at Baystate Health in Massachusetts. He has the privilege of serving as a Medical Officer for the Trauma Critical Care Team with the National Disaster Medical Support (NDMS) under the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the FEMA USAR MATF-1 team. He has supported multiple EMS, Fire, and police agencies as their medical director. Additionally, he has helped develop as well as support several Tactical EMS (TEMS) teams, including in the north metro-Atlanta area and Hampden County Massachusetts.
Dr. Beltran’s work as an Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services physician specialist, has provided him with the opportunity to publish various topics of interest including environmental illness, bacteriology, improving prehospital safety processes and devices, risk management, facial injuries, and prehospital care. Most of Beltran’s focus has been interweaving prehospital care impact on Emergency Medicine outcomes. With years of experience in collaboratively integrating different key healthcare stakeholders in addressing emergency and acute care, he has been able to contribute this interest and experience in a research venue with prehospital (e.g. EMS, police, fire, first responders, public health, etc.) and academic colleagues.
Denise Kwiatek, Family Assistance
Denise Kwiatek is the Director of Pickens County Emergency Management and a South Carolina Certified Emergency Manager. She has worked in Emergency Management for over 16 years. She works collaboratively with all agencies in Pickens County, surrounding Counties and the South Carolina Emergency Management Division.
Denise is on the Executive Board for the Upstate Health Care Coalition. She facilitates the Family Assistance and Reunification Advisory Team.
Denise understands the importance of multiple agencies training and exercising together, she has written several disaster exercises to prepare agencies and first responders for real world events.
Denise has found her true calling which is training, planning and preparing for emergency responses.
James P. O'Neal, MD
Dr. James Patrick O’Neal, MD is a clinical professor at the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Institute for Disaster Management. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Davidson College and received his doctorate from Tulane University School of Medicine. He went on to work at Providence Hospital and went through flight surgeon’s training with the United States Air Force.
Dr. O’Neal is a Vietnam war veteran. He was a flight surgeon and flew F-100s with the United States Air Force. He then went on to work at multiple hospitals throughout Georgia. He was at Dekalb Medical Center from 1973-2002 where he was a staff physician in the emergency department and then the director of emergency medicine. In 2002, Dr. O’Neal began working for the Georgia Department of Public Health. He was the Georgia EMS Medical Director and became the commissioner in 2017. In 2019, he retired from the Georgia Department of Public Health. Dr. O’Neal became an instructor at IDM in 2020. He was at Dekalb Medical Center from 1973-2002 where he was a Staff Physician in the emergency department, Director of Dekalb EMS and the Director of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. O’Neal has received many honors and awards throughout his career. He was awarded a Bronze Star and the Pacific Air Forces Flight Surgeon of the Year award in 1971. He also won the Governor’s Public Safety Award, the Career Achievement Award, and many more.
Trisha Palmer, WCM/NWS
Trisha Palmer is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, a position she has held since 2019. The WCM is the NWS's liaison with external customers and oversees outreach and preparedness efforts. Additionally, one of the primary responsibilities of the WCM is to ensure that the NWS office delivers the highest quality weather related products and services to its customers and partners. As a WCM, she also provides high impact weather briefings and supports key decision makers in local, state, and federal government. Trisha has been in the NWS for 24 years, serving as a meteorologist in Little Rock, AR, Raleigh, NC, and Atlanta, GA, before moving to the Upstate in 2015.