Executive Director
Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council
Eric Epley is the Executive Director of the Southwest Texas
Regional Advisory Council for Trauma (STRAC) in San Antonio, TX.
STRAC serves 22 counties that stretch over 26,000 square miles,
whose membership includes 55 hospitals, 75 EMS agencies and 14
helicopter bases. Since STRAC’s founding in 1998, Epley has led
the growing organization through many initiatives, including
regional low-titer O+ whole blood (LTO+WB) in the field on over
50 EMS units and helicopters and the deployment of a regional
wireless electronic medical records (EMR) system that now has
over 3 million medical records. STRAC also has regional clinical
registries for trauma, cardiac, stroke and ICU care from 35
hospitals in South Texas, a 12-lead EKG wireless transmission system, and is a partner in the
National Center for Disaster Preparedness Ecosystem.
Mr. Epley also spearheaded the development of the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF)
program, which has field hospitals, AMBUS’s, ambulances, air medical assets, Infectious Disease
Response Units, TMORT and other response capabilities. One of the shining achievements for Epley
was the conceptualization, implementation and growth of the STRAC-ID PIV-I smart card
credentialing program for 8,000 physicians and 10,000 first responders in San Antonio and Texas
Epley is a Certified Emergency Manager with nearly 35 years in public safety response and
administration, a nationally registered paramedic for over 30 years and a licensed police officer for
13 years, serving as a tactical paramedic at the Branch Davidian standoff, the Republic of Texas
standoff and other high-profile Texas incidents. Epley served as a flight paramedic for San Antonio
AirLife for 10 years where he also received the National Flight Paramedic of the Year award in
1996. He responded to New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina as a Strike Team Leader on the Texas
Task Force-1 USAR Swiftwater team, and director of the Regional Medical Operations Center
(RMOC) in San Antonio for Hurricanes Rita, Dean, Dolly, Eduard, Gustav and Ike. Epley is certified
as a Type III Incident Commander and served as a Deputy IC on the Alamo IMT. He is currently Chair
of the Governor’s EMS & Trauma Advisory Council’s Disaster Committee, which develops hospital
and EMS response plans for statewide disasters and oversees the Texas Emergency Medical Task
Force (EMTF) Program. He is also a member of the TX Emergency Management Advisory Council
(TEMAC) and the State Health Dept Preparedness Coordinating Council.
Disclosure information not submitted.
Planning for and Managing Healthcare Resource Demand for Vulnerable Patient Populations (105X)
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
9:00am – 10:30am CT