| Welcome to
the EMR website! This site is dedicated to EMS services
and has been designed to make information exchange as
easy as possible. About Dr.
Holley:
Dr. Joseph Holley (Joe) is the director of the Emergency
Department at Baptist Hospital Collierville and the
Medical Director of EMS for the state of Tennessee. He
is also medical director of the Tennessee Task Force
One: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Urban
Search and Rescue (USAR) team.
Dr. Holley helped developed Tennessee Task Force One
USAR team in the early 90’s. This team has special
training in confined space rescue, meaning they care for victims who are trapped in collapsed
structures. This type of rescue involves many of the emergency services such as
fire and rescue services, specialized equipment, and on-site medical care. FEMA
designed a national search and rescue system in the
late 80’s-early 90’s, putting together twenty-five teams across the country. The team has been deployed on numerous natural
disasters.
When the events of Sept. 11 occurred, FEMA called up
approximately 20 of the USAR teams. Memphis’ team was
called within two hours of the attacks. The team was on
the road in five hours. Although the team includes about 250
people, the “go team” consists of 75 people including
fire personnel who are responsible for heavy rescue,
K-9 dogs with handlers, technical support personnel who
locate the victims with special listening devices and
other equipment; a medical team: two physicians and four
paramedics or nurses who take care of the
team and victims they may find; and engineers who assess the stability of the building’s structure.
Tennessee Task Force 1 has been designated one of the six teams
that received advanced
training in weapons and mass destruction, bio-agents,
chemical agents, and nuclear agents.
Dr. Holley is a member of the Hospital Disaster Council,
which organizes how the hospital responds to a large
increase in patient volume due to bioterrorism. He was
instrumental in developing an action plan for Shelby
County as well. Memphis has been identified by the federal
government as one of the top 30 cities at risk for
terrorism. Having provided funds to develop a plan that would be
effective in case there was an attack, the federal
government chose Memphis' plan as the national plan of
action for terrorism preparedness.
Dr. Holley is the medical director for most of the EMS
in Memphis and Shelby County. His primary responsibility is to
make sure that the ambulance crews are doing what is
medically appropriate for the patients. Because the
paramedics are working under his license, Dr. Holley
makes sure that the protocols are up to date, the
appropriate medication is given for the
complaint/problem, and good customer service is given.
Motorsports is a big part of Dr. Holley's life. Not only is he Medical Director
for Memphis Motorsports Park, but he has worked with NASCAR, IMSA, SportsCar,
SCCA, and IndyCar. In addition, Dr. Holley has raced in SCCA National
competition, competing for the National Championship. He finished runner-up 4
years in a row. :(
 
Dr. Holley
has been at Baptist Hospital Collierville as medical director since it opened in
1999 and helped
develop Baptist Collierville’s disaster manual before
Sept. 11. Since Sept. 11, he has been instrumental in
educating the hospital as well as the community on
disaster preparedness. |
