On March 10, 2008 David Boyd, MD received the "Legends of EMS" award at the EMS Today Conference and Expo Closing Keynote Ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland. The award was developed to recognize the person whose impact on EMS has had the most significance. This selection was based on comprehensive voting by Journal of Emergency  Services (JEMS) magazine readers through the JEMS.com website over a two month period. 

Dr. Boyd started as a junior surgical resident at Cook County Hospital in Chicago at a time when there was no standardized way of evaluating incoming trauma patients. From 1970 to 1974 he started developing the "trauma concept", first with the Chicago Area, and later, as State EMS Director, with a statewide trauma network using a myriad of hospital / ambulance radio systems, specially equipped and staffed trauma centers, performance assessment tools, new advanced equipped and staffed ambulances and helicopters to transport critical patients from rural medical facilities to trauma centers in larger urban areas. 

In 1974, based on the Illinois success, Dr. Boyd was appointed by the President to serve as Chief of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW) Emergency Health Service (EHS) Division where he remained until 1981. DHEW was the forerunner of today's Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS). During his tenure, he traveled extensively throughout the United States to meet personally with local and state EMS leaders and promote regional EMS systems that would incorporate much of the same components that were a success in Illinois. Dr. Boyd envisioned a "wall-to-wall" seamless EMS system throughout the country which would evolve out of "seed" funding from DHEW. Much of these evolving systems would be built upon many of the successful local Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grants which had previously awarded start-up funding for effective VHF and UHF EMS radio communications systems in a number of major urban areas during the mid 70's. Boyd's Emergency Health Service Division still remains today as the only time in history that there was a single Federal office for the comprehensive coordination of nationwide EMS system development. A new President and administration came in and decided that Federal funding could better serve the Nation's communities through "block grants" which gave the individual states power over how it would be spent on health care projects. Dr. Boyd continued on during ensuing years as a highly respected medical consultant in the Nation's capitol and a recognized authority on EMS and health care delivery systems. Today, he serves as the National Trauma Systems Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services-Indian Health Service-Emergency Services in Rockville, Maryland.

Part of the Physio-Control Corporation sponsored award to Dr. Boyd included a $5,000 grant that could be donated to a selected EMS charitable organization of his choice. He selected the National EMS Museum Foundation, Inc. to receive the grant to help the organization continue its efforts to document and preserve our Nation's EMS history. Dr. Boyd currently serves on the Museum's Advisory Board and is considered to be one of our generations great EMS pioneers.  

MUSEUM WEBSITE 

The museum website continues enhancement as we add new items to the Virtual Museum and continue to grow as the Nations premier EMS history source. If you have a historic ambulance or EMS photo that you have rightful ownership to and are interested in having it displayed on the Museum website, please send me an e-mail at haztac (at sign) comcast.net. If you are interested in filling an open volunteer museum position, please see our Positions Open page. Thank you for your continued support of this very important EMS history initiative.

T. D. Bartlett, Interim Virtual Museum Director                                                                    

What does the name "Moby Pig" have to do with modern EMS?

From 1969-70 one of America ’s first mobile coronary care programs was developed at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center by cardiologist Dr. Leonard Cobb in conjunction with the Seattle Fire Department. A $450,000 Federal Regional Medical Program (RMP) Grant allowed the city to purchase and convert a 1969 Winnebago motor home into a mobile intensive-coronary care care (MI/CCU) unit and allowed 15 firefighter to be initially trained. The vehicle, affectionately nicknamed “Moby Pig, was staffed with a physician, two paramedics and based at Harborview Medical Center. Its on-board equipment included a Physio-Control Life-Pak 33 monitor/defibrillator and a Burdick 12-lead EKG recorder. The vehicle only responded to cardiac related calls and documented 31 patient “saves” during the first year of operation. The high success of the MI/CCU led to the development of the follow-on city-wide Seattle “Medic 1” program in 1971.