ORLANDO, FLA. -  Rick Slevinski, MD, FACEP, who served as president of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians (FCEP) from 1983-85, has been chosen by the Florida Medical Association (FMA) as the 2006 recipient of the Roy M. Baker, M.D., Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Provision of Emergency Medical Services by a Physician or Layperson. Dr. Slevinski was chosen for his extraordinary achievements and clear dedication to the practice of medicine.

The FMA House of Delegates established the Roy M. Baker Award in 1995, to be given to a physician or layperson whose efforts have greatly contributed to the protection and health and safety of the citizens of their community, or the state of Florida, either in preparation for or during the time of a natural or caused disaster. The FMA will highlight this award at the FMA Board of Governors & Council Days Joint Meetings, to be held Oct. 19-21 at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

“I am honored by the thoughtfulness of my colleagues for this recognition,” said Dr. Slevinski, who currently practices at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. “I have been lucky to work with many skilled people these past 30 years in the development of our field. We have developed one of the best EMS systems in the country, but we cannot rest on our past. We must continue to recognize new trends in patient care and use education to prepare our emergency responders. I hope to continue to lead, working through the EMLRC to develop new lifesaving education for America’s lifesavers. What I have done in the past is not as important as what we can do tomorrow. I want to thank the FMA, FCEP and the Roy Baker family, as I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Baker and I want to live up to the high standards he set for service to our society.”

Dr. Slevinski, a graduate of the University of Florida, has been practicing Emergency Medicine for more than 30 years. He was instrumental in leading the development of emergency and disaster response in Florida and the Nation. He has led numerous efforts to change and improve the EMS System in Florida. He taught one of the first DOT Paramedic courses in the 1970s, represented Florida in the first national meeting on Trauma Center development, and in 1980 led the first meeting on Trauma Center concepts and operations in Florida. He has remained active in Trauma Center development, helping to write and implement the standards we use today.

In the world of cardiac care, he was one of the first instructors for ACLS and he helped write the first law allowing the use of AEDs (automatic defibrillators) in the state in the late 80s, and then wrote the first training course for AEDs. He served the state as the Medical Advisor to the EMS Advisory Council in the early 80s and became EMS Medical Director of the State of Florida in 1988. In this role he became the field medical commander for our disasters. He was part of the leadership from Hurricane Andrew through Hurricane Ivan that developed our successful sophisticated statewide response to weather and man-made disasters. He served as one of the first medical directors of Florida DMAT-1, responding to statewide fires, hurricanes and other disasters.

Dr. Slevinski helped develop the concept of Medical Direction for EMS Systems. He was the author of the first course to teach doctors the principles of EMS Medical Direction. It was developed in Florida and has been adopted as the official training course of the National Association of EMS Physicians. In the 1990s he became interested in improving stroke care and led the statewide committee that developed the concept of using clot buster drugs for strokes and developing stroke care as a system response that starts with patient recognition and ends with timely care in stroke centers. Florida had the first statewide stroke care protocol in 1997 – years ahead of the nation. This evolved into our stroke centers of today. In 2000, Dr. Slevinski was recognized nationally by the American Stroke Association as the “Stroke Advocate for the Year.”

He has received numerous national awards. In 1990 the National Association of EMS Physicians gave him the Ronald Stewart Award for National Education. In 1996 the American College of Emergency Physicians named him the National EMS Leader of the Year, in 2000 the American Stroke Association named him Stroke Advocate for the Year and in 2004 the National Association of EMTs gave him the National Medical Director of the Year Award.

He has served as the President and Board member of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians, on the Board of Directors of the Florida Chapter of the American Heart Association and has spent the past 20 years developing the continuing education of our emergency responders, first as President of the Florida Emergency Medicine Foundation and then as President of the Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center.

The Florida College of Emergency Physicians (FCEP) represents more than 1,100 emergency physicians in the state of Florida. FCEP members represent the health care safety net of Florida’s residents and visitors. More than seven million patients seek care annually in Florida emergency departments. FCEP was founded on Oct. 15, 1971 and is headquartered in Orlando.