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The future of triage with Conrad Fivaz, MD

Rob Lawrence and guest Dr. Fivaz discuss heroes in headsets and prehospital emergency triage

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AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

In this podcast, host Rob Lawrence pays homage to our heroes in headsets in recognition of the recent National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and he also looks to the future of triage with guest Conrad Fivaz, MD.

Dr. Fivaz chairs the Council of Standards for Emergency Nurse Triage within the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch, the body responsible for the clinical governance of the nurse triage protocols. He fulfills the role of clinical director for Priority Solutions Inc. He is also a member of the IAED CBRN committee.

He held a position as associate editor of the peer-reviewed journal, “Annals of Emergency Dispatch and Response” and authored numerous original research papers. He co-authored the clinical triage protocols used in the ECNS system and implemented the system in many countries on four continents over a 20-year period.

Dr. Fivaz qualified as family physician in South Africa where his interest and experience in clinical triage medicine started when he worked as emergency physician in a busy tertiary University Hospital’s emergency department and flight doctor for the “Flight for Life” helicopter service while completing his master’s degree in family medicine. He worked as a family physician in the U.K. before relocating with his family to the U.S.

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Rob Lawrence has been a leader in civilian and military EMS for over a quarter of a century. He is currently the director of strategic implementation for PRO EMS and its educational arm, Prodigy EMS, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and part-time executive director of the California Ambulance Association.

He previously served as the chief operating officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority (Virginia), which won both state and national EMS Agency of the Year awards during his 10-year tenure. Additionally, he served as COO for Paramedics Plus in Alameda County, California.

Prior to emigrating to the U.S. in 2008, Rob served as the COO for the East of England Ambulance Service in Suffolk County, England, and as the executive director of operations and service development for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust. Rob is a former Army officer and graduate of the UK’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served worldwide in a 20-year military career encompassing many prehospital and evacuation leadership roles.

Rob is a board member of the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) as well as chair of the American Ambulance Association’s State Association Forum. He writes and podcasts for EMS1 and is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. Connect with him on Twitter.