Wounded Child, No Surviving Family

In this episode, we confront a grim new acronym we wish didn’t exist—one that reflects the tragic reality for the 400 million children living in or fleeing from conflict zones worldwide. In Season 1, Becky Platt shared her frontline experience treating a diphtheria outbreak in a refugee camp. Today, we go deeper into the complex medical and ethical challenges of caring for children in war-torn regions. 

Our guest is Dr. Denise Whitfield, an emergency medicine physician at Harbor-UCLA and Assistant Medical Director of the L.A. County EMS Agency. A former Navy physician with deployments to Afghanistan and a former White House physician, Dr. Whitfield brings a rare blend of combat medicine, global health, and leadership experience. Join us as we explore what it means to provide care where stability is scarce—and hope is a vital prescription. 

Denise Whitfield, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAEMS, 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.  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.