The Rescue Company 1

Dr. Benjamin N. Abo has come on board to be our new Medical Director & CMO. Dr. Abo started in EMS Mount Laurel EMS as a teenager in high school. After studying Emergency Medicine while working as a paramedic at the University of Pittsburgh, where he obtained his NREMT-P, CCEMT-P, and FP-C, he stayed on as faculty for the Center for Emergency Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Department of Emergency Medicine as a researcher and Coordinator of Education in International Emergency Medicine/EMS. He then spent some time abroad living in India just prior to starting medical school in the San Francisco bay area. Graduating with honors from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – California, he took time off prior to residency to start a non-profit in Africa aimed at decreasing maternal and neonatal mortality and trauma. He completed a  four year emergency medicine residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center – Miami Beach and Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, FL, while completing a fellowship in wilderness medicine through the Wilderness Medical Society. After residency, Dr. Abo completed an EMS fellowship at the University of Florida where he then accepted a full-time position. Throughout all of his training, Dr. Abo has remained clinically active in EMS FL-5 DMAT disaster team, FEMA/Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) Task Force 1 (FLTF1). He has also remained active as a paramedic with various services globally and continues to do research and lecture globally. This included being Assistant Medical Director for Hallandale Beach Fire Rescue prior to the merger, Primary Investigator/Medical Director for Venom 1 & Venom 2 Units, Associate Medical Director of Lake County Emergency Services, Associate Medical Director of Technical Rescue to Medical Director for Gainesville Fire Rescue, one of the only four instructors for the Wilderness EMS Medical Directors Course, Medical Director for Sanibel & Captiva Fire Districts, and honorary medical director of the Surfer’s Medical Association. Dr. Abo has authored numerous chapters including multiple chapters in Wilderness EMS textbooks. He currently oversees medical direction and consultation for a number of projects, services, EMS schools, and media production including Shark Week and Kings of Pain. He has a strong interest in anything EMS, toxinology/venoms, EMS for children, international EM/EMS, mentorship, resiliency and sustainability in emergency services, disaster medicine, educational and experiential processes, wilderness/austere medicine and technical rescue practices. Dr. Abo is an innovator in Emergency and Pre-Hospital Medicine, and we are ecstatic to have him as one of our medical directors and CMO.