Joseph J. Tepas III, M.D. Medical Director

Director Pediatric Trauma, Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Jacksonville

Dr. Tepas is the Director Pediatric Trauma at the University of Florida Regional Trauma System. He is Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and is certified by the American Board of Surgery in the specialties of Pediatric Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, and General Surgery. Dr. Tepas was the Principal Investigator for the State of Florida's Emergency Medical Services for Children federal demonstration project. His major research efforts have focused on care of the injured child and have resulted in his appointment to numerous national and regional committees. He is a member of the State of Florida Emergency Medical Services Trauma System Task Force, and has been a contributing author for numerous reports to the Governor and Florida Legislature regarding all aspects of emergency and trauma care. Dr. Tepas serves on the Executive Committee of the Florida Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons and is past chairman of the American College of Surgeons Quality Improvement Subcommittee. His notable previous appointments include membership on the Trauma Outcome Indicator Task Force of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and contributing author of the Institute of Medicine's report to Congress regarding Emergency Medical Services for Children. Dr Tepas' recent national activities include authorship of the performance improvement section of the American College of Surgeons Optimal Resources Document and revision of the pediatric trauma sections of the Advanced Pediatric Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support, and PreHospital Trauma Life Support courses. He is a member of the numerous editorial boards of peer review scientific journals, and is the author of 82 peer-reviewed publications, 24 books or book chapters, and 165 national presentations. Dr. Tepas has served as one of the principal investigators of the NPTR. He was Principal Investigator of a grant from the State of Florida Department of Health demonstrating the feasibility of a web based trauma registry to facilitate outcomes assessment and performance improvement.