Bryan Harmer, PhD, CCP, FAEMS
EMS Expert Witness
Patient Safety - Medical Errors - Human Factors
Bio
Dr. Bryan Harmer is a critical care paramedic, educator, and human factors researcher. He is Assistant Professor of Paramedicine at Creighton University and Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Emergency Medical Services (NAEMSP).He has more than twenty years in emergency medical services, including practice as a field clinician in rural and urban systems. That experience is paired with systematic study of the same work: how crews actually operate, where systems fail, and why errors and adverse events occur under those conditions. His research, supported by more than a million dollars in federal grants, examines medical error in EMS, including pediatric medication dosing, device and cognitive-aid use, diagnostic reasoning, and evidence-based practice. He completed a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at Western Michigan University and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan Medical School focused on human factors in simulation.In retained work he analyzes alleged error and other adverse events in the prehospital setting. The aim is to explain both the prehospital standard of care and the human and system factors that shape it—training, protocols, device design, fatigue, and the other conditions of EMS practice.Specific Areas of Expertise Include:
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
EMS Education
EMS Malpractice
Patient safety
Medical Error Investigation
Human Factors
Medical Device Usability
Adverse Event Investigation
EMS Scope of Practice
EMS Standard of Care