Executive Board

Chad Black

Chairman
At Large Board Member

Chad has been in Fire and Emergency Services for the past 36 years, including 17 years in Air Medical Transport Services.  Chad retired in June 2016 as Deputy Fire Chief for Hall County Fire Services after 31 plus years of service.  Chad now serves as the Director for Habersham County Emergency Services, where he over sees Fire, EMS and Rescue Operations for the county.  Chad worked both part and full time for 17 years with Air Methods Corporation, where he worked as a Critical Care Flight Paramedic, Georgia Business Manager, S.E. Regional Business Manager (GA, FL, SC, NC, AL) and in 2013 and 2014, as a consultant performing work in Corporate Business and Governmental Affairs across the country.

Chad is a Licensed National Registry Paramedic and holds instructor certificates in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basis Life Support, International Trauma Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Paramedic Preceptor. Chad also is a certified Hazardous Materials Technician and past Chief of the Hall County Fire Services Hazardous Materials Team. Chad holds over 17,000 training hours in both Fire and EMS (Ground/Air) related topics including Rope Rescue, Hazardous Materials, Incident Command, Emergency Operations Center Management and Rescue Systems to name a few.

Chad currently serves as Chairman for the Georgia EMS Association, Chairman for the EMS Region II Regional Trauma Advisory Committee as mandated by Senate Bill 60 that established the Georgia Trauma Commission.  In June 2010, Chad was appointed to the EMS Sub-Committee of the Georgia Trauma Commission for EMS Region II and serves on the Region II EMS Council. In 2019, Lt. Governor Jeff Duncan appointed Chad to the Georgia Firefighters Standards and Training Council. Chad also serves as Co-Chairman and Board Member for the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids, North Georgia Community Foundation and serves on the Advisory Boards for the EMT and Paramedic Programs for Lanier Technical and North Georgia Technical Colleges.  He is a past member of the Georgia Statewide Trauma Action Team, Statewide EMS and Trauma System Development Committee, Georgia Air Medical Committee, Georgia Emergency Medical Services Information Systems Committee and Advisor to the Fire Science Program at Lanier College in Oakwood, Ga. 

Karen B. Grabenstein

Vice Chair
At Large Board Member

Karen has been in EMS since 1993 and has worked both ground and air services. Having served on the board for the last eight years and currently as an At Large board member, Karen remains active in EMS in various capacities.  Karen currently works as the Director of Clinical Outreach for Community Hospital Systems.  Karen is a graduate of the 2013 Georgia Association of EMS Leadership Course. She is also a charter member of the Georgia EMS Leadership Alumni and the first female to have earned the GEMSA EMS Directors Certification. She remains active in the EMS community by serving on EMSAC, Region 9 EMS Council, and GA EMS Leadership Alumni Board. She began her career in EMS as a First Responder in 1993 and has held many positions in EMS throughout the years. She also serves as a professor at Columbia Southern University in the EMSA program. She and her husband Fred, live in Brooklet, Ga. with their son, Kaide. 

Bengie Cowart

Secretary
President - Providers Division

Bengie has been involved in Emergency Services for the last 33 years as an EMT/paramedic and has his Firefighter I and II. He currently serves as EMS Chief at Chatham EMS and continues to work part-time with the City of Guyton as a firefighter. Bengie has served as chairman of the EMSC for several years and remains a member of the council as well as the Chatham County EMS Advisory Council. Bengie is a graduate of the 2012 Georgia EMS Association Leadership Course. He is also a charter member of the Georgia EMS Leadership Alumni, and he earned the GEMSA EMS Directors Certification in 2020. Bengie is a member of Countryside Baptist Church where he serves as team leader of their Safety team. Bengie currently lives in Guyton, Ga with his wife Toni and daughter Makayla. 

Daniel Warren

Treasurer
At Large Board Member

Daniel Warren is a Nationally Registered paramedic, licensed by the State of Georgia.  He is a Flight Paramedic with Air Evac Lifeteam in Tift County, Ga and is also employed part time as a Paramedic with Thomas County EMS.  He enjoys making memories with his wife Lindsey and his two sons Noah and Easton.

Daniel began his career in public safety as a volunteer firefighter with Brooks County Fire Department in 2004.  He became a career fireman in early 2006 with the City of Quitman Fire Department after obtaining NPQ Firefighter I and II certifications.  By mid-2007, he was enrolled in a private, fast-track EMT-I program at the Regional EMS Training Academy.  He graduated the program as valedictorian.  After working for two years as an EMT-I, the decision was made to further his education in the field of EMS.  Daniel graduated as a paramedic in 2009, this time finishing in the top three in his class.

Daniel began working for Thomas County EMS as an EMT in 2009 while finishing paramedic school.  By mid-2010, he was promoted to Field Training Officer/Training Lieutenant. Through these positions, he has become licensed by the State of Georgia as a Level II EMT Instructor.  In addition, Paramedic Warren holds instructor certifications in multiple pre-hospital training programs.

Daniel served as a consultant with the Georgia Association of EMS as a course developer of the Basic STEMI Recognition and Management Course.  Since its development in March of 2014, he has participated in training almost 1,700 paramedics, EMTs, nurses, and mid-levels through the program.  He has also developed the Advanced STEMI Recognition and Management Course as a continuation of the initial course.

Directors Division

Robby Hill
President - Directors Division

Robby has been serving the citizens of Georgia for nearly 26 years. He began his career at Metro Ambulance Service in Cobb County for 2 years before getting the opportunity to serve in Bartow County for 16 years. Robby served in many capacities for Bartow and upon leaving Bartow was at the rank of Lieutenant. Presently he serves as Assistant Director at Floyd Medical Center Emergency Medical Services in Rome, GA. His career began at Floyd in 2008 and since being at Floyd he has served on many internal committees to enhance patient care and instill the lost art of customer service within an emergency service. He is one of the developers and present manager of Floyd’s Community Paramedicine Program that services Floyd and Polk counties. In 2016, he was a Class 5 graduate from the GAEMS Leadership Program and has since participated within the program for Class 6.  Robby is very proud to be awarded the opportunity to serve on the GAEMS Board.

Jeffery Denney
Vice President - Directors Division

Jeff Denney has been with the Coweta County Fire Rescue Department for 29 years. He has also worked with multiple ambulance services providing coverage for Coweta and South Fulton Counties. He currently serves as the EMS Director for his department, which includes responsibility for all EMS functions, to include their MIH-CP program for Behavior Health.   He also has the pleasure of currently serving as Vice Chair for the Region 4 EMS Council and serves as Region 4 representative to the EMSAC.