Anesthesiology faculty, helicopter transport manager, neonatal ICU nurse garner distinctions

Transport manager receives patient advocate honor

Jeremy Benson, manager of helicopter emergency transport at UMMC, has been awarded the 2018 Patient Advocate Award from the Association of Critical Care Transport, a nonprofit, grassroots patient advocacy organization.

A certified flight critical care paramedic, Benson was the sole recipient of the award bestowed during ACCT’s recent conference in New Orleans.

The award is given each year to a provider that goes “above and beyond” to improve the critical care medical transport industry, doing so with a patient-centered focus.

“This is a huge honor from an organization that encompasses many of the legacy critical care transport programs across the world,” said Dr. Damon Darsey, associate professor of emergency medicine and medical director for UMMC’s Mississippi Center for Emergency Services.

Benson chairs a standardization committee aimed at improving efficiency and the delivery of medical care across Mississippi. He has been instrumental in developing a critical care orientation program that has doubled in size during the last two years. This growth has led to the development of a critical care team at the Medical Center that can provide advanced critical care medicine to any patient for up to 12 hours in any vehicle or environment.

ACCT is ensures critically ill and injured patients have access to the safest and highest quality critical care transport system possible. UMMC’s AirCare helicopter fleet is the most advanced medical air transport in Mississippi.

MSU appoints anesthesiology faculty to advisory board

Dr. R. Kirk Reid, associate professor of anesthesiology, has been appointed to the advisory board of the College of Arts and Sciences at Mississippi State University.

Reid, who came to the Medical Center in 2015, is board-certified in anesthesiology. He received his M.D. from UMMC after graduating from MSU. He completed his internship and anesthesiology residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Reid received cardiovascular specialty training at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, pediatric cardiovascular specialty training at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and pediatrics specialty training at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The College of Arts and Sciences at MSU is the institution’s largest college, with more than 5,200 students and 300 full-time faculty members. The college offers 25 degree programs in 14 different departments and is home to several institutes and centers.

Neonatal ICU nurse’s vigilance earns Good Catch Award

Danielle Peebles, an inpatient nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, has received the Good Catch Award from the Patient Quality and Safety Group.

Peebles recognized a medication dispensing error that occurred in the NICU. By double-checking an order, Peebles helped to discover an error in medication dosages.

Developed during the 100-day Workout, the Good Catch Award recognizes UMMC employees who have discovered potential events before patients are harmed. Risk Management identifies these events through I-CARE reports.

To report events, call Risk Management at 5-1994. For more information about the award, email Elizabeth Smith at esmith5@umc.edu or Elizabeth Toony at etoony@umc.edu.