Kathy Rinnert, M.D.

Biography

Kathy J. Rinnert, M.D., M.P.H., FACEP, has been involved in emergency medicine and emergency response since 1984 beginning her career as a Nationally Registered EMT/Paramedic with Southeast Ohio EMS (SEOEMS). She attended medical school at The Ohio State University (1991) and internship in Internal Medicine at Loyola University in Chicago (1992). She completed Emergency Medicine Residency at the University of Chicago (1995) where she served as Chief Resident and Flight Surgeon for the University of Chicago Aeromedical Network (UCAN). In this role she provided critical care helicopter transport services for the tri-state region comprised of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.

Later, she completed a fellowship in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Master’s of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Pittsburgh (1997). While in Pittsburgh, she served as Flight Surgeon for STAT MedEvac providing helicopter transports in eastern Pennsylvania as well as fixed-wing services for transcontinental and international repatriation missions.

Dr. Rinnert is a Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW). Her career has focused on EMS education, medical standard setting and accreditation, emergency management, and disaster response.

EMS Education: Dr. Rinnert has extensive experience in physician education in EMS and was responsible for the development and implementation of the EMS curriculum for the Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at UTSW. She is the current program director for the ACGME-accredited EMS Fellowship and responsible for the planning, development, and delivery of the program. The majority of program graduates have gone on to assume significant leadership roles in EMS Medical Direction in urban, suburban, and rural areas with fire-based, private, and third service agencies as well as academic institutions, law enforcement agencies, and the United States military.

She is nationally recognized for co-authoring the EMS Core Content and EMS Curriculum, two landmark documents instrumental in EMS physician education. As a member of the EMS Examination Committee (EEC) for the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), she is responsible for the development of national board certification examinations in EMS.

Medical standard setting/accreditation: Dr. Rinnert has expertise in the accreditation of EMS education programs having served as a site reviewer for the Committee on Accreditation of Education Programs for the EMS Professions (CoAEMSP). In addition she has a longstanding commitment to ambulance accreditation through her work as a site reviewer, panel member, and member of the Board of Directors for the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS). CAAS is a non-profit, international accrediting agency for ambulance providers. Dr. Rinnert also works extensively with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) in standard setting and development of trauma systems in the United States.

Emergency management/disaster response: Dr. Rinnert is experienced in emergency management, emergency response, and management of acute illness and injury in austere environments. She has been intimately involved in domestic preparedness efforts for both municipalities and hospital agencies, drafting the nationally recognized preparedness plans for the Parkland Health and Hospital Systems. She has contributed extensively to emergency management and preparedness initiatives at the local, state, regional, and national levels acting as liaison and consultant to numerous government agencies including the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Secret Service, United States Public Health Service, the Texas Medical Association, Dallas County Health Department, Dallas County Medical Society, Dallas/Fort Worth Hospital Council, and the City of Dallas Emergency Management.

Dr. Rinnert serves as medical team manager for the Texas Urban Search and Rescue team (TXTF-1), one of twenty-nine national teams within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In her work with search and rescue, she has been involved in the surveillance, planning, positioning and operations of medical assets for high profile, national and international events including; World Cup Soccer (1995, Chicago), Summer Olympic Games (1996, Atlanta), Winter Olympic Games (2002, Salt Lake City), Columbia Shuttle Recovery (2003, East Texas), Hurricane Katrina (2005, Gulf Coast), Hurricane Rita (2005, Texas Coast), and Arkansas Tornados (2014).