Sailboats off Galveston Beach

Dietrich Jehle, MD, FACEP, RDMSProgram Director, Professor & Chair

Program Director

  • Dietrich Jehle, MD, FACEP, RDMS serves as Program Director, Professor, and Chair of the UTMB Sealy Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

    Dr. Jehle graduated from the University of Virginia, School of Medicine in 1979 and completed his residency at the University of Pittsburgh in 1982. Dr. Jehle assisted with the development of the Emergency Medicine Residency at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA in 1982 and relocated to Buffalo, NY to develop a new Emergency Medicine Residency Program which began in 1994. He served as Vice Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at State University of New York at Buffalo, was the Clinical Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) for 17 years, was a Tenured Professor of Emergency Medicine and became the Associate Medical Director for the hospital in 2008. Dr. Jehle was the 2008 recipient of the Distinguished Physician’s Award for ECMC. In 2009, he was selected as a voting member of the Board of Directors for the Erie County Medical Center. Dr. Jehle was appointed a Board Examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine, served on the Board of the New York Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, was a grant reviewer for the Small Business Innovation and Research Program for the National Institute of Health. He was selected as a Trauma Site Surveyor for both New York and Illinois. In addition to his significant contributions to the use of ultrasound in Emergency Medicine, he has also been involved in research involving resuscitation, airway management, investigating motor vehicle crashes, and bringing new technologies to emergency medicine. For 27 years, Dr. Jehle has provided supervision of medical care for game day guests for the Buffalo Bills and has been the on-field airway physician for Buffalo Bills home games. The American College of Emergency Physicians presented Dr. Jehle with the National Teaching Award in 2000 and the Emergency Ultrasound Award in 2001. In 2007, Buffalo Business First awarded him the “Health Care 50” Award, and The Buffalo News acknowledged him as “Buffalo Outstanding Citizen of 2009” for his lifesaving efforts in a highway crash that he witnessed. In 2010, NYACEP presented him with the "Advancing Emergency Care" award.

    Dr. Jehle has co-authored several leading textbooks on emergency bedside ultrasonography, including “Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine,” the first text in its field in 1995. In 2003, he co-edited “Ultrasonography in Trauma: The FAST Exam” which was published by the American College of Emergency Physicians. He published the first study on the use of ultrasonography in blunt abdominal trauma by emergency physicians in the United States and the first emergency medicine study of the use of bedside ultrasound to evaluate gallbladder, aortic, renal, and first-trimester pregnancy pathology. In 2011, Dr. Jehle edited the first emergency eye ultrasound text, “Emergency Ultrasound of the Eye and Orbit”. In his role as Director of Emergency Ultrasonography, his group created a full-time emergency ultrasound fellowship at SUNY at Buffalo in the 1990s. In addition, academic emergency physicians from all over the United States and Canada have participated in the two-week UB mini-fellowship in bedside sonography over the last 25 years.

    Dr. Jehle’s interest in resuscitation and airway management lead to the first study of head cooling in cardiac arrest in animals and the first study of oximetry in prehospital care utilizing conjunctival oximeters and arterial lines in helicopter flights. In addition, he founded and organized the first Emergency Medicine study of the use of bougies as an adjunct for intubation in the United States.

    His interest in new technologies led to the organizing of the first LCD presentation at a national emergency medicine meeting as Chair of the Technology Committee for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). Dr. Jehle helped found the SAEM Ultrasound Interest Group as a spinoff of the technology committee. With Dr. David Ellis, he helped organize one of the busiest emergency telemedicine systems in the country supporting 52 NY State prisons and two NY Federal Penitentiaries in the 1990s.

    In January 2016, Dr. Jehle transitioned to assume the role of the Founding Emergency Medicine Residency Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Grand Strand Medical Center and Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Jehle served two terms as a Board Member for the South Carolina Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

    Dr. Jehle was recruited as Professor and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and Founding Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in the summer of 2021. He resides in Galveston, Texas, and is married with four grown children.

    References:

    1. http://medicine.buffalo.edu/education/mdphd/research_and_facilities/research_highlights.host.html/content/shared/smbs/research_highlights/emergency-ultrasound.detail.html
    2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8216513/
    3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11421081/
    4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0735675793901647
    5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3093211/
    6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10874235/
    7. http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2006/10/8236.html
    8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20838142/
    9. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/emp2.12115

     

  • Dr. Jehle assisted with the development of the Emergency Medicine Residency at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1982 he relocated to Buffalo, NY to develop a new Emergency Medicine Residency Program at the University of Buffalo which began in 1994 for which he served as the APD. He served as Vice Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at State University of New York at Buffalo, was the Clinical Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) for 17 years, was a Tenured Professor of Emergency Medicine and became the Associate Medical Director for the hospital in 2008. Dr. Jehle was the 2008 recipient of the Distinguished Physician’s Award for ECMC. In 2009, he was selected as a voting member of the Board of Directors for the Erie County Medical Center. January 2016, Dr. Jehle transitioned to assume the role of the Founding Emergency Medicine Residency Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Grand Strand Medical Center and Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of South Carolina. Dietrich was recruited to the University of Texas Medical Branch in 2021 to serve as chairman and program director for the newly formed emergency medicine residency program.

  • Dr. Jehle has co-authored several leading textbooks on emergency bedside ultrasonography, including “Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine,” the first text in its field in 1995. In 2003, he co-edited “Ultrasonography in Trauma: The FAST Exam” which was published by the American College of Emergency Physicians. He published the first study on the use of ultrasonography in blunt abdominal trauma by emergency physicians in the United States and the first emergency medicine study of the use of bedside ultrasound to evaluate gallbladder, aortic, renal, and first-trimester pregnancy pathology. In 2011, Dietrich edited the first emergency eye ultrasound text, “Emergency Ultrasound of the Eye and Orbit”. In his role as Director of Emergency Ultrasonography, his group created a full-time emergency ultrasound fellowship at SUNY at Buffalo in the 1990s and Dr. Jehle helped create a second emergency ultrasound fellowship in Myrtle Beach in 2020. The American College of Emergency Physicians presented Dietrich with the National Teaching Award in 2000 and the Emergency Ultrasound Award in 2001.

    1. Heller M, Jehle D (co-editors): Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 1995 (1st ed), West Seneca NY: Center Page, Inc; 2002 (2nd ed).

    2. Jehle D, Heller M: Ultrasonography in Trauma: The FAST Exam. Dallas, Texas: ACEP; 2003.

    3. Jehle D (Senior Editor), Bouvet S, Braden B, Hendry M, Nagel J, Reidy J: Emergency Ultrasound of the Eye and Orbit. Buffalo: Grover Cleveland Press; 2011. Second Printing 2018.

    4. Jehle D, Davis E, Evans T, Harchelroad F, Martin M, Zaiser K, Lucid J: Emergency Department Sonography by Emergency Physicians. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 1989;7(6):605-611.

    5. Jehle D, Guarino J, Karamanoukian H: Emergency Department Ultrasound in the Evaluation of Abdominal Trauma. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 1993;11(4):342-346.


  • Dr. Jehle funded and organized the first Emergency Medicine study of the use of bougies as an adjunct for intubation in the United States that was published in 2000. For 27 years, Dr. Jehle has provided supervision of medical care for game day guests for the Buffalo Bills and has been the on-field airway physician for Buffalo Bills home games and the game day airway physician for the NFL in Buffalo, New York. He recorded the fastest intubation time in a contest at the National ACEP meeting in 2017. Dietrich has taught a difficult airway course approximately 8 times a year over the last 5 years.

    1. Moscati R, Jehle D, Christiansen G, et al: Flex-Guide Endotracheal Tube Introducer for Failed Intubations: A Variant of the Gum Elastic Bouge. A Case Series and Literature Review. Annals of Emergency Medicine 2000;36(1):52-56.

  • Dr. Jehle’s interest in resuscitation led to the first study of head cooling in cardiac arrest in animals and the first study of oximetry in prehospital care utilizing conjunctival oximeters and arterial lines in helicopter flights.

    1. Protective Head Cooling During Cardiac Arrest, 1984-1985, ASRI. $10,000 Faculty Investigator

    2. Cardiopulmonary Bypass for Prolonged Cardiac Arrest 1985-1986, ASRI, Bard Cardiopulmonary. $20,000- PI

    3. Shufflebarger C, Jehle D, Cottington E: Transconjunctival Oxygen Monitoring as a Predictor of Hypoxemia During Helicopter Transport. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 1986;6:501-503.

    4. Brader E, Jehle D, Mineo M, Safar P: Protective Head Cooling During Cardiac Arrest and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: The Original Animal Studies. Neurology International 2010;2:e3:14-19.

  • Dr. Jehle was selected as a Trauma Site Surveyor for both New York and Illinois. Dr. Jehle has also been involved in research investigating motor vehicle crashes. His team received significant funding in transportation injury during the early 2000's.

    1. Center for Transportation Injury Research - 1998-2005 - Joint project between UB Dept. of Emergency Medicine & Calspan (CUBRC) $2,000,000 per yr - Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Site Director, Investigator, and Board Member

    2. Mayrose J, Jehle D, Hayes, Tinnesz D, Piazza G, Wilding G: Influence of the unbelted rear-seat passenger on driver mortality: ”The backseat bullet”. Academic Emergency Medicine 2005;12(2):130-134. PMID: 15692133

    3. Jehle D, Connolly S, Godzala M, Cole A: Speed Kills? Not Always: The New York State Thruway Experience. Journal of Trauma 2010;69(3):708-714. PMID: 20838142

    4. Jehle D, Gemme S, Jehle C: Influence of Obesity on Mortality of Drivers in Severe Motor Vehicle Crashes. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 2012;30:191-195. Epub Dec, 2010

    5. Jehle D, Arslan A, Doshi C, O’Brien C: Car ratings take a back seat to vehicle type: Outcomes of SUV vs. passenger car crashes. HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine 2021;2:4. DOI: 10.36518/2689-0216.1181; Podcast 2021


Dr. Dietrich Jehle

Books:


Dr. Jehle’s Podcast:
SUV vs Passenger Car Crashes