Ray Carter, Interim Fire Chief

Chief Carter arrived to lead the operational arm of Boynton Beach Fire Rescue on July 31, 2004 bringing with him 32 years of service and expertise both as firefighter and Fire Chief. With his Associates degree in Business Administration already in hand, Chief Carter was originally hired as a firefighter in November of 1972, and worked his way through the ranks, while earning his Bachelors in Public Administration, to become Fire Chief for the City of West Palm Beach Fire Department on April 1, 2001.

Though not an "April Fools" joke, becoming Chief on such a day, Chief Carter does, in fact, proudly represent Boynton Beach Fire Rescue as our ranking member of "F.O.O.L.S." or the "Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society"-an internationally respected brotherhood of firefighters (historically referred to as "leatherheads" for the old-style fire helmets they wore which happened to be fashioned out of heavy, durable and WATER-RESISTANT leather) who formed a network of communication and support for one another and their families. In time of need, any firefighter (or his/her fellow firefighters on his behalf) can call on the "F.O.O.L.S." and know that other firefighters, Chief Ray Carter among them, will organize and mobilize to come to the aid of one of their own.

After more than 38 years in service, and with a wealth of knowledge and leadership experience, Chief Carter retired from the City of West Palm Beach Fire Department in July of 2004 and brought to Boynton Beach those skills that will now even further elevate the level of skill and training put forth throughout this department.

Ray Altman, Division Chief of Training

Chief Altman is a happily married father of four. Born in Ohio, he moved to Florida in 1982. He became an Emergency Medical Technician in 1993 with the intention of becoming a Firefighter- Paramedic.

In 2005, then lieutenant Altman was awarded the "hat trick" from the City of Boynton Beach earning BBFRD's Employee of the Year, Paramedic of the Year, and he was also voted The City of Boynton Beach Employee of the Year. He was the first city employee ever to receive all three awards. He was chosen for these awards for his consistent commitments to, and accomplishments in education, service to the community, leadership, and his dedication to the fire department.

As Division Chief of Training and Safety for BBFRD, Ray has been an innovative leader. Receiving his certification in 2006, Ray became one of the first people trained as a Certified Live Fire Training Instructor in Florida. His Africanized bee emergency response training exercise was featured internationally via an Associated Press video news segment. He is a published author of emergency medical translation charts in Spanish and Haitian Creole. Ray is also an accomplished artist with permanent works on display at the Florida State Fire College Atrium.

Ray holds Associate Degrees in both Fire Science and Emergency Medical Services and is currently in pursuit of a Bachelor Degree in Organizational Leadership through St. Thomas University. He is also enrolled in the four-year Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Michael Landress, EMS Coordinator

Michael Landress has served with Boynton Beach Fire Rescue since October of 1998 and is currently the department's Emergency Medical Services Coordinator, in charge of our Paramedic program in all its many facets. Michael not only leads our EMS personnel through their licensing and re-certification processes, but is also responsible for compiling and publishing the department's EMS Protocols-it should be noted that these protocols are recognized for their excellence and have set the benchmark that many other fire rescue departments in South Florida will now aspire to.

In addition to Protocols and personnel, Michael is also in charge of medication purchasing and Inventory, equipment procurement that will keep Boynton Fire Rescue on the cutting edge of today's modern EMS technology and above all, Quality Assurance, making sure that protocols are executed to the satisfaction of Medical Director, Dr. Ken Scheppke as well as Chief William Bingham.

Michael holds Associate degrees in both Fire Science Technology and Emergency Medical Services. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree from St. Thomas University. He is also a Florida Certified Firefighter and Paramedic with additional certifications as a Florida Fire Safety Inspector and Fire Officer One. He holds memberships in the Florida Fire Chiefs Association, Palm Beach County EMS Providers, the Palm Beach County Partnership with Palm Beach State College and the Palm Beach County ER Nurses Forum.

Before you leave our website, please make sure to check out the latest addition of "The Encode," the official newsletter of Boynton Beach Fire Rescue which Michael has been creating and publishing since August of 2002 with the tremendous thanks and admiration of us all for his exceptional creative skills and his faithful dedication.

Stephen Lewis, MBA, CEM, FPEM
Emergency Manager, City of Boynton Beach
Community Relations Specialist/Public Information Officer

Stephen Lewis serves as the Emergency Manager for the City of Boynton  Beach, Florida.  He holds the professional designations of Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), as well as, the Florida Professional Emergency Manager (FPEM) designation from the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association (FEPA).  Stephen also holds an MBA in Crisis and Emergency Management from Florida Atlantic University and a BS in Communications Management from Syracuse University’s renowned
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Now serving as Immediate Past Chair of the Florida Association of Public Information Officers (FAPIO) following two terms as Chair and two as Vice-chair, Stephen has served on the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) since 2004 as a leader of the ESF-14 Public Information Officer Disaster Deployment Team.  His numerous disaster deployments earned him the Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Distinguished Service Medal in 2008. 

Stephen is a FEMA-certified National Incident Management System (NIMS)/Incident Command System (ICS) instructor, and he has also served as an instructor for the Governor’s Hurricane Conference and the Florida Fire and Emergency Services Foundation’s Emergency Services Leadership Institute (ESLI).  In addition to his emergency management duties, Stephen also works as the Community Relations Specialist and Public Information Officer for Boynton Beach Fire Rescue.

Dr. Ken Scheppke, Medical Director

Dr. Scheppke serves as Medical Director for Boynton Beach Fire Rescue, leading and instructing all State Certified EMS personnel who work under his license to practice emergency medicine in the field. 
Dr. Scheppke's extraordinary career began upon his distinguished graduation (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society in his junior year!  He headed south to the Medical Center of Delaware's Department of Emergency Medicine to complete his residency and served as Chief Resident until June of 1995.  He is a board certified physician with the American Board of Emergency Medicine and is currently the Medical Director of Emergency at J.F.K. Medical Center.  In addition to serving as our Medical Director, Dr. Scheppke also serves as Medical Director for Palm Beach Community College's Paramedic and Fire/EMS programs, as well as, MD for ATEC EMS programs.
As an administrator, Dr. Scheppke sits on the Disaster Code Committee and Quality Leadership Council at J.F.K. while in the past, he has been a member of the medical center's Continuing Education Committee and been Co-Chairman of Operation Heartbeat with the American Heart Association.  He is an American Academy of Emergency Medicine Fellow, has served as Vice-President of the Florida Academy of Emergency Medicine, is a member of both the National Association of EMS Medical Directors and Palm Beach County Medical Directors Association.
Dr. Scheppke's teaching career is equally as impressive being that he currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor giving clinical instruction to Residents, medical students, and Physician Assistant students at Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine.  In recent years, following 9-11, he has delivered lectures on "Weapons of Mass Distruction," "Smallpox" and "Anthrax."  Dr. Scheppke is also a member of the Regional Faculty and Course Director for Advanced Cardiac Life Support at J.F.K. and previously held the same position at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.  He has also been published numerous times throughout his illustrious career. 

Barkley Garnsey
IT/Communications
Coordinator
(561) 742-6335
garnseyb@bbfl.us

Amy McDeavitt
Administration
&
Finance Officer 
(561) 742-6333
mcdeavitta@bbfl.us

Ouida Hall
Administrative Associate
(561) 742-6329
hallo@bbfl.us

Merrie Anne Cromartie
Administrative Associate
Training
(561) 742-6335
cromartiem@bbfl.us