In January of 2000, Marco Villasenor moved from El Paso, TX to join Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS). Marco moved up the ranks and became a Field Training Officer and then Captain. For the last 7 years he has been a Designated Medical Officer (DMO) under the Clinical Performance Improvement group.

As a DMO, one of Marco’s key rolls is to evaluate the performance and provide CPR performance feedback for every cardiac arrest patient treated by ATCEMS. As a result of his work, Marco was awarded the Medical Directors Award in 2014, and he received a travel scholarship to the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium in Chicago of the same year. Through “Pit Crew” training and CPR Performance feedback, ATCEMS experienced significant improvement in compression fractions and resuscitation rates. Marco’s contributions in this initiative were instrumental in these improved performance measures. Today the DMO’s are part of the response matrix and are dispatched on high priority calls when they are closer.

Kyle Schutt is a Paramedic who has been employed with Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) since 2015. Kyle believes being a public servant is a rewarding job that requires hard work and dedication but comes with the knowledge that you have made a difference in someone’s life. Additionally, it is his belief that all members of EMS share a passion for going the extra mile for our patients, and that is what makes our profession special.

During Kyle’s three years at ATCEMS, he has received two Medical Phoenix Citation awards for confirmed cardiopulmonary arrest saves who were discharged from the hospital, and he has recently been promoted to the Medic II position. Kyle received his Paramedic certification from the University of Texas Health Science Center and his Bachelor’s in Exercise Sports Science from Texas Tech University.

Dena has been in public safety service for 23 years. She began her public safety career as a Police Dispatcher for The University of Kansas Police Department (Go Jayhawks!). During a ride-out while working at Southlake DPS for her EMT-B training, she answered the 911 call, dispatched the responding unit, and ended up transporting the patient with that unit and its crew to the hospital. Many only ever get to experience one side or the other of a 911 call; rarely both.

Dena has been a member of the Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) team since 2009 and is grateful to be employed by an agency that believes in the values of putting our patients and community first. EMS calls are received, triaged, and dispatched by ATCEMS Communications Medics, including delivery of pre-arrival treatment instructions. The Communications Medics’ role in the success of patient outcomes is considered equally as important as the treatment that the responding Field Medics provide. This is part of our “Zero-Second Response” model, in that at the moment a call for EMS assistance comes into our call center, our community is speaking to an ATCEMS Medic at the “zero-second.”

In addition to reading and taking walks along the beach, Dena loves to quilt for her grandkids, Kaden, Brooklynn, Emma, Tristan, and now baby Peyton… please no more for now, I need to get caught up!

Brendan Cluskey emigrated to the United States of America from Dublin, Ireland. Since arriving, he has dedicated himself to giving back to the nation that has so warmly welcomed him. “I feel that I owe a great debt of gratitude to America, so helping others in their times of need just feels like the right thing to do,” he says.

Since joining Austin-Travis County EMS in October of 2010, Brendan has excelled in all areas of Paramedicine and has now enthusiastically taken on the challenging role of Field Training Officer. During his time in Austin, Brendan has received many accolades and awards, most notably The Meritorious Service Award for bravery in 2014.

Brendan greatly enjoys family time with his wife, Joanne, and daughter, Isabel.