WashU EMS Physicians

WashU EMS Physicians The official page of the WashU EMS Physicians and WashU EMS Fellowship

Your WashU EMS docs in action this week:Early in the week, Dr. Siegler and Dr. Tan (St. Charles County Ambulance Distric...
08/29/2026

Your WashU EMS docs in action this week:

Early in the week, Dr. Siegler and Dr. Tan (St. Charles County Ambulance District) trained with the Missouri US&R medical specialist team, working through rope rescue and high angle scenarios.

Later in the week, Dr. DeFilippo and Monarch Fire Protection District ran a full simulation with the St. Luke's Hospital - St. Louis ED and CVICU teams for their prehospital ECMO program. Programs like this are built on reps; every simulation sharpens the handoff and shaves time off the clock when it counts.

Rope systems one day, ECMO circuits the next. That's EMS medicine in St. Louis!

Some highlights of WashU EMS physicians in the field this week! 🚑Division Chief of EMS Dr. Svancarek spent time with Nor...
08/23/2026

Some highlights of WashU EMS physicians in the field this week! 🚑

Division Chief of EMS Dr. Svancarek spent time with Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District, teaching and responding to calls alongside their crews in our newest addition to the fleet.

Meanwhile, EMS faculty Dr. DeFilippo provided physician coverage with the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency at the Missouri State Fair, staffing the DMAT field hospital; a fully functional emergency department on the fairgrounds with X-ray, point of care labs, and resuscitative equipment.

Prehospital medicine takes many forms: firehouse education, field response, and mass gathering coverage at one of the state’s largest events. Proud of the work our team does across Missouri.

Our EMS fellows Dr. Lord and Dr. Holton worked alongside WashU EM faculty Dr. Levine last night providing medical covera...
08/22/2026

Our EMS fellows Dr. Lord and Dr. Holton worked alongside WashU EM faculty Dr. Levine last night providing medical coverage for the Savannah Bananas game at Busch Stadium.

Our fellows get hands-on experience with professional sports and large event coverage (NHL, MLB), mass gathering medicine, and disaster response as part of their training.

We’re currently accepting applications for the WashU EMS Fellowship.

https://emergencymedicine.wustl.edu/education/fellowships/ems/

Doctors Holton and Kroll from our EMS division recently responded to a third-alarm fire in Jefferson County through our ...
08/20/2026

Doctors Holton and Kroll from our EMS division recently responded to a third-alarm fire in Jefferson County through our partnerships with Saline Valley Fire Protection District and Rock Township Ambulance District - RTAD.

They assisted with medical monitoring and rehabilitation for responding personnel and remained available to support patient care if needed.

We appreciate the regional agencies and personnel involved in the response. Medical direction is a partnership and we are grateful for the opportunity to train alongside the crews we serve and support them in the field when needed.

Congratulations to Missouri's EMS Physician of the Year, WashU's Dr. Melissa Kroll!!!The Missouri Emergency Medical Serv...
08/14/2026

Congratulations to Missouri's EMS Physician of the Year, WashU's Dr. Melissa Kroll!!!

The Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association recognized Dr. Kroll for her work as Medical Director of Christian Hospital EMS, a BJC HealthCare hospital-based service, where she directs clinical guideline development, quality improvement, and clinician education.

Dr. Kroll is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine, and a faculty member of the Division of EMS. Alongside her medical direction, she contributes to resident and fellow education and to the Division's quality and research work.

Statewide recognition of this kind reflects sustained and largely unseen effort: guideline revision, case review, teaching, and time in the field with the crews who carry out that direction. The Division of EMS congratulates Dr. Kroll on a well deserved honor!

Your WashU EMS physicians have been busy this summer!Over the past few weeks, our EMS faculty have partnered with our ag...
08/05/2026

Your WashU EMS physicians have been busy this summer!

Over the past few weeks, our EMS faculty have partnered with our agencies for a variety of hands-on educational experiences. These have included finger thoracostomy and prehospital blood transfusion simulations with Monarch Fire Protection District, as well as a live-tissue porcine lab through the WashU Institute for Surgical Education alongside the Abbott EMS Critical Care Paramedic Student Cohort.

Beyond education, our EMS physicians and fellows have also responded to multiple 911 calls this summer, providing on-scene physician support to our EMS agency partners.

In addition to our educational and operational work, our division has partnered with our EMS agencies to pursue more than $2.5 million in grant funding this summer. These proposals are designed to support innovation, strengthen regional EMS systems, expand educational opportunities, and help our partner agencies continue to grow their impact both regionally and nationally.

We’re incredibly grateful to our agency partners for their collaboration, trust, and commitment to advancing prehospital care. These partnerships make it possible to improve patient care, expand educational opportunities, and continue building the future of EMS together.

The work doesn't stop.Orientation month continues. Today Dr. Lord was at Rock Township Ambulance District - RTAD with EM...
07/17/2026

The work doesn't stop.

Orientation month continues. Today Dr. Lord was at Rock Township Ambulance District - RTAD with EMS faculty member Dr. Jeff Siegler, running high-quality CPR training with RTAD crews and training officers. They worked on a high-fidelity mannequin using a LUCAS mechanical CPR device and a Hamilton ventilator in CPR mode. 🫀

Dr. Lord is assigned to RTAD as an Assistant Medical Director for the year, working under Dr. Siegler, the agency's Medical Director.

That direct medical director experience is another piece that sets our fellowship apart. Our fellows help shape clinical guidelines, train the crews, and oversee patient care, along with the wider range of medical director work: things like 911 field response, Mobile Integrated Health, and prehospital innovation and research.

We are accepting applications for the 2027-2028 academic year. Learn more about the WashU EMS Fellowship: https://emergencymedicine.wustl.edu/education/fellowships/ems/

What does July look like for a brand-new EMS fellow? Mostly, it looks like the front seat of a response vehicle. 🚨July i...
07/16/2026

What does July look like for a brand-new EMS fellow? Mostly, it looks like the front seat of a response vehicle. 🚨

July is orientation month at WashU Division of EMS. Before our fellows dig into research, quality improvement, and medical direction, they learn the fundamentals of being a physician in the field: responding to 911 calls, working alongside crews, and getting checked out to drive with lights and sirens.

Emergency vehicle operations is its own skill; if you're going to show up on somebody's worst day, you have to get there safely first! Every EMS fellow physician gets a take-home response vehicle so our fellows can respond to medical and trauma emergencies 24/7, 365. 🚑

Today Dr. Holton rode with EMS faculty member Dr. DeFilippo at Monarch Fire Protection District, responding to 911 calls across the district. He also sat in while the Monarch EMS Captains credentialed several of the critical care paramedics in prehospital ultrasound.

Meet our newest fellow: Ken Holton, MD 🚑Say hello to Dr. Ken Holton, one of the newest members of the WashU EMS team!Ken...
07/16/2026

Meet our newest fellow: Ken Holton, MD 🚑

Say hello to Dr. Ken Holton, one of the newest members of the WashU EMS team!

Ken is from Palm City, Florida. He did his undergrad at the University of South Florida, earned his MD at Caribbean Medical University, and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, FL.

His interests are rural EMS, wilderness and tactical medicine, and prehospital blood and plasma, with a soft spot for point-of-care testing that catches sick patients earlier on rural transports.

What drew him to EMS? He loves that it takes medicine out of the hospital and into the community; stepping into a patient’s home when they’re most vulnerable, managing critical patients in the field, and being a physician outside the hospital walls. In his words, “there is an incredibly unique camaraderie that forms among crews working in the field.” 🚑

A few fun facts: Ken is a self-proclaimed coffee and energy-drink connoisseur ☕, an anime and sci-fi fan, and spends his off time on the jiu-jitsu mats, in the gym, or cooking BBQ 🔥.

Cold brew, jiu-jitsu, and now the back of an ambulance; welcome to the team, Dr. Holton! 👋

07/10/2026

WashU EMS Fellows Drs. Bryce Lord and Ken Holton completed their emergency vehicle training today. They will now have the ability to respond to calls with lights and sirens with faculty.

Our fellowship utilizes didactics, practical training, and supervised faculty/field response shifts to achieve safety and competency.

Special thanks to West County EMS and Fire for hosting our training each year! 🚑🚨

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