About the Division
UF Emergency Medicine faculty members, residents and fellows can participate in any of the division's field operations. For further information on participating, please contact us.
Current field operations include:
EMS Medical Direction
Faculty from our department provide EMS medical direction and training for a number of fire and rescue agencies, which include ground rescue operations in five Northeast Florida counties and ShandsCair aeromedical service. In addition, our faculty provide medical direction through service on the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Medical Advisory Council, membership in the Emergency Medical Auxiliary for the City of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and EMT and paramedic training agencies at community colleges.
Each emergency medicine resident completes a one-month EMS rotation, including interaction with fire rescue crews and aboard the TraumaOne helicopter based at UF&Shands Jacksonville. There are numerous other opportunities throughout their residency to become involved with EMS agencies and training programs.
Aerospace Medicine
The department of emergency medicine sends some of its UF physicians to every NASA space shuttle launch and landing at Cape Canaveral, Fla. This response team works closely with the NASA fire and rescue team in the event of a disaster requiring life-saving procedures. Before volunteering, each physician must go through NASA training on topics like space shuttle chemicals, hazardous materials, space flight physiology, astronaut personal protective equipment and escape scenarios.
Tactical Medicine
UF physicians provide medical support for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office SWAT team and several other regional teams. An attending physician is available to provide medical care to these teams 24 hours a day through a hospital telephone hotline. Emergency medicine physicians and tactically trained medics attend SWAT training exercises and accompany the teams on call-outs, high risk warrants, dignitary protection and other SWAT details. Our division of field operations provides training to its interested emergency medicine physicians through a tactical medicine special interest group.
Disaster Medicine
Along with nurses, paramedics and non-medical personnel, UF emergency physicians are part of a Disaster Medical Assistance Team. DMAT FL-4 was formed in 1998 as part of the National Disaster Medical System. Teams, now operating under the Department of Homeland Security, provide emergency medical care during disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, epidemics, explosions or other natural or manmade events. Their responsibilities include triaging patients, providing medical care and preparing patients for evacuation. In other situations, DMATs may provide primary healthcare or support for overloaded healthcare staffs.
Sports Medicine
Sports medicine has become a subspecialty of emergency medicine. The UF Department of Emergency Medicine provides sideline team-physician services for a number of teams and tournaments, including local high school and college football teams, national soccer tournaments, amateur boxing events, races and triathlons.
Shands Jacksonville, UF's teaching hospital in Northeast Florida, is the official medical provider for the annual 5K Gate River Run. The department's physicians are responsible for providing medical care to participants and spectators at this road race. Over 11,000 individuals run in this event and it is estimated that another 10,000 attend as spectators.
Emergency medicine physicians also provided medical care as part of the Shands Healthcare Host Committee-sponsorship of the 2005 Super Bowl. This involved providing medical services at all Host Committee-sponsored events prior to the 2005 Super Bowl.
Rapid Response Team
The department operates a Rapid Response Team consisting of emergency medicine physicians who are capable of providing on-the-scene emergency medical care. Typically, the team responds to scenes involving mass casualties but can also mobilize for individual rescues such as a trapped victim requiring field amputation. The department's team works in conjunction with TraumaOne helicopter service, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, the City of Jacksonville Emergency Operations Center and Shands Jacksonville.
Mass Gathering Medicine
Physicians from the department of emergency medicine provide medical support to special events and mass gatherings. While many of these may be associated with other events, such as sporting events, caring for the injuries and illnesses of the spectators requires unique planning and preparation. Such events have included the Jacksonville Air and Sea shows, University of Florida football games and the 5K Gate River Run.
Military Medicine
The department's physicians have the unique opportunity to learn about military medicine from medics-in-training for the United States Military's Special Operations Forces stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. These medics rotate through the department four times a year with the purpose of learning emergency medicine and trauma techniques from our doctors. In return they teach our physicians about military medicine and unique combat wounds.