Rapid Response Symposium

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Michael DeVita

Creator of Rapid Response Systems UPMC

Dr. Michael A. DeVita is a Critical Care physician and Director of Palliative Care at Harlem Hospital Medical Center in New York.

A graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine and their internal medicine residency program, he then trained in Critical Care Medicine in NYC before moving to the University of Pittsburgh where he rose to the level of Professor.

Dr. DeVita is the founding president of the International Society for Rapid Response Systems.

He is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. DeVita is most known for his work on creating Rapid Response Systems for UPMC, for which he recieved the Asmund Laerdal Award from the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

SYMPOSIUM CHAIR

Dr. Raj Ramanan

Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Patient Safety Officer, Rapid Response Team Medical Director, ECMO Medical Director

Dr. Ramanan is the medical director of ECMO and a staff intensivist in the cardiothoracic ICU at UPMC Presbyterian. As the Patient Safety Officer for the department of Critical Care Medicine, he also oversees the Medical Emergency Response Improvement Team (MERIT) Committee and Rapid Response Team as their medical director.

SYMPOSIUM CHAIR

Carol Scholle

MSN, RN, NEA-BC

Clinical Director of Transplant, Inpatient Surgery and Respiratory Care

Carol Curio Scholle, MSN, RN, NEA-BC is currently the Clinical Director of Transplant, Inpatient Surgery and Respiratory Care Departments at UPMC Presbyterian. Carol, a registered Nurse for 31 years and a Critical Care Nurse by background, has had a passion for in-hospital emergency response since serving as a code responder for many years early in her career. Carol has been a member of the UPMC Presbyterian Medical Emergency Response Improvement Team (MERIT) since its inception and has been co-chair of the committee for more than a decade. She has been instrumental in developing the framework for the “First 5 Minutes” program, which prepares staff for what to do while they are waiting for the Rapid Response Team to arrive, as well as the development of the dedicated Rapid Response Team Nursing Unit at UPMC Presby. Carol has spoken locally and nationally regarding the topic of Rapid Response and is a member of the International Society for Rapid Response.    

SPEAKER

Dr. Pual Phrampus

MD, CPE, FSSH, FACEP, CPPS

Medical Director for Patient Safety, UPMC Health System

Dr. Phrampus is the Medical Director for Patient Safety for the UPMC Health System and Director Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research (WISER). He is a Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Anesthesiology of the University of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine.  He is Board-Certified in Emergency Medicine, a certified physician executive and a certified professional in patient safety. Dr. Phrampus is a member of the esteemed academy of master educators at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Phrampus has been active in patient safety efforts throughout UPMC and serves on the Quality Patient Care Committee of the UPMC Board of Directors. He is the founding co-director of the Wolff Learning Academy created to enhance the development of quality and safety systems knowledge to the UPMC workforce. He has overseen the expansion of WISER capabilities in developing a distributive model of management for WISER as well as the satellites centers that have been deployed throughout the UPMC Health System to improve quality and patient safety.

Dr. Phrampus is a fellow and Past President of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. He served as a past co-chair of the planning of the International Meeting for Simulation in Healthcare. He is an inaugural member of the Editorial Board of the indexed peer reviewed journal Simulation in Healthcare. He serves in numerous leadership positions in global simulation and patient safety efforts through program committee leadership for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and serves on the editorial board of the journal Simulation in Healthcare.

Dr. Phrampus has traveled extensively lecturing and conducting simulation and patient safety workshops, demonstrations and assisting in proliferation of successful simulation start-up programs. In addition to the United States his education efforts have included Australia, China, Chile, Costa Rica, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tibet, and Singapore. He is a seven-year veteran of the United States Navy.