Board of Directors
Justine Hollingshead, Chairperson
Justine Hollingshead is a Lifetime Member of Cary Area EMS and started as a volunteer in 1996. She has been involved with numerous non-profit organizations and is committed to community service. She is a certified Emergency Medical Technician in the state of North Carolina and has done medical service work regionally, nationally, and internationally in conjunction with the NC State Medical Assistance Team, Rex Emergency Response Team, and NC State.
Justine is an instructor for FEMA’s Until Help Arrives, Stop the Bleed, CERT, CPR, and other EMS courses. Ms. Hollingshead is also a certified Small Unmanned Aircraft System (drone) pilot with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Justine works full-time as an administrator at NC State University. She resides in Morrisville, NC with her wife Debbie, along with two furry legged children.
Andrew Baird, Vice Chairperson
Andrew Baird began his EMS career as an EMT and served as a volunteer with Cary Area EMS. He continued his emergency medical education obtaining Paramedic licensure, Critical Care certificates and eventually served as a paramedic, educator and adjunct Emergency Medicine instructor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Training Center Faculty with the American Heart Association.
His passion for serving others has led him to establish a critical care flight program, specifically helping those in need of long distance, highly acute medical transport; a program which donates many medical flights to sick children. He remains the program director for the flight team as well as its ground ambulance affiliate, AccessCare. Mr. Baird also serves on the Executive Board of Bahamas Habitat and is the North Carolina House appointee to the state’s EMS Advisory Council.
Mr. Baird is a proud NC State University graduate and avid aviator. He resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife Rebecca, son Hayes and golden retriever Finley.
Larry West, Secretary
Larry West, joined Cary Area EMS as a volunteer in 2000 after making the switch from EMS to Nursing as a full time career and realizing how much he missed the EMS community. Since joining Cary Area EMS Larry has filled multiple roles and has served on the Board of Directors for 15 years as both Secretary and Vice Chair.
He has worked in Emergency Medicine as a Paramedic, Emergency Medical Technician and Registered Nurse for over 30 years and has taught CPR, and ACLS. Mr West's volunteer service includes multiple non-for-profits and medical work in Ecuador and India where he lived with the Tibetan Monks for two weeks. Larry currently manages multiple specialty medicine clinics for Duke Health.
Larry and his wife Carolee enjoy spending time with their grandkids and hanging out with friends at Lake Gaston.
Christian Heinrich, Treasurer
Christian Heinrich is originally from Maryland and graduated with a degree in Health Science from James Madison University in Virginia. In 1996, he moved to North Carolina to work for NC State. Christian began volunteering for Cary Area EMS as an EMT and ultimately served as volunteer coordinator, full-time paramedic and Division Chief. Mr. Heinrich has facilitated training, taught classes, and traveled abroad to participate in medical mission trips in Ecuador.
After 27 years in EMS, he is extremely proud of the numerous volunteers he helped train who moved onto successful careers in EMS and other facets of healthcare. Christian is excited to continue the traditions of serving and educating his community in the next chapter of Cary Area EMS.
Liz Coykendall
Liz became interested in medicine when, as a pilot, she flew groups of doctors to harvest organs for transplant. She was able to observe a few of the surgeries, which made a strong impact, and changed her future career path. Liz retired from aviation when it was time to start a family. She was a stay at home mom for 8 years, raising her daughter and son with the help of her husband. During that time, she thought back on the experience she had observing the surgeries, and decided to move forward into a new career. When her youngest was school aged, she went back to school herself and became an EMT.
Liz started her career as an EMT with Cary Area EMS in 2013. She continued in school and became a paramedic. During her time with the agency, she moved up through the ranks, becoming a Field Training Officer, Lieutenant, and finally a Division Chief. She has served on the Board of Directors and is excited for the new vision and direction of Cary Area EMS.
John barile
With more than 30 years of service at Cary EMS, John is our longest serving member. John began his career in public safety in 1987 as a firefighter with the Morrisville fire department. In 1988, he joined Cary EMS and has been serving in one capacity or another ever since. In addition to his service with Cary, John is a member of the North Carolina DMAT Team, NC-1, and has deployed with the team dozens of times to all manner of disasters, including hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey.
John has degrees in Fire Science, Emergency Medical Science, Community Preparedness, and Disaster Management. John has been a field training officer and instructor for much of his career, and continues to share his experience with others.