Katherine Elkins

Kate’s career spans three decades in Emergency Medical Services (EMS), disaster response, public health and injury prevention. Kate is the Director of the EMS Division in the Office of Health Security at the Department of Homeland Security. In this role, Kate has helped develop foundational policy and infrastructure for the DHS EMS system. The EMS Division provides educational resources, technical assistance and coordination of the broader DHS EMS system. 

Before this role, Kate was at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) office of EMS. Kate worked on the NG911 Grant Program and with EMS and 911 stakeholders on projects related to pediatrics, education, rural/tribal issues, mental health, workforce wellness and the COVID-19 response. She also collaborated with CDC and NIOSH on a study of suicide among first responders. Kate attended the federal working group on suicide prevention and the White House Interagency Policy Committee for suicide prevention as an EMS and 911 subject matter expert. Additionally, Kate was the Deputy Team Lead for the Prehospital/EMS team of the Healthcare Resilience Working Group (HRWG), which was part of the FEMA/HHS COVID-19 response. She worked on maintaining optimal EMS and 911 systems amid significant challenges.