Dr. James J. Augustine began serving as Acting Assistant Fire Chief/Medical Director on August 19, 2008. Dr. Augustine appointment as Assistant Fire Chief/Medical Director was confirmed by the Council of the District of Columbia on December 16, 2008.

Dr. Augustine’s service in the emergency system spans 27 years. He is a Board-certified emergency physician who has experience as a firefighter, EMT, and medical director in Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia. He recently joined DC Fire & EMS after performing as Medical Director for Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, and Airport Division of Atlanta Fire at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
 
Dr. Augustine graduated from the Ohio State University, and then attended medical school at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He received his emergency medicine training through Wright State School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine. After completing a fellowship in Emergency Department Administration, he participated as a faculty member at Wright State University and Emory School of Medicine.

Having a strong commitment to emergency services and preparedness, Dr. Augustine has been a long-term participant in EMS leadership and disaster preparedness activities. He served as first chair of the Ohio EMS Board and as President of the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He chaired ASTM Task Group E54.02.01, which developed Standards for Hospital Preparedness.  He was Chair of the Health Care Section of the Atlanta Metropolitan Medical Response System.
 
Dr. Augustine is Executive Editor of the journal ED Management, a Senior Reviewer for Annals of Emergency Medicine, and on the Editorial Boards for the journals EMS and JEMS.  He has published numerous articles on emergency services, and participated in national and state leadership activities on emergency systems.

 

Rafael Sa’adah was appointed as Assistant Fire Chief of EMS on March 29, 2009. AFC Sa’adah entered the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department as a firefighter in January 1991 and has served in a wide variety of operational and administrative assignments. He is the first paramedic in the history of the Department to rise through the competitive fire officer promotional process and reach the rank of chief officer. AFC Sa’adah has over two decades of experience in emergency medical services (EMS). He has been a nationally registered EMT-Paramedic (NREMT-P) since 1991, and has served as a paramedic, paramedic preceptor, EMS quality assurance officer, and paramedic instructor. AFC Sa’adah taught as a paramedic instructor at the university level for many years, and counts as one of his proudest accomplishments the several generations of his former students who now serve as paramedic supervisors and in other leadership positions locally and nationally. His operational certifications include: Advanced Medical Life Support, Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Fire Service Instructor, Fire Officer, Safety Officer, and Hazardous Materials Technician. His incident management experience includes serving as EMS Branch Director for the Presidential Inauguration of Barack H. Obama, 1/18—1/21/2009, the largest planned special event in U.S. history.

AFC Sa’adah is a proud thirty-year resident of the District of Columbia and a product of the DC public school system and the District’s public university. He earned his bachelor’s degree in fire science administration from the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) in 1998, graduating summa cum laude, and received his master’s degree in public administration with honors in 2000, also from UDC. He is a graduate of the American Ambulance Association’s Certified Ambulance Service Manager (ASM) program and the George Washington University’s Certified Public Manager (CPM) program. AFC Sa’adah currently serves as an advisory member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) District of Columbia Committee on Trauma. Past appointments have included the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary’s Emergency Medical Services Commission (2006), and the DC Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration Fatality Review Committee Advisory Panel (2004). In 2000 he served as a subject matter expert on the National Fire Academy’s Management Science Curriculum Review Committee. From 1995 to 1998 he served as an operational firefighter/paramedic and hazmat technician on the Metropolitan Medical Strike Team (MMST), a multi-jurisdictional anti-terrorist task force with special training in nuclear, biological, and chemical counter-measures.

AFC Sa’adah has a particular interest in the nexus between public health and EMS, and in improving the efficiency and effectiveness with which the EMS system addresses community health needs. He states: “My sole professional ambition is to faithfully serve the citizens of the District of Columbia and the DC Fire & EMS Department. My goal as a leader is to continue the progress we have made towards achieving the Mayor and the Fire/EMS Chief’s vision for a world-class Emergency Medical Services system in the Nation’s Capital."

The recruitment and selection process for the new position of EMS Battalion Fire Chief was completed in May 2009. Four new battalion chiefs joined two incumbents to bring the total agency strength in this position to six. The Department created a new position of EMS Battalion Supervisor (Captain) and has increased the minimum number of on-duty EMS battalion supervisors from four to eight. The first-ever agency-wide competitive EMS supervisory promotional exam resulted in the promotion on September 27, 2009, of 37 persons to the position of EMS Battalion Supervisor, bringing the total current agency strength in this position to 41. There are now around-the-clock EMS supervisors assigned to each of the six geographic battalions, one in special operations and two performing system management at the Office of Unified Communications. Each of the four operational shifts is overseen by an EMS Battalion Fire Chief.  In addition to these 24-7 operational positions, there are several EMS battalion supervisors assigned to positions in quality management and on the staff of the Medical Director.

This group began meeting on 10/9/07.  The working group's efforts at addressing these issues are ongoing.