Dr. Benjamin Abo is an EMS and Emergency Medicine physician, toxicologist, and seasoned educator with nearly three decades of clinical and operational experience. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer for Escambia County Public Safety in Pensacola, Florida. He also co-founded the Venom Emergency Response Alliance (VERA), where he is Chief Medical Officer and toxicologist. Dr. Abo completed his medical degree at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo, California, and trained in Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida. He completed fellowships in Wilderness Medicine with the Wilderness Medical Society Academy and an EMS Fellowship at UF Health Shands in Gainesville, Florida. He is board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) through the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM).
Dr. Abo’s work spans wilderness, disaster, tactical, and prehospital critical care—bridging definitive hospital care with austere environments. He provides operational medical leadership to multiple agencies (including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a Tactical EMS Physician and Border Patrol’s BORSTAR as a Local Physician Advisor). He holds adjunct faculty status teaching EMS and wilderness medicine.
His many awards include Touro College of Medicine Commencement Keynote Speaker (2026), Major Campaign and Major Disaster Medals (2021–2023), Physician of the Year — Alachua County Fire Rescue (2017), and national recognition for venom medicine and humanitarian work. He serves as medical director for numerous EMS and rescue organizations (including FOAMFrat, Naples Fire Rescue, Florida Southwestern College EMS Sciences, and multiple counties and municipal fire/EMS agencies).
Outside medicine, he enjoys SCUBA diving, travel, photography, playing piano and drums, cooking, and volunteering with international and domestic disaster response organizations.