Em. Med. Annual Report 2011 - Hennepin County Medical Center

Emergency Department at HCMC in 1971
disappeared but managed to produce leaders in
emergency medicine. Richard Levy, a recent
graduate, became its head in 1977 and
developed a strong education and researchoriented
department while putting community
dissatisfaction to rest. It remains one of the
strongest EM residencies in the U.S.
The news that a residency in Emergency Medicine
had begun at the University of Cincinnati was
reported in 1970 in a national news magazine.
Five new residencies in Emergency Medicine
began more or less simultaneously in 1971-1972
in these teaching hospitals: Los Angeles County
General Hospital; Hennepin County General
Hospital (HCGH); Medical College of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Louisville General
Hospital and the University of Chicago. The ERs
6 | Department of Emergency Medicine Activities Report | 2009-2010
were now called Emergency Departments (EDs).
Just 3 years later, 32 EM residencies were
in operation.
EMS Arrives
In 1970, a society called the University Association
for Emergency Medical Services (UA/EMS) was
formed by surgeons interested in pre-hospital and
ED management of trauma as well as in academic
emergency department improvements. Advances
in field management of battle wounds by "medics"
and in helicopter transport to medical facilities
during the Vietnam War offered exciting
possibilities. The new EM residency at Los
Angeles County, led by Gail V. Anderson Sr.,
graduated a resident, Ronald Stewart, who taught
one of the first paramedic programs in the country
in 1971. The surgeons realized that EMS