New BCoFD Medical Director Focused on Future of EMS
Dr. Jeffrey Nusbaum, an emergency physician at the University of Maryland Medical Center with extensive experience in volunteer emergency medical services, is BCoFD's new Medical Director.
The County Council confirmed Dr. Nusbaum's contract, a part-time agreement negotiated with UMMC, earlier this week. He begins his assignment with BCoFD on July 1.
Dr. Nusbaum replaces Dr. Andrew Pollak, who served as the Department's Medical Director for nearly 20 years and who left to accept an executive-level position with the University of Maryland Medical System.
The Medical Director is responsible for providing guidance to BCoFD's EMS clinicians: Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians.
Dr. Nusbaum said he expects to focus on use of data to streamline EMS processes; collaboration with partners including Maryland State Police, Baltimore County Police, the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center; the opioid crisis; and growth of BCoFD's Integrated Community Assessment Referral and Evaluation (ICARE) program, through with EMS clinicians identify and refer at-risk people to non-emergency resources.
A New York City native, Dr. Nusbaum moved to Maryland two years ago. He earned his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine and holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.
His extensive resume includes completion of a post-graduate fellowship in Emergency Medical Services from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and experience as Medical Director for various Pennsylvania fire departments; most recently, he served as Assistant Medical Director for the Baltimore City Fire Department.
Dr. Nusbaum joined the volunteer fire service while a college student in Pennsylvania and continued as a volunteer EMS clinician in New York State.
Baltimore County's combined Career/Volunteer fire service model is new to Dr. Nusbaum, who said he looks forward to evaluating the "entire process of EMS operations. We're going to look at the entire operation, from caller to delivery to the hospital and everything in between."