Meet the Critical Care Transport Team
Jena Billig, BSN, RN, CCRN, CFRN
Jena Billig joined Abiomed in 2023 as a part-time critical care transport trainer assisting to cover air and ground Impella transport trainings. She has since transitioned to full-time to cover the western United States. Her goal is to bring education tailored specifically to air and ground crews so that they further hone not just their competence but their confidence in the Impella platform outside of the four hospital walls. Prior to joining Abiomed, Jena started her career in the Heart and Vascular Critical Care Unit at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where she developed her love of mechanical circulatory support. She assisted with ECMO cannulations and cared for ECMO, Impella, LVAD, balloon pump, transplant and total artificial heart patients daily. Jena worked as an ECMO Specialist and as a flight nurse for two programs in Colorado, where she utilized her experience in pre-hospital and CTICU to provide tailored cardiac outreach education to EMS agencies/Flight programs throughout the state of Colorado.
Shane Turner, RN, NRP, CFRN, FP-C, CMTE
Shane Turner joined Abiomed as a critical care transport trainer. Shane became a Flight Paramedic with Erlanger LIFE FORCE based in Chattanooga, TN. During his six-year tenure with LIFE FORCE, he was involved in multiple education projects and held positions of flight paramedic, instructor, clinical base lead and clinical practice coordinator. In this role, he served on a team responsible for new hire and continuing education for more than 500 flight clinicians. As part of the newly created Impella Transport Training Team, Shane will be helping with program development, adding more classes to allow for both virtual and in-person opportunities, and assisting in fine-tuning the curriculum for all transport training programs.
Catherine Smith, BSN, RN, NRP, CCRN, CFRN
Catherine Smith joined Abiomed as a part-time Critical Care Transport Trainer in 2024. In conjunction with her role at Abiomed, Catherine works for Ochsner Flight Care as a registered nurse and paramedic. Throughout her time with this program, she has worked extensively with ground, fixed-wing, and rotor assets managing critical patients in a variety of acute situations ranging from trauma and cardiac emergencies to advanced life support interventions. For several years, Catherine served as the Education Coordinator where she created and provided onboarding, orientation, team training, and continuing educational opportunities. Her role in edifying the scholastic achievements of the department aided in achieving CAMTS accreditation for the first time in the program’s history. Also, while at Ochsner, she has served as a longstanding member of the Rapid Response and Code Team. In her role with Abiomed, Catherine looks forward to sharing her experience with air and ground transport teams across the country while contributing to Abiomed’s mission of improving patient outcomes through innovative solutions and training excellence. She aims to ensure that clinicians feel confident and competent while using Abiomed's Impella technology in challenging transport environments.
Laura Smith BSN, RN, EMT-P, CCRN, CEN, CFRN
Laura joined Abiomed as a part time Critical Care Transport Trainer in September of 2024. Her passion for education and facilitating safe patient transports lead her to pursue this position. Prior to joining the Abiomed team, Laura has worked in various nursing specialties, where she has gained experience in trauma, emergency, critical care, and transport nursing. She began working as a flight nurse in 2019 and currently serves as the Clinical Base Lead for her program. As the Clinical Base Lead, Laura is responsible for providing administrative and clinical expertise for site-related activities of the medical air transport operations at her local base. She participates in quality assurance, continuing education, community outreach and improvement activities alongside regional clinical leadership. In addition to hands-on clinical expertise, Laura is dedicated to continuous learning and professional development, regularly participating in advanced medical training and simulation. Laura is passionate about education and is looking forward to supporting clinicians that care for and transport Impella-supported patients.
Matthew Plourde MS, BSN, RN, CCRN
Matt Plourde joined Abiomed in 2024 as a part-time critical care transport trainer assisting to cover air and ground Impella transport training. His goal is to find ways to overcome the barriers for patients to receive expedited cardiogenic shock support in rural communities throughout the country. Prior to joining Abiomed, Matt started the first 5 years of his career at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore MD, and later 10 years at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, WA, both in the Cardiothoracic ICU, where he developed his love of teaching mechanical circulatory support. He later managed the ECMO Program at the University of Washington Medical Center and developed the ECMO Transport program. He now works for UW Medicine's flight program, Airlift Northwest, as a flight nurse and educator.
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