By Elana Gordon
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-716657.mp3
Kansas City, MO – Dr. Waeckerle is currently Missouri's chief medical officer for homeland security and is also a clinical professor at UMKC. He says being honored as a "Hero of Emergency Medicine" has helped further validate the work that he does.
Dr. Waeckerle: After being recognized and appreciated by your patients, there's nothing more important than being recognized by your colleagues.
Dr. Waeckerle helped establish Kansas City's EMS system in the late seventies and was the chief physician at the Hyatt Skywalk Collapse in 1981, which he says was very traumatic.
Dr. Waeckerle: My way to deal with it was take these experiences that we all had learned and share it with others so that the next time something like that occurred, everybody would be better prepared both educationally wise and skill wise.
The American College of Emergency Physicians has honored Dr. Waeckerle, along with a few other select physicians, as part of its 40th anniversary celebration.
Funding for health care coverage on KCUR has been provided by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
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