Over the past decade, the Department of Emergency Medicine has significantly expanded its Division of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to oversee the medical care of the Nashville Fire Department and Nashville EMS, the Nashville International Airport, the region’s 911 Dispatch Center, Vanderbilt LifeFlight, Vanderbilt LifeFlight Event Medicine and Metro Nashville’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team.
With this growth, Jared McKinney, MD, has been named division director.
McKinney will further the academic mission of the division under the leadership of Corey Slovis, MD, professor and chair of Emergency Medicine, who precedes him in this role and remains medical director for the Nashville Fire Department, Nashville International Airport and the 911 Center.
“As our EMS division has grown, it is time for someone other than me as chair of the department to serve as this division’s leader,” Slovis said. “Not only is Dr. McKinney the most senior in years and in his role in our program, but he has all of the traits that one would want in a pre-hospital and in-hospital leader for the provision of emergency care. He’s both a great clinician and educator while at the same time being a superb administrator.”
McKinney was Vanderbilt’s first EMS fellow and is the longest-serving physician in the EMS division behind Slovis. In his new role, he will be leading a nationally renowned EMS division with six EMS board-certified physicians.
“I love working in the Emergency Department, but EMS has always been my passion and what I really love to do, so it’s a huge honor for my boss and mentor (Slovis) to ask me to assume this role,” said McKinney, associate professor of Emergency Medicine. “Everyone within the EMS division has played a huge role in our growth and success. None of this works without all of those people.”
Within the EMS Division, McKinney will continue to serve as associate medical director for the Nashville Fire Department and the medical director for LifeFlight Event Medicine.
Jeremy Brywczynski, MD, associate professor of Emergency Medicine, is medical director of Vanderbilt LifeFlight and serves as an associate medical director of the Nashville Fire Department.
Ashley Brown, MD, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, serves as assistant medical director of the Nashville Fire Department and Vanderbilt LifeFlight.
Evan Dingle, MD, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, is medical director of Nashville Veterans Affairs’ new EMS service. He also serves as an assistant medical director of the Nashville Fire Department and supervises the student rotation within the EMS Division.
Amanda Clouse, MD, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and assistant medical director of the Nashville Fire Department, works with the Metropolitan Police Department’s SWAT Team on tactical Emergency Medicine.
To coordinate these relationships, the Vanderbilt EMS Center of Excellence was created in 2015 as a central repository of Vanderbilt resources for the region’s EMS personnel. The center supports and augments current outreach and education efforts offered by areas within VUMC including LifeFlight, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Stroke, Cardiac and Trauma, in order to ensure collaboration between EMS and all service lines within the Vanderbilt enterprise. The center also serves as a source for EMS patient follow-up and education.
The center is led by Stephan Russ, MD, MPH, associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital associate chief of staff for Access; Brian Carlson, MBA, MHSA, director of Access and Patient Experience; and Eric Clauss, MSN, RN, EMT-P, as director. The center’s medical directors are McKinney and Michele Walsh, MD, assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics and medical director of the Pediatric Emergency Department.
“The only way we can improve patient care across the entire spectrum is to have good relationships with local EMS and to be engaged with them in areas of education and quality improvement,” McKinney said. “I continue to appreciate the hard work they do and the role they play in the continuum of care for the patient, and I look forward to continuing to develop the strong relationships between Vanderbilt and these entities in order to provide the best emergency care to our region.”
