Preparing for Pandemic Influenza: The Healthcare Perspective

Sponsored by: Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services

Forum Registration

Note - registration is free but seating is limited

Date - September 20, 2007 (add to calendar)
Location - InterContinental Houston (map)

7:30 am - 8:30 am - Registration & Breakfast
8:30 am - Opening Remarks
2:45 pm - Closing Remarks

Lunch is provided

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Panelists - David E. Persse, MD

David E. Persse, MD, Physician Director, Emergency Medical Services, City of Houston and Public Health Authority, Department of Health & Human Services, City of Houston

Dr. Persse's career in medicine started with ten years experience as a field paramedic and paramedic instructor in upstate New York and New Jersey. After receiving his pre-med training at Columbia University in New York, he then attended Georgetown University School of Medicine. Graduating with honors in emergency medicine from Georgetown, Dr. Persse then completed residency training in emergency medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California, one of southern California's busiest trauma centers and paramedic base stations. During residency, he was already involved in several key resuscitation and prehospital care research projects, including laboratory and clinical investigations of pharmacological interventions used in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS).

After residency, Dr. Persse completed a resuscitation research fellowship at the Ohio State University where he pursued several laboratory projects relating to defibrillation, invasive monitoring, ventricular fibrillation waveform analysis and neuroprotection, both during and following resuscitation. Dr. Persse was then awarded a grant from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and completed fellowship training in emergency medical services and resuscitation at the Baylor College of Medicine and the City of Houston Emergency Medical Services program. During this fellowship, he was instrumental in establishing and managing one of the world's largest cardiac arrest databases. He also became involved in studies regarding pediatric injury prevention, the use of warning lights and sirens, criteria for waiving resuscitation in the field and neurologic outcome after resuscitation from cardiac arrest. He continues to be actively involved in paramedic education, both locally and nationally. Dr. Persse has served as an examination writer and reviewer for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Following his EMS fellowship Dr. Persse became the Assistant Medical Director for the Emergency Medical Services system of Houston, overseeing field operations and clinical research trials. He then moved to California to become the Medical Director of the Los Angeles County Paramedic Training Institute, and the Assistant Medical Director of the Los Angeles County EMS Agency. In 1996 Dr. Persse returned to Houston to assume the role of the Director of Emergency Medical Services for the City of Houston. In May of 2004 he was appointed by City Council as Houston’s Public Health Authority. Dr. Persse is an editorial reviewer for the Annals of Emergency Medicine and Academic Emergency Medicine and he regularly participates in the Texas State legislative process for EMS activities. Dr. Persse served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians and as chairman of the Colleges’ EMS committee from 1999 to 2002. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the South East Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council and the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. In addition, he is a nationally-recognized speaker and has now become a familiar face at national and international resuscitation meetings.

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