September 28, 2017
Priority Ambulance recently promoted Diahan Underwood to chief nursing officer and compliance officer for the company’s nine-state operations.
“Diahan is a highly-trained, highly-skilled critical care nurse, who will be an excellent resource for our operations across the country,” said Priority Ambulance CEO Bryan Gibson. “Additionally, she will work closely with leadership at each of our operations to ensure all aspects of our operations are compliance with all local, state and federal regulations. This compliance is critical to our industry, and Diahan will ensure our policies are understood and enforced consistently throughout our national footprint.”
In her new role, Underwood will provide educational training to all Priority Ambulance upon hire and continuing education program on a regular basis. She will evaluate all compliance issues and concerns and provide enforcement of Priority Ambulance’s compliance plan across the network. Underwood is a Certified Ambulance Compliance Officer (CACO) through the National Academy of Ambulance Compliance.
Additionally, Underwood will work with local medical directors and continuous quality improvement/quality assurance personnel at each operation to ensure that medical protocols are being followed and to examine trends across Priority Ambulance’s markets. Underwood will be located at Priority Ambulance’s national headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Prior to joining Priority Ambulance’s corporate team, Underwood worked at Central EMS, a member of the Priority Ambulance family of companies located in Roswell, Georgia, as director of nursing and critical care services and chief flight nurse for Central Air Ambulance from 2010 to 2017. Underwood has more than 20 years of experience in EMS and critical care nursing.
Underwood received her EMT certification from North Metro Technical College in 1991. While working as an EMT, her love for helping people and advancing in the field of medicine led her to pursue her degree as a registered nurse from Clayton State College in 1997. Before joining Central EMS, she gained experience at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Scottish Rite Hospital, Northside Hospital Cherokee, West Georgia Hospital, Cherokee EMS and Troup County EMS.
Underwood is certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Trauma Life Support, Prehospital Trauma Life Support, Basic Trauma Life Support, Perianesthesia, Basic Firefighter II and FEMA and Hazmat Courses. She is an instructor in Pediatric Emergency Awareness Recognition (PEAR), BLS/ACLS, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, ITLS, PHTLS, Child Passenger Car Seat Technician, SAFE Kids Safety Program and the Infectious Disease Transport Network. Underwood is a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Foundation and serves on the Georgia State Medical Assessment Team Advisory Board.
About Priority Ambulance
Based in Knoxville, Tenn., Priority Ambulance provides the highest level of clinical excellence in emergency and nonemergency medical care to the communities it serves. Throughout its national service area, approximately 2,000 highly trained paramedics and EMTs staff a fleet of approximately 400 state-of-the-art vehicles with the latest medical equipment and technology.
Priority Ambulance’s community of companies operates under trusted local brands providing medical transport options in nine states. The Priority Ambulance company partners include Shoals Ambulance in Alabama; Maricopa Ambulance in Arizona; Puckett EMS in Georgia and Southeast Tennessee; Central EMS in Georgia; Seals Ambulance in Indiana; Kunkel Ambulance in Upstate New York; Trans Am Ambulance in western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania; Medshore Ambulance in South Carolina; and Priority Ambulance in East Tennessee. Priority Ambulance also serves Baptist Memorial Health Care facilities in West Tennessee and Mississippi under the Baptist brand.