Dr. Michael D. Gooch is an emergency and flight nurse practitioner and critical care paramedic with 30 years of experience in emergency and transport nursing. He practices at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, where he has completed over 1,600 patient transports during his tenure with Vanderbilt LifeFlight. Dr. Gooch is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. He serves as a regional director for the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners, is a member of the Publications and Education committee for the Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association, and serves as a column editor for the Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Air and Surface Transport Nurses, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the Academy of Emergency Nursing. He is the 2025 recipient of the Distinguished CFRN Award from BCEN.