Medical Director
Mark C. Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.E.P.
North Port Fire Rescue utilizes the services of two physicians who specialize in emergency medicine for medical direction. The North Port Fire Rescue District EMS Medical Director is Mark C. Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.E.P. who is responsible for the quality of medical care delivered by North Port Fire Rescue medics. The Medical Director is responsible for drafting protocols, policies and procedures and quality improvement benchmarks for the department.
Dr. Johnson grew up in Sarasota and graduated from Riverview High School in 1981. Dr. Johnson completed his undergraduate training at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina, earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Emergency Medical Care in 1987. He earned his National Registry Paramedic Certification and was employed by Greenville County EMS in South Carolina. He was a SWAT Medic and member of the Mountain Rescue Team. In 1988, he was named Paramedic of the Year by JEMS magazine for the rescue of a sick infant from a snow-covered mountain inaccessible by motor vehicles. In 1989, he placed 3rd in the South Carolina Paramedic Competition. He began medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston in 1989, and was awarded Doctor of Medicine in 1993. He attained the rank of Captain in the Medical Corps, South Carolina Army National Guard, serving from 1991-2001.
Dr. Johnson completed his residency in emergency medicine at Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina in 1996. He was certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, and has since dedicated himself to the practice of emergency medicine. He became an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lexington Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina in 1996. He practiced there until moving his family to Sarasota in 2005. That year, he joined the practice at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. He currently works at the main campus in Sarasota, the North Port Emergency Care Center and occasionally in Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Walk-in Clinics.
Dr. Johnson has served Sarasota County EMS as Associate Medical Director since 2009, becoming North Port Fire Rescue District EMS Medical Director in October 2018. In that capacity he has done teaching, skills assessment, protocol development, scene response and online medical control. He is an instructor in ACLS and PALS, and also serves as Clinical Assistant Professor in Clinical Sciences for Florida State University School of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and a Diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Johnson resides in Sarasota with his wife, Trisha, and their five children. His pastimes include boating, watersports and hiking in the mountains of Tennessee. He is an accomplished distance runner, having completed 29 marathons.