At Jacobi | NCB’s Department of Emergency Medicine, our commitment to our patients extends beyond acute emergency care. As part of our core mission to serve the Bronx community, we actively lead public health initiatives that address vital health needs traditional emergency medicine often overlooks.

Public Health Associate Program (HIV Navigators)

Our dedicated team of Public Health Associates (PHAs)—also known as ED HIV Navigators—works side-by-side with emergency clinical staff to provide proactive HIV screening, prevention, and compassionate care linkage directly from the Emergency Department.

What Our Navigators Do:

• Linkage to Comprehensive Care: We connect newly diagnosed patients—and those previously diagnosed who are not currently receiving care—directly to Jacobi’s Adult Comprehensive Service clinic for antiretroviral treatment.
• HIV Prevention & PrEP: We identify patients at higher risk for HIV, provide evidence-based education on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and seamlessly link eligible individuals to primary care or specialist services to begin medication.
• Citywide Virtual Navigation: Beyond our physical Emergency Department, our PHA team serves as virtual navigators for patients across New York City accessing NYC Health + Hospitals Virtual ExpressCare for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV-related concerns.

Our HIV Navigator program is proudly supported by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Grant PS21-2102).

Pain and Addiction Care in the Emergency Department (PACED)

ACEP Gold-Status Center of Excellence

In 2024, the Jacobi Emergency Department achieved Gold-Status Certification under the American College of Emergency Physicians’ (ACEP) Pain and Addiction Care in the Emergency Department (PACED) program.

National Distinction: Gold-status accreditation represents the absolute highest tier of recognition by ACEP, establishing Jacobi as a premier national Center of Excellence for emergency pain management, safer prescribing practices, and comprehensive addiction medicine.

Driving Innovation & Clinical Excellence

Our PACED certification is the culmination of aggressive, multi-year performance improvement (PI) initiatives and evidence-based protocol updates. Our clinical model focuses on three major axes of care:

• Substance Use Disorder Protocols: Implementing rapid, low-barrier access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as emergency buprenorphine induction, alongside dedicated harm-reduction workflows.
• Opioid Prescription Reduction: Pioneering departmental initiatives that significantly minimize opioid reliance while successfully optimizing patient comfort.
• Advanced ED Pain Management: Deploying multi-modal analgesics and cutting-edge alternative-to-opioid (ALTO) therapies to safely and effectively manage acute pain.

A Multidisciplinary Core

Our PACED initiatives succeed because they are driven by a dedicated, interdisciplinary team of clinical champions. This collaborative leadership structure ensures that our best practices are seamlessly integrated into every shift:

• Emergency Medicine Attendings & Faculty
• Board-Certified Medical Toxicologists
• Dedicated ED Clinical Pharmacists (PharmD)
• Emergency Nursing Leadership

The Residency Experience

Training at an ACEP Gold-Status PACED Center of Excellence means learning how to manage acute pain and substance use disorders at the absolute forefront of the specialty. Our residents graduate with advanced skills that place them far ahead of their peers nationally.

As a resident, you will:

• Master advanced, opioid-sparing pain management techniques, including the utilization of targeted regional nerve blocks (such as PENG and Erector Spinae blocks) directly in the resuscitation bay.
• Gain deep competence in addiction medicine, leading real-time buprenorphine inductions, complex withdrawal management, and transitions to long-term harm reduction care.

Collaborate directly with a multidisciplinary leadership team, learning how to design and execute system-level quality improvement initiatives that change prescribing cultures.

Emergency Preparedness Program

The Jacobi Emergency Preparedness (EP) Program operates under a comprehensive, all-hazards management plan. This robust framework provides clinical and operational guidelines for responding to a wide range of disaster incidents, from mass casualty events to critical infrastructure failures.

Our Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) ensures full compliance with annual regulatory standards, continuously updating protocols and implementing dynamic educational initiatives across the hospital.

Core Preparedness & Training Tenets

Our comprehensive emergency planning covers a wide spectrum of disaster medicine scenarios, including:

• Specialized Incident Response: In-depth education and training on HAZMAT, biological, radiological, and chemical incidents.
• Surge Capacity Capabilities: Scalable response protocols for pandemics and high-consequence infectious pathogens (including Influenza, COVID-19, and Ebola).
• Coastal Evacuation Protocols: Dedicated coordination strategies for coastal emergencies.
• Pandemic & Mass Fatality Management: Strategic resource allocation and logistics.
• Hospital Incident Command System (HICS): Defined leadership roles and responsibilities to ensure seamless crisis management.

Active Shooter Preparedness Program

Jacobi is the proud creator of the interactive, in-person Active Shooter Preparedness Program. Jacobi’s EP Chair, in collaboration with the Health + Hospitals (H+H) Academy leadership, designed and taught the “Train-the-Trainer” education module used across our entire public health system corporation.

Regional Leadership

• Bronx Emergency Preparedness Coalition (BEPC): Established in October 2001, this coalition coordinates disaster readiness across the borough. Jacobi proudly holds the permanent Chairperson seat, positioning our department at the absolute forefront of regional disaster response planning.

Program Infrastructure & Contingencies

The appendix of our Emergency Operations Plan includes exhaustive protocols to maintain operational continuity during internal disasters, supported by:

• Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA): Annual proactive risk assessments.
• Multifaceted Education: New Employee EP modules, PeopleSoft-integrated training, and continuous drilling modules.
• Comprehensive Evaluations: Ongoing, post-incident, and post-drill performance reviews to constantly refine our plans.

The Residency Experience

Emergency Preparedness is a hands-on component of our training curriculum, not just a lecture topic. Emergency Medicine residents at Jacobi are actively integrated into the disaster response apparatus.

As a resident, you will:

• Participate in large-scale simulation exercises of mass casualty incidents (MCIs) alongside local emergency services.
• Engage in tactical tabletop exercises designed to build rapid crisis-decision-making skills.
• Gain direct exposure to hospital incident command structure, disaster logistics, and triage planning.

Click here to view a large-scale simulation exercise of a mass casualty incident at Jacobi.  This is training video but provides a great insight into Jacobi’s Emergency Department and our hospitals inter-disciplinary collaboration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP3pM_L-kRI