September 7, 2022
The AACT has recently learned of the death of retired Army Col, Dr. J. David Barry, MD. Dave was a long-time member of AACT. Dave was remarkably talented and committed to service in every aspect of his life professionally and personally. If you knew Dave, somehow his persona was bigger than his 6 ft (+) height. His size might intimidate you at first, but his smile, warmth and compassion would soon, melt aware that fear. He was a graduate of the Uniformed Services University. He completed his emergency medicine residency in San Antonio, TX and medical toxicology fellowship in San Diego, CA.
Dave was an active host for multiple Advanced Hazardous Life-Support (AHLS) courses. He has authored many textbook chapters, including the Antimalarials chapter in Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies. He was an annual contributor to the NACCT meeting, and represented the vital connection between medical toxicology and the US military.
He was an officer in the Army but was the Program Director of the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency program in Portsmouth, VA for seven years. He served the Army for 25 years and deployed multiple times to places he could not talk about. Most recently he volunteered for the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Dave Barry was that rare person that made everyone around him better. He showed us who we could be and should be. Take a moment to pause and reflect how Dave touched your life, and thank him for his service. Our sincere condolences to his wife and family.
Respectfully,
Kirk Cumpston, DO, FAACT
President, AACT