The Department of Emergency Medicine is integrally involved with Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and is an essential part in the advancement of the highest standards of pre-hospital care. Several faculty members have special expertise and experience in various sizes and various types of EMS systems.
Dr. Jason Jones is an EMS fellowship trained faculty member who is our current EMS fellowship program director. He is also active at the national and state level. Dr. David Meurer has firsthand experience in EMS having formerly worked as an EMT, and then as a paramedic in both rural and suburban systems. He also acts as the department liaison and expert in the medical response to hazardous materials incidents, as well as agricultural accidents.
ShandsCair, is the premiere aero medical service in North Florida, and operates out of UF Health Shands Hospital. It has provided 30 years of service to the North Central Florida community, and has evolved with the demanding needs of the community.
Saving time in an emergency situation often impacts the life and death outcomes. ShandsCair provides critical care air and ground transport for pre-hospital and inter-facility patients. ShandsCair operates helicopters, fixed wing jets, as well as critical care capable ground ambulances. Opportunities to ride-along as an observer are available to those who rotate through the Department of Emergency Medicine.
EMS Fellowship
Emergency Medical Services is the newest subspecialty of Emergency Medicine. The EMS physician plays a key role in the prehospital healthcare system to create and update medical care protocols, train field personnel, perform quality assurance, advance EMS through research, and decide appropriate new equipment. University of Florida, in Gainesville is one of the first ACGME accredited EMS fellowships. Established in 2013, our fellowship is a one-year program which provides training in all aspects of EMS including patient care in the field, finances, operations, paramedic education & simulation, administrative services and EMS research.
The UF Health Department of Emergency Medicine is the centralized point for the EMS fellowship, residency program, educational conferences, and where many of the administrative meetings are held to make EMS care decisions for our region.
EMS Fellows have access to medical records and medical information, including digitalized imaging studies, discharge summaries, hospital medical records, and results of diagnostics studies such as cardiac stress testing, echocardiography, and cardiac catheterization. The UF Health ED serves the North Central Florida region covering the surrounding 13 counties and interacting with EMS personnel from over 16 different rural EMS agencies. Many of these agencies do not have extensive physician contact. This will provide our fellows with the opportunity to reach out to these rural EMS agencies to experience dealing unique rural issues, such as longer transport times and farm equipment injuries. Our fellows will interact with these rural agencies and surrounding rural hospitals to enhance education, communication and patient care.
Our fellows act as assistant medical directors for Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR). Alachua County is made up of rural and suburban areas with nearly 250 thousand people in a 969 square mile area, offering fellows a wide range of experience. Fellows are involved in the day-to-day operations of ACFR, as well as mass gathering medical care, such as UF football games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Our EMS fellows follow the standard curriculum set forth by ACGME, but our faculty is committed to optimizing the fellowship experience for each fellow based on personal interests. As a part of the EMS fellowship, fellows are encouraged to take an active role in molding and individualizing the experience by utilizing the multitude of resources available through the UF Health system. Opportunities range from pre-hospital medical education, critical care air transport, TEMS, simulation medicine, research, as well as many others. Over the course of one year, fellows are granted the educational foundation for academic success; meanwhile, given the opportunity and encouragement to have an immersive experience focused on personal and academic interests.
Critical Care Fellowship Program for Emergency Medicine Graduates
The Department of Emergency Medicine supports a critical care fellowship for interested Emergency Medicine trained physicians. The primary teaching facility is at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. The fellowship is multi-disciplinary with curriculum consisting of surgical, medical, neurosurgical, burn, and cardiovascular ICU’s. The goal is to develop a well rounded Emergency Medicine Intensivist capable of treating a critically ill patient with any variety of pathophysiology.