The goal of my research is to improve the prehospital care of acutely ill and injured children. My specialties are pediatric emergency medicine and pediatric prehospital care.
I knew I wanted to be a doctor after shadowing a general pediatrician on an army base in Germany while in high school. I enjoy helping children, but I did not realize that I wanted to do emergency medicine until I was a pediatric resident. I love the fast-paced nature of the emergency department, taking care of acutely ill and injured children, performing procedures, and teaching residents and medical students.
My cousin was a firefighter and paramedic at a firehouse close to my medical school in Chicago. Her experiences opened my eyes to the difficult work of being a first responder and highlighted the variation in pediatric training and education for prehospital personnel.
I’m investigating the development of evidence-based guidelines for prehospital care of the pediatric patient and the expansion of pediatric continuing education for emergency medical services (EMS) providers. In addition, I’m interested in improving the recognition and care of child physical abuse patients in the emergency department.
My studies have specifically focused on the improvement of prehospital asthma management for children. My team and I implemented prehospital systemic corticosteroid treatment for children with acute asthma exacerbations in Southwest Ohio. In addition, we implemented a pediatric asthma severity measurement score with asthma management bundle to improve care in the prehospital setting. Lastly, I serve on many national and regional committees working to improve the prehospital care of children through prehospital research and education.
I am board certified in Pediatrics (2014) and Pediatric Emergency Medicine (2019). I began my work in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Cincinnati Children's in 2014.