Experience and Accomplishments

After immigrating from Colombia in 1992 I started my career in fire and EMS a year later by becoming an EMT. I later become a paramedic and got a job with a private ambulance company. The long hours in an ambulance and the limited pay and benefits, encouraged me to go to the fire academy. In 1997 I became a State of Florida certified paramedic as well as firefighter. I applied for a job at the Coral Springs – Parkland Fire Department. It was clear to me very early in my tenure that the CSPFD was a small agency with a huge number of needs, but there was great potential to become a top-rated fire department in the State of Florida. Although others used the CSPFD as a stepping-stone that could help them get a better job at a large and better established agency, I quickly made the decision to stay and get myself involved in the development of what I saw as a future powerhouse of both fire and emergency medical services.  My motivator was the prospect of one day becoming someone who could effect change and be part of the transformation of this young fire department, the South Florida Region and hopefully The State of Florida.

In June of 1995 I took and passed the National Registry of EMT-Paramedics. I have maintained my NREMT-Paramedic certification for 26 years now. In November of 2000 I obtained my certification as Apparatus Driver Engineer and Aerial Driver Engineer. This would help me obtain an officer’s position in the fire service. Taking advantage of the City of Coral Springs’ education reimbursement opportunities, I was able to finish college and got my bachelor’s degree in Professional Management from Nova South Eastern University with minors in fire science and EMS administration in 2000. In October of 2001 I completed the series for State of Florida Municipal Fire Officer I. I was ready to be an officer and soon after I became a Rescue Lieutenant. Two years later I became a Captain in charge of one of eight fire stations and a crew of five firefighter paramedics.

In May of 2010 I received my Master of Public Administration degree from Barry University. At this point I met all the requirements to apply for a Chief Officer’s position. In April of 2011 I was promoted to Battalion Chief in charge of fire and EMS operations as well as administrative functions of one of three shifts. In June of 2012, the position of Assistant Chief of EMS became available, and I immediately applied knowing that that was the position I desired the most within my agency. Two years later I was reclassified to EMS Division Chief and I still hold that position today.

In February of 2013 I obtained the title of Designated Infection Control Officer. This immediately solidified my role as the City’s Infection Control Officer, which gave me the knowledge needed to confront the wave of infections to come like H1N1, Ebola and now the Covid 19 Pandemic.

In May of 2015 I established, with the help of many others The Coral Springs / Parkland Fire Department Community Paramedic Program. This has been one of the most innovative and forward-thinking ideas in healthcare, it meets the vision of The Affordable Care Act, Triple Aim Initiative, which calls for all healthcare providers to put in place models designed to improve the health of the population, at lower costs and with patient satisfaction as a strong performance measure. One experienced paramedic in an 8 hour day is tasked with conducting house visits to patients who traditionally have used the 911 system as their primary source of healthcare or for issues that are not necessarily medical emergencies. “The goal is to help our citizens make better use of available emergency services and find ways to add value to their lives by helping them stay healthy.” Many patients simply are not aware that there are resources available to them other than an already taxed 911 system. The CSPFD Community Paramedic Program has been working with a select number of patients from four main groups: 1. Patients who are frequent users of EMS 2. Special medical needs patients 3. Frequent fall patients 4. post-hospital discharge patients In 2017, under my leadership The Coral Springs - Parkland Fire Department Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) program was implemented. This model provides patients access to mid-level medical services using fire-based emergency medical service providers and mid-level local hospital providers (Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner ARNP.) The concept of a “fast-track” emergency room on wheels helps providers care for patients at home or in other non-urgent settings outside of a hospital, under the supervision of a medical director.

The CSPFD Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program, (MIH) was discontinued after the one-year pilot due to lack of funding by the insurance companies. This venture helped give birth to another greatly successful program: The City of Coral Springs Employee Clinic. In October of 2017 I reached the designation of Chief EMS Officer (CEMSO) by The Center for Public Safety Excellence. I have maintained this certification for the last 4 years. Throughout the years I have obtained a multitude of provider and Instructor certifications: here are some of them: BLS, ACLS, CPR, Handtevy, PHTLS, AMLS, EPC, PEPL, EVOS, GEMS, B-Con, TECC, PTEP, EMS Safety Instructor certifications amongst others.

In 2017 I met a group of firefighters and fire officers from Latin America who had traveled to Florida for a one-week course. What was initially a meeting to welcome them to our fire academy, quickly turned into a project that would take me to many countries in Latin America. From Mexico to Argentina, I have traveled providing support and education to many of our brothers and sisters to the South. Being fluent in Spanish and having practically had to “learn to speak” firefighter and paramedic in my native language made me an ideal, well rounded instructor that could present and speak in many parts of the world in both languages. For the past several years I have been invited to collaborate in local and international fire and EMS events hosted by schools, universities, hospitals, training centers, health department agencies, fire departments, ambulance companies, government, and private agencies all over the world. I started collaborating with NAEMT as a volunteer instructor. Initially teaching PHTLS and AMLS and later the many other courses in which I have achieved instructor status. These endeavors have taken me as far as all over The United States, several countries in Latin America, Saudi Arabia and Australia, where I’ve been invited to present at conferences and teach for NAEMT.

Since 2017 I have done collaborative work for several agencies with the goal of improving access to people all over the world to high quality EMS resources. • In 2017 I joined David Page from the UCLA Prehospital Research Forum in a project called the International Paramedic Registry (IPR). This project seeks to provide a worldwide standard for certification of prehospital and other medical care providers to three levels of certification: First responder, basic, and advanced (paramedic). This is achieved through the creation of a testing process, which assesses candidates in their cognitive as well as their practical skills performance as prehospital care providers. Successful candidates obtain their IPR certificate which makes them members of a community of EMS providers all with comparable knowledge all over the globe. • I was part of a multidisciplinary team of experts from several countries who worked for over two years in translating, updating and conceptualizing two extremely important EMS publications: The Jones and Bartlett Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured, EMT book. This publication was turned into the Libro de Atencion Prehospitalaria for students from all Spanish speaking countries. • I collaborated on updating, translating and conceptualizing The Prehospital Trauma Life Support 9th edition book to Spanish. I helped review several chapters of this book. In the end we produced the book Soporte Vital de Trauma Prehospitalario, which is now the standard publication for trauma education in Latin America and the world.

Some of the other certifications I have achieved through the years are: • Live Fire Adjunct Trainer. February 2011 • Florida Incident Safety Officer. February 2011 • State of Florida Fire Service Instructor III. Since October 2010 • Community Emergency Response Team Instructor-Trainer. April 2001 AWARDS Throughout my 27 year career in fire and EMS I have been honored and humbled to receive several awards. Here, I list some of the most significant for me: • 2017, CSPFD was Awarded EMS Provider of the Year by the Florida Department of Health • 2015, Issued the Cruz of San Miguel by the Colombian National Direction of Firefighters for contributions to the education and advancement of the fire and EMS services in Colombia • 2015, Assigned the rank of Fire Service Captain by the Colombian fire service • 2014, Designation of Chief EMS Officer by the Center for Public Safety Excellence • 2010 State of Florida Paramedic of the year, by the Florida Fire Chiefs Association • 2010 Chief Dave Foster Paramedic of the year award by the Broward County Fire Chiefs Association • 2009-2011-2014-2017-2018-2020 Awarded numerous Life Saving and Administrative Awards for outstanding performance on calls involving critical patients • 2009 City of Coral Springs, Florida Firefighter of the Year • 2009 City of Parkland Firefighter of the Year • 2009 North Broward Hospital District Paramedic of the Year • 2004, North Broward Hospital District Paramedic of the Year for contributing to the development of the Fire Department’s electronic reporting system and Quality Assurance program • 1997, North Broward Hospital District Paramedic of the year for involvement in the care of a critical trauma patient • 1985. Awarded the medal “United in Service for Peace” for military service while on commission with the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) Peace-keeping Forces in Egypt and Israel, performing surveillance, intelligence, patrol, and classified military operations in the Middle East

PUBLICATIONS Here are some of the most important research studies I have participated in as well as links to publications that mention my involvement in several EMS related matters: • Pepe PE, Rios S. Leal L, Cardona JC, McNally MA, Roach JP, Antevy PM. Safer delivery of aerosolized medications when dealing with COVID-19 and other contagious airborne viruses. Ann Emerg Med 2021:78 (in press). Abstract #20. Oral presentation (presented virtually) on August 4, 2021 during the Bedside Tools session (11:00 to 11:30 am Central) of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Research Forum Special Edition:COVID-19 sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC). • Kenneth A. Scheppke, MD, Paul E. Pepe MD, Peter Antevy MD, Michael Permutter, BA, Sebastian Garay, EMT-P, Juan Cardona EMT-P, Lazaro Ojeda, EMT-P, Charles Coyle, EMTP. Termination of Benzodiazepine-Resistant Status Epilepticus with Parenteral Ketamine Administration. Prehosp Emerg Care 2020. Presented by Drs. Antevy and Pepe at the Annual Meeting of The National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), January 12, 2020, San Diego, CA. (Friday, January 12, 2020 5:15 pm session) • Antevy PM, Scheppke K, Cardona J, Toolan S, Maraj S, Babinec F, Corona J, Pepe PE. Reducing 9-1-1 system over-utilization through a targeted community paramedic hospice referral program. Prehosp Emerg Care 2018;22:135. Presented by Drs. Antevy and Pepe at the the Annual Meeting of the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), January 12, 2018, San Diego, CA. (Friday, January 12, 2018 5:15 pm session) https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-coral-springs-house-calls-20160214-story.html https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/emsworld/article/12136069/responding-tothe-call-in-colombia https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/emsworld/article/1221426/parkland-sevenkey-lessons-2018s-deadliest-mass-shooting https://emsworldexpo2018.sched.com/speaker/juan_cardona.1xwjz4zi https://www.univision.com/shows/noticiero-univision/capitana-de-la-policia-que-atendio-eltiroteo-de-parkland-habria-ordenado-hacer-un-perimetro-en-lugar-de-enfrentar-al-agresorvideo https://www.tapinto.net/articles/elderly-couple-couldn-t-get-down-stairs-fire-departmentsent-her-to-the-rescue http://www.floridahealth.gov/provider-and-partner-resources/advisory-councils-stakeholdergroups/ems-advisory-council/_documents/florida-mihcp-guidebook.pdf https://www.coralsprings.org/Government/Departments/Fire-Department/CommandStaff/Division-Chief-of-EMS https://www.naemt.org/WhatsNewALLNEWS/2019/02/22/uk's-ambulance-today--- international-ems-standards-improving-patient-care-worldwide

AFFILIATIONS Here are some of my most important affiliations to fire and EMS entities and committees: • EMS World Magazine and EMS World Expo Conference Editorial Board • International Association of Fire Chiefs • Florida Fire Chiefs Association • Fire Chiefs Association of Broward County • Coral Springs - Parkland Fire Department Health and Safety Committee • Broward Health Coral Springs Hospital Cardiac STEMI Committee • North West Medical Center Stroke Committee • 2021 EMS Lighthouse Leadership Committee • International Paramedic Registry Project • Instructor and speaker at Monash University, Australia, PHTLS, AMLS and GEMS education project. July, 2018 • Instructor at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. GEMS education project. July, 2019.