Prehospital Behavioral Emergencies and Crisis Response

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS)

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) provides education and practice management services for orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals. The Academy also serves as an advocate for improved patient care and informs the public about the science of orthopaedics. Founded at Northwestern University as a not-for-profit organization in 1933, the Academy has grown from a small organization serving less than 500 members to the world's largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The Academy now serves about 24,000 members internationally.

Dwight A. Polk, MSW, NREMT-P-Paramedic Program Director, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Involved in EMS since 1975, and a paramedic since 1982, Dwight Polk is currently a volunteer paramedic in Maryland. He has held the position of Paramedic Program Director at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) since 1990. Prior to arriving at UMBC, Mr. Polk was a field paramedic and Education Coordinator at Acadian Ambulance Service in Lafayette , Louisiana.

In 1996, Mr. Polk completed his Master’s Degree in Occupational Social Work at UMBC; specializing in Employee Assistance Programs. As part of his clinical Master’s Degree, Mr. Polk participated in two specialized internships: first, providing psychotherapy to patients with head injuries at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore; and second, in an employee assistance program at the National Security Agency (NSA).

After receiving licensure as a social worker in the State of Maryland, Mr. Polk became active in the field of Critical Incident Stress, while studying under the mentorship of Jeffrey Mitchell, PhD, President Emeritus of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Mr. Polk is still an active mental health professional for two CISM teams in the Baltimore area, and is a Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) instructor for the Howard County (MD) Mental Health Authority and Howard County Police Department.

Since February of 2005, Mr. Polk has held a contractual position as a mobile crisis team (MCT) member for the Grassroots  Crisis Center in Columbia, Maryland. As an MCT member, he responds to various scenes to conduct crisis intervention for individuals and families, or psychiatric evaluations for emergency petition (72 hour emergency commitment).

Jeffrey T. Mitchell, PhD

Jeffrey T. Mitchell, Ph.D., CTS, Clinical Professor of Emergency Health Services at the University of Maryland and President Emeritus of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. He taught elementary school science for three years.  He earned his Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Maryland. After serving as a firefighter /paramedic he developed a comprehensive, systematic, integrated and multi-component crisis intervention program called “Critical Incident Stress Management.”  He has authored over 250 articles and 10 books in the stress and crisis intervention fields.  He serves as an adjunct faculty member of the Emergency Management Institute of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  He is a reviewer for the Journal of the American Medical Association and the International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. He has been honored by the Austrian Red Cross with the Bronze Medal for his work in Crisis Intervention. Dr. Mitchell is board certified in traumatic stress and credentialed as a Diplomate and a Member of the Board of Scientific and Professional Advisors of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress.  He has been approved as a Certified Trauma Specialist by the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists.  The United Nations has appointed him to the United Nations Department of Safety and Security Working Group on Stress.