Emergency Medicine Chair's Office

Department Chair

Richard B. Schwartz, MD, FACEP 
Department Chair & Professor 
Medical School: Wayne State University

 

 

 

Prior Training & Experience: 

Dr. Schwartz is a 1989 graduate of Wayne State University School of Medicine.  He completed his internship at William Beaumont Army Medical Center and then completed his Emergency Medicine Residency training at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington.  He has extensive military operational experience.  He served with the 5^th Special Forces Group (Airborne) during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  He also served with the 1^st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) and the Joint Special Operations Command (Airborne).  Dr. Schwartz was Chief of Emergency Medicine at Eisenhower Army Medical Center before joining the MCG faculty and received numerous awards during his Army service including the bronze star and two meritorious service medals.

Specialty Focus:                

While at MCG, he has been instrumental in curriculum development.  He was one of the original developers of the National Disaster Life Support Courses.  These innovated courses such as Basic and Advanced Disaster Life Support (BDLS and ADLS) bridge the gap between numerous military and civilian groups that may need to work together during major disasters.  The courses have been taught in forty-eight states leading to the training of over one hundred thousand providers.  More recently he has worked with the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) on the development of standardized training for tactical emergency medical support.  He is very active in research pertaining to improving the methods employed in austere and disaster medical situations.  His relevant publications include three Disaster Medicine textbooks (editor) and chapters in three additional texts.  Dr. Schwartz has published extensively in the field with numerous abstracts and peer-reviewed articles pertaining to Disaster Medicine.  Dr. Schwartz was the Primary Investigator for the National Association of EMS Physicians in the Terrorism Injuries:  Information, Dissemination, and Exchange (TIIDE) project with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  This project led the standardization of  disaster triage within the United States.  He is also a medical device innovator and has developed a unique video airway management system and hemorrhage control device.  He holds eleven patents.