Paul Pepe

Submitted by paul.pepe on September 20, 2009 - 17:32
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Personal Information
Last Name: 
Pepe
First Name: 
Paul
Professional Information
Place of Employment: 
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Academic Rank: 
Department Chair
Position: 
Chair
Other Positions: 
Director - City of Dallas EMS Public Safety, Public Health & Homeland Security
Undergraduate School: 
University of Texas HSC Houston, School of Public Health - MPH Health Services Organization
Medical School: 
University of California - San Francisco
Residencies: 
1976 - 1979, University of Washington - Internal Medicine
Fellowships: 
1979 - 1981, University of Washington - Respiratory Diseases and Critical Care
1981 - 1982, University of Washington - Trauma
Research / Clinical Interests: 
  • Clinical Trials of Interventions for Cardiac Arrest
  • Clinical Trials of Interventions for Trauma Resuscitation
  • Therapeutic Hypothermia for Pediatric Head Injury
  • Optimization of Ventilatory Techniques in Severe Hemorrhage and Cardiac Arrest
  • Interventions for Coronary Artery Syndromes
Recent Publications: 
  • Pepe PE, "Defending the rights of all individuals to have access to potential life-saving therapies and resuscitation studies - Food and Drug Administration public hearing on the conduct of emergency clinical research: testimony of Dr. Pepe:" Academic Emergency Medicine [www.aemj.org], 14:e51-e56, April 2007
  • Roppolo LP, Pepe PE, Campbell L, et al, "Prospective, randomized trial of the effectiveness and retention of 30-minute layperson training for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillators" Resuscitation, 67:276-285, August 2007
  • Eastman AL, Metzger JC, Pepe PE, et al, "Conductive electrical weapons: A prospective, population-based study of the medical safety of law enforcement use." Journal of Trauma, 64:1567-1572, June 2008
  • Klein KR, Pepe PE, Burkle FM, Nagle NE, Swienton RE, "The evolving need for alternative triage-management protocols in public health emergencies." Disaster Med Public Health Prep, 2 (Special Supplement):S40-44, Fall 2008
  • Miller AH, Nazeer S, Pepe PE, Estes B, Gorman A, Yancy C., "Acutely decompensated heart failure in a county emergency department: a double-blind, randomized, controlled comparison of nesiritide vs. placebo treatment." Ann Emeg Med, 51:580-582, May 2008
Significant Publications: 
  • Pepe PE and Marini JJ, "Occult positive end expiratory pressure in mechanically ventilated patients with airflow obstruction The AUTO PEEP Effect." American Review Resp Disease, 126:166-170, July 1982
  • Pepe PE, Hudson LD, Carrico CJ, "Early application of positive end expiratory pressure in patients at risk for the adult respiratory distress syndrome." N Engl J Med, 311:281-286, August 1984
  • Bickell WH, Wall MJ, Pepe PE, et al, "Immediate versus delayed fluid resuscitation for hypotensive patients with penetrating torso injury." N Engl J Med, 331:1105-1109, October 1994
  • Becker LB, Berg RA, Pepe PE, et al, "A reappraisal of mouth to mouth ventilation during bystander initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation." Resuscitation, 35:189-201, November 1997
  • Caffrey SL, Willoughby PJ, Pepe, PE, Becker LB, "Public use of automated defibrillators." New England Journal of Medicine, 347 (16):1242-1247, October 2002
Honors & Awards: 
  • 1994 - Appointed Emergency Medicine and Trauma Consultant to the White House Medical Unit (WHMU). Since 1994, assigned (and continues) to train and advise the White House physicians, nurses, physician assistants and other medical personnel, including the Physician to the President, in the latest EM and Trauma care advances and resuscitation techniques.
  • 2000 - Received Millenium-2000 Award from the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS). Awarded for life-time achievement and scientific contributions to the field of Critical Care Medicine worldwide.
  • 2005 - Recognized in the U.S. Congressional Record. Honored for heroism and life-time achievements in 9-1-1 emergency services, trauma care and disaster management.
  • 2005 - Received the National Emergency Medical Services Award from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Honored for life-time achievements and cited as the most accomplished Emergency Medical Services physicians of our generation.
  • 2008 - Elected to Mastership (MACP) by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Honored for life-time achievements and scientific and professional contributions in the field of Internal Medicine.
Biography

Dr. Paul Pepe, Professor of Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Public Health & Riggs Family (endowed) Chair in Emergency Medicine (EM) at UT Southwestern, heads an academic EM program of about 55 faculty & 70 residents/fellows based at the county emergency-trauma center, Parkland Hospital. He is also City of Dallas Director of Medical Emergency Services for Public Safety, Public Health & Homeland Security and is the jurisdictional Medical Director for the regional EMS system (about a quarter million annual 9-1-1 incidents, involving about 3,000 paramedics/first responders in Dallas and 15 surrounding cities) and Medical Director for special services for the DFW Airport, the Dallas Police Dept. and the Dallas Metropolitan Medical Response System for counter-terrorism and disaster mitigation. An extremely distinguished academician (over 400 published scientific papers/abstracts, including many landmark publications), Dr. Pepe has served simultaneously as a high-level municipal or state employee for over three decades. Renown for a grass-roots, street-wise style in planning, implementing and overseeing a systems approach to saving lives, both operationally and through clinical trials, his programs have resulted in some of the highest cardiac arrest and trauma survival rates worldwide. In addition to the Chain of Survival publication, he is known for his original measurements of physiological mechanisms (eg, Auto-PEEP), intrepid clinical concepts (eg, deferred rescue breaths in CPR), and ground-breaking clinical trials (eg, deferred IV fluids for trauma). Published years ago by Dr. Pepe & colleagues, these studies are now part of mainstream medical practice and research. Many of his numerous studies, injury prevention programs and media interactions have consistently affected public policy and legislation. Helping to set national priorities for cardiac and trauma resuscitation research, the NIH now has formally designated his EM program as a federally-funded resuscitation research center set to conduct 10 clinical trials over the next 5-10 years. He served as an assistant to the medical directors of the Seattle Fire Department EMS (1977-82), as Director for the City of Houston EMS System (1982-96) and as Commonwealth Emergency Medical Director for Pennsylvania under Governor Tom Ridge. In addition, Dr. Pepe has served for years as emergency medicine-trauma consultant to various entities such as the White House Medical Unit, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), FBI, NIH, network news organizations, and even the National Basketball Association Trainers. He coordinates the so-called Eagles consortium, a cohesive and highly-influential de facto coalition of the jurisdictional 9-1-1 (EMS) system medical directors for the nation’s 25-30 largest cities and pivotal federal agencies (eg, FBI, USSS, ATF, DHS, White House Medical Unit). An omnipresent global lecturer, he has won numerous health policy, community service, scientific, educational and professional society awards, here and abroad, including distinguished alumnus awards and a formal citation for courage and life-time public service in the U.S. Congressional Record. He was recently nominated ’Texan of the Year’ and was elected to Mastership in the American College of Physicians (MACP) for numerous lifetime achievements. Often featured on network news and prime-time broadcasts (e.g., Rescue 9-1-1 pilot, ABC News Nightline special, ’In the ER’, TLC’s award-winning, ’The Strongest Link’, and Larry King Live), he has been called a ’Mentor to Millions’ and an ’Advocate for the Injured’. When recently receiving an award in Washington, DC for lifetime achievements presented by then U.S. Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, on behalf of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), Dr. Pepe was cited as the most accomplished emergency medical services physician of our generation.