#27 Ready for Anything: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Infection Prevention and Control

While none of us wants to ever need to call 911, the truth is, many of us will. It is good to know that emergency medical professionals are required to follow infection prevention and control best practices but that is not always so easy. This episode sheds light on the unique needs of the EMS professional setting. Hosted by: Silvia Quevedo, CAE About our Guests: Alexander Isakov, MD, MPH Dr. Isakov is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and the director of Emory’s Section of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine. He is also the Executive Director for Emory’s Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response. Dr. Isakov is on the American College of Emergency Physicians Epidemic Expert Panel. He is the EMS lead for the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) and is a designated Subject Matter Expert for ASPR TRACIE, with whom he led the development of the EMS Infectious Disease Playbook. He is the medical director for the Emory-Grady EMS Biosafety Transport Program. Dr. Isakov has an MD from the University of Pittsburgh and an MPH from Boston University. He completed his residency training at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and his EMS fellowship with Boston EMS. Dr. Isakov practices clinically in the emergency department of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA. Jill Holdsworth, MS, CIC, FAPIC, NREMT, CRCST Jill obtained a Bachelor of Science from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Biology and a Master of Science from Marshall University in Exercise Science. She began her career as a cardiac rehab therapist in Huntington, WV. Jill began working as an IP in 2009, obtained her CIC after 1 year in the field, and became a Fellow of APIC in 2016. Jill became involved in APIC in 2009 with the DC Chapter, becoming the secretary in 2012, President-Elect in 2013 and the President in 2014. Jill was the 2015-2016 APIC Emergency Management Committee Chairman and is currently the AAMI Protective Barriers Committee co-chair. Jill is a certified EMT and is certified in sterile processing through IAHCSMM. She is currently working in Atlanta, GA as the Manager of Infection Prevention at Emory University Hospital Midtown.