Jumpline magazine JUNE 2023 pages - Flipbook - Page 15
Dr. Donald Rosenberg Remembered
modulator. To monitor the EMS calls we gave Dr. Rosenberg a
portable radio, another “toy,” and he was in heaven.
About a year later, Carl Van Cott had designed and built the
famous “orange box” that was first seen on the television series
Emergency. I called the company and asked if I could buy one.
Luckily, Carl’s dad was the president of a bank in North Miami.
He was thrilled that we wanted one of his units. At the same
time, the FCC identified a block of frequencies for EMS which
became the “med channels.” We convinced North Shore Hospital to buy a base station and re-programmed Dr. Rosenberg’s
radio to the North Shore frequency connecting our paramedics,
the hospital, and Dr. Rosenberg.
In October of 1975, Miami Shores merged with Metro-Dade
Fire Department. Dr. Rosenberg was very disappointed that we
had to take his toys away and he went on to stay connected
through the American Heart Association. MDFR initially had Dr.
Cliff Findeiss as their part-time EMS Medical Director, followed
by Dr. Solar and several other associate medical directors.
None of the associates wanted the job full time as it was a
big load. Chief Ed Donaldson asked me to see what I could do,
since at the time I was the EMS chief. My first call was to Donnie. I took him to lunch and started my sales pitch. I told him he
would be able to hear all EMS calls across the county! He was
amazed but no matter what I offered, he said no.
After many years and a few more associates, I asked him to
do me a favor and take the job until we found someone, just so
that we could be compliant with the state. He agreed, based on
the promise I would let him go with no pressure if he thought it
was too much and couldn’t handle it. Of course I said OK, and
he never told me that it was too much. He was in heaven in the
position and loved our department, bragging about us to all his
medical friends.
Dr. Rosenberg fell in love with our EMS system. More than
once he said, “What a group of people we have providing high
quality service to our community.” Dr. Rosenberg never had a
doubt about the capabilities of our personnel and time and time
again, was willing to “think outside the box,” adding new modalities to our protocols. The passion and love Dr. Rosenberg
had for pre-hospital care set the bar that others had to meet.
His impact on pre-hospital care across all South Florida and
beyond cannot be overstated. People are alive today because
of Dr. Rosenberg’s support and confidence.
June 2023 | JUMPLINE Magazine
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