Long Serving Medical Director Retires

Dr. Roy A. Myers, the Anne Arundel County Fire
Department's Medical  Director for the last 36 year,
retires effective May 1st.

Dr. Roy A. Myers, who has served as the medical director of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department for the last 36 years, retires effective May 1st. As the medical director, he was responsible for overseeing emergency medical technician and paramedic training, assessing firefighters' medical performance in the field and implementing new techniques and equipment used by the fire department. He has also served as the medical director of the Anne Arundel County Police. 

For the first 35 years as the fire department medical director, Dr. Myers was an unpaid volunteer. It has only been within the last year that the county has started to compensate the medical director, driven mostly by the need to find a replacement for Dr. Myers, who has announced his retirement as medical director effective May 1st. A survey completed in 2013 showed that neighboring jurisdictions paid their medical directors between $97,500 and $145,000 per year. It is reasonable to estimate that Dr. Myers has saved the county more than $3,000,000 over the 35 years that he served in a volunteer capacity. 

Dr. Myers and his wife Gillian

Dr. Myers has many accomplishments which have improved the fire department's ability to serve the citizens of Anne Arundel County and also to act as a model for other agencies both statewide and nationwide. When Dr. Myers became the medical director in 1980, the highest level of medical provider in the county fire department was Cardiac Rescue Technician (CRT). This certification level provided advanced skills and medications for providers to give more critical care to victims of heart attacks and other medical emergencies. Under Dr. Myers leadership as medical director, county Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel advanced to the next level, becoming paramedics, which increased the skills they could perform and medications they were able to administer and significantly increased their training in other medical and trauma emergencies. These new paramedics were trained at the Anne Arundel Community College, where Dr. Myers also became the medical director of their paramedic training program. 

Anne Arundel County Executive Steven R. Schuh presents
Dr. Myers with an Executive citation.

In addition to moving the fire department EMS providers to the paramedic level, Dr. Myers has continued to bring advanced skills to paramedics and better care to the citizens. Examples include: 

• 12 Lead EKG Program- In the mid-1990's, Anne Arundel County was among the first in the state to begin using 12 Lead EKG cardiac monitors. This skill allowed paramedics to recognize more quickly when a patient was experiencing a heart attack and treat them more appropriately while also notifying the receiving hospital.

• Rapid Sequence Intubation Program- This program which was started in the early 2000s gave selected paramedics the ability to use advanced airway procedures and medications to treat the most seriously sick and injured patients encountered. Prior to its implementation in Anne Arundel County, the only other providers in the state providing that level of care were paramedics working on Maryland State Police helicopters

Fire Chief Allan Graves presents Dr. Myers with
a 50th Anniversary book and badge set.

• High-Performance CPR- This change in how cardiac arrests are managed in Anne Arundel County was implemented in 2010 and has dramatically improved the survival rates from cardiac arrest in the county from approximately 7% to more than 30%.

• Intranasal Narcan use by EMT-Bs and AAPD- The most recent improvement led by Dr. Myers is the use ofNarcan by fire department EMT-Basics and Anne Arundel County Police Officers to reverse the effects of opiate overdoses, including Heroin. Although the epidemic of Heroin overdoses has only started to gain attention in the media, the problem was identified by Dr. Myers long before. ln late 2013, Dr. Myers received approval from the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) for EMT-Bs to administer Narcan starting in January of 2014. This was followed quickly by giving the same ability to AAPD officers in March of the same year. In addition to saving lives, these programs have served as both state and national models, especially within law enforcement organizations.

Under the medical leadership of Dr. Myers, the EMS services provided by the Anne Arundel County Fire Department have continued to advance to meet the needs of the community we serve. Most of his work has been done behind the scenes and his contributions haven't always obvious to those who benefit from them. A luncheon was recently held recognizing Dr. Myers contributions to Anne Arundel County.

The State Medical Director, Dr. Richard Alcorta and Dr. Kevin Seaman,
Executive Director of the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical
Services Systems make a presentation to Dr. Myers. 

Dr. Myers addresses the group gathered for his luncheon. In the background is a
picture from his time as a surgeon and Director of Hyperbaric Medicine at Shock
Trauma in Baltimore.

Deputy Chief Timothy Mikules and Battalion Chief Jim Wilkison
make a presentation to Dr. Myers.

Dr. Myers and County Executive Schuh.

Jim Brown, MIEMSS Public Information Officer, and Dr. Myers.
Many of the pictures are courtesy of Jim and MIEMSS.