St. John’s doctor to serve double duty with US Army Reserve

JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI/KIDK) - St. John's Health reports Colonel (Dr.) Will Smith has been activated by the U.S. Army Reserve to support the national COVID-19 effort. Smith is to be the Branch Chief of EMS and Disaster Medicine for the U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General.

In a Facebook Post, St. John's said Smith will be directly integrating best practices for the pre-hospital EMS response. Dr. Smith is board-certified in pre-hospital EMS as well as Emergency Medicine.

St. John's said Dr. Smith is co-medical director with Dr. A.J. Wheeler for the local EMS agencies. Those include Jackson Hole Fire-EMS, Grand Teton National Park, Teton County Search and Rescue, Teton County Sheriff's Office, and the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Col. Smith was tentatively scheduled to report to the Pentagon in Washington D.C,., but due to limited travel and social distancing, he will complete his duty in Jackson.