Dr. Justin Sempsrott, MD, FAAEM, is full-time emergency medicine doctor and also the Medical Director for StarGuard ELITE and the International Surf Lifesaving Association. He is also a founding member of the International Drowning Researchers Alliance. Sempsrott began his career as a surf lifesaver in Jacksonville Beach, Florida in 1996. Seeing the gross disparity in the burden of drowning in developing nations, he founded the US Based non-profit Lifeguards Without Borders. In addition to his various duties as a physician and Medical Director, Sempsrott serves in a variety of other capacities to support the global aquatics community and the various organizations that provide care guidelines to prevent and treat drownings. Sempsrott believes elevating basic medical and prehospital infrastructure is critical to mitigating the burden of drowning after a rescue has been performed. He sees this as both a challenge and an opportunity for the global lifesaving community.
