Mecklenburg EMSA—Charlotte, N.C.

Mecklenburg County covers a 524-square-mile region and is inclusive of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Mecklenburg County has a population of over one million people of which 24 percent are under the age of 18. Medic is a municipal agency overseen by a Board of Commissioners comprised of representatives from two local health care systems and the County. The organization transports people to nine paramedic-receiving hospitals. Medic emergently treats over 116,000 people per year, 13 percent of which are under the age of 21.

Dr. Studnek is an active provider and the Mecklenburg EMS quality improvement manager in Charlotte, NC. He serves as the director of prehospital research at the Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Studnek has a doctorate in epidemiology and completed his fellowship with the National Registry of EMTs, an organization that provides EMS certification and supports the state licensures process in 45 states. Prior to completing his doctoral degree, he was a paramedic in Albuquerque, NM, and was a research fellow at the National Registry of EMTs. He has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and completed two randomized controlled trials in the prehospital setting. Dr. Studnek has also served as the director of prehospital research for the Center for Prehospital Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center and is currently associate graduate faculty at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

The academic adviser for the Milwaukee County EMS affiliate is Christyn Magill, MD, FAAP. Dr. Magill is an assistant professor of pediatric emergency medicine at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. She received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and her doctor of medicine degree from University of Florida. She currently serves as program director of the pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Carolinas Medical Center and Levine Children’s Hospital. Her research interests include prehospital treatment of pediatric asthma, use of ultrasound in pediatric emergency medicine, and management of pediatric airways. She has also collaborated on papers focused on prehospital assessment and management of pediatric pain from traumatic injuries, evaluation of food insecurity and resource use in the pediatric emergency department population, and screening ED patients for adverse childhood events and exposure to violence. Her current work focuses on the standardization of assessment and treatment of pediatric patients with low acuity asthma exacerbations in the prehospital setting.

Anna McCarley is a paramedic crew chief and preceptor at Mecklenburg EMS Agency. She has been with the agency since 2010 after receiving a BA in religious studies from the University of South Carolina. McCarley has always cared about being a part of a mission and serving in her community. She has been a field adviser with CHaMP since 2013.

Christine Ranjit is a research coordinator for Mecklenburg EMS Agency. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in biology from East Carolina University and is currently earning her Master of Public Health degree from Baylor University. Throughout her undergraduate career, Ranjit primarily took part in biological research with Drosophila melanogaster. Her interests shifted into medicine and public health, beginning her career at Medic as an EMT. Ranjit manages the grant-funded research studies and actively liaises with an emergency department research team in Charlotte.

The members of the EMSA Field Provider Advisory Committee are all EMS providers, have an interest in EMS research and have previously participated in prehospital research. They have experience with all aspects of EMS study development including prehospital randomized clinical trials.