Francis Miller Fesmire (November 16, 1959 – January 31, 2014) was an American

emergency physician An emergency physician (often called an "ER doctor" in the United States) is a physician who works in an emergency department to care for ill patients. The emergency physician specializes in advanced cardiac life support (advanced life support ...

and a nationally recognized expert in

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. He authored numerous academic articles and assisted in the development of clinical guidelines on the

standard of care In tort law, the standard of care is the only degree of prudence and caution required of an individual who is under a duty of care. The requirements of the standard are closely dependent on circumstances. Whether the standard of care has been b ...

in treating patients with suspected myocardial infarction by the

American College of Emergency Physicians The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is a professional organization of emergency medicine physicians in the United States. ACEP publishes the '' Annals of Emergency Medicine and the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physi ...

and the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

American College of Cardiology The American College of Cardiology (ACC), based in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit medical association established in 1949. It bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet its qualifications. Education is a core component of the ...

. He performed numerous research investigations in

chest pain Chest pain is pain or discomfort in the chest, typically the front of the chest. It may be described as sharp, dull, pressure, heaviness or squeezing. Associated symptoms may include pain in the shoulder, arm, upper abdomen, or jaw, along with n ...

patients, reporting the usefulness of continuous 12-lead

ECG Electrocardiography is the process of producing an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a recording of the heart's electrical activity through repeated cardiac cycles. It is an electrogram of the heart which is a graph of voltage versus time of ...

monitoring, two-hour delta

cardiac marker Cardiac markers are biomarkers measured to evaluate heart function. They can be useful in the early prediction or diagnosis of disease. Although they are often discussed in the context of myocardial infarction, other conditions can lead to an el ...

testing, and nuclear cardiac stress testing in the

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

. The culmination of his studies was ''The Erlanger Chest Pain Evaluation Protocol'' published in the ''

Annals of Emergency Medicine The ''Annals of Emergency Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of emergency medicine, emergency medicine care. It is the official journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and is published ...

'' in 2002. In 2011 he published a novel ''Nashville Skyline'' that received a 5 star review by ForeWord Reviews. His most recent research involved the risk stratification of chest pain patients in the emergency department.

Background

Born in 1959 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, Fesmire grew up in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

and graduated high school Valedictorian from the

Baylor School Baylor School, commonly called Baylor, is a private school, private, coeducational college-preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1893, the school's current campus comprises 690 acres and enrolls students in grad ...

in 1978. He graduated ''Magna Cum Laude'' from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1981. Fesmire graduated from

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) is the graduate medical school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. The School of Medicine is primarily housed within the Eskind Biomedical Libra ...

in 1985 and completed a

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

Emergency Medicine Emergency medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (or "ER doctors") specialize in providing care for unscheduled and undifferentiated pa ...

University Hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

in 1988 where he received the Outstanding Resident Award. In 1992 Fesmire was elected as a Fellow of American College of Emergency Physicians. He practiced as an emergency physician at Chattanooga Memorial Hospital from 1988 until 1991 and had been practicing at Erlanger Baroness Hospital from 1991 until his death in 2014.

Awards

Fesmire received the Emergency Medicine Foundation's Young Investigator Award in 1996 for his work in developing a rapid protocol for the evaluation of chest pain patients. In 2006, he received the

Ig Nobel Prize The Ig Nobel Prize () is a satirical prize awarded annually since 1991 to promote public engagement with scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a ...

in Medicine for a 1988 case report detailing the use of digital rectal massage as a cure for persistent singultus (

hiccups A hiccup (scientific name singultus, from Latin for "sob, hiccup"; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction ( myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. The hiccup is an involuntary action involvi ...

). In 2008, Dr Fesmire was named a Hero of Emergency Medicine by the American College of Emergency Physicians. He later on told ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'' in an interview that he found a "treatment sure to be more popular with hiccup patients. "An orgasm results in incredible stimulation of the vagus nerve. From now on, I will be recommending sex – culminating with orgasm – as the cure-all for intractable hiccups"."

Later work

At the time of his death, Fesmire lived in Chattanooga with his wife and two sons. He was

medical director A medical director is a physician who provides guidance and leadership on the use of medicine in a healthcare organization. These include the emergency medical services, hospital departments, blood banks, clinical teaching services, and others. ...

of Chest Pain Center of Erlanger Medical Center. He was also professor and clinical research director of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program of the

University of Tennessee College of Medicine The University of Tennessee College of Medicine is one of six graduate schools of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in downtown Memphis. The oldest public medical school in Tennessee, the UT College of Medicine is a LCM ...

and chairman of the Clinical Policy Committee of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fesmire, Francis 1959 births 2014 deaths Physicians from Atlanta Harvard College alumni Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni University of Tennessee faculty Ig Nobel laureates American emergency physicians American hospital administrators