Assistant Medical Director

Denise Whitfield, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAEMS

Contact Info:
Office Phone: 562-378-1602
Email: dwhitfield@dhs.lacounty.gov

Residency in Emergency Medicine:
Naval Medical Center San Diego

Fellowship in Emergency Medical Services:
Harbor-UCLA and LA County EMS Agency

Areas of Interest

EMS Education
Mass Gatherings/Event Medicine
USAR

Dr. Denise Whitfield is the Assistant Medical Director for the Los Angeles County EMS Agency. She is a former Commander in the U.S. Navy with extensive experience delivering emergency medical care in diverse environments.  She spent 12 years on active duty, with combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. As a Naval Flight Surgeon, she completed operational assignments with the Marine Corps.  As her final Navy assignment, she served as a White House Physician where she conducted operational medical planning and ensured medical care delivery for the President, Vice-President and First Lady.  Dr. Whitfield’s interest in EMS began while practicing Emergency Medicine in Guam where she was the EMS Medical Director for Joint Region Marianas Federal Fire.  Following her service in the Navy, she completed an EMS fellowship with LA County and joined the EMS Agency in July 2018.  In her previous role as the Director of Education and Innovation, she directed education programs at the EMS Agency including annual EMS Update the EmergiPress continuing education newsletter.  Dr. Whitfield is an active member of Los Angeles County Fire Department’s CA-TF2 Urban Search and Rescue Team and Emergency Medicine faculty at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, serving as faculty for the EMS Fellowship Program at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in collaboration with the Los Angeles County EMS Agency and the Harbor-UCLA Emergency Medicine residency program.