Sarah D. Nafziger, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has become one of the first 195 physicians in the nation and the first at UAB to be board-certified in Emergency Medical Services. EMS became the sixth subspecialty available to diplomates of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, in 2010. The first examinations were held in October 2013.
EMS is a medical subspecialty that involves prehospital emergency patient care, including initial patient stabilization, treatment and transport in specially equipped ambulances or helicopters to hospitals. The purpose of EMS subspecialty certification is to standardize physician training and qualifications for the practice, improve patient safety, and enhance the quality of emergency medical care provided to patients in the prehospital environment and facilitate further integration of prehospital patient treatment into the continuum of patient care.
Nafziger is the assistant state EMS medical director for the Alabama Department of Public Health and the director of the UAB Office of EMS.