Marquette English professor wins award for emergency medical communication book

MILWAUKEE — Dr. Elizabeth Angeli, assistant professor of English in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette University, has received the award for Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication from the Conference on College Composition and Communication.

The award honors Angeli’s book, Rhetorical Work in Emergency Medical Services: Communicating in the Unpredictable Workplace.

In her book, Angeli details her 16-month study in the emergency medical services workplace, exploring how EMS professionals employ rhetoric to make decisions and communicate in unpredictable situations.

The CCCC describes Angeli’s work as “covering an aspect of medicine in the frontline of patient care that is highly marginalized within the medical community.”

Angeli said she is thrilled to earn the award from the CCCC and that it is an honor to be among the previous winners — many of whom she has looked up to for years.

“More importantly, this award gives national recognition to EMS providers and the field of pre-hospital medicine,” she said. “Their work informs how other health care providers make decisions, interact with patients, and manage unpredictable situations, and my hope is that this book helps other researchers and healthcare providers see that.”

Dr. Heather Hathaway, acting dean of the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of English, said Angeli’s work makes important contributions to the public’s understanding of the high stakes that are involved when communicating in the field of EMS.

“Dr. Angeli, who began her career at Marquette years ago as an undergraduate psychology major and then returned to us as a faculty member, demonstrates the best of arts and sciences graduates: those who do well by also doing good in the world,” Hathaway said. “We are especially delighted by her work, in conjunction with several other outstanding Marquette faculty members, to elevate the medical humanities in the university.”

Since her book’s publication, Angeli has partnered with multiple fire departments to build writing and training programs and test new models for EMS report writing. Together, Angeli said she and the departments aim to create sustainable writing and teaching models that can be implemented across the nation.

The CCCC is a constituent organization within the National Council of Teachers of English, committed to supporting the agency, power and potential of diverse communicators inside and outside of postsecondary classrooms.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.