Company History
MD Solutions International was founded in 1996 by Dr. Ray Jarris, a family and emergency medicine physician with a passion and vision for improving health and saving lives. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Ray founded companies that provided medical support to remote worksites. As a pioneer in maritime medicine, he saw how medical technology could be successfully used by those with limited medical training outside a medical environment and recognized the opportunity to bring these life-saving solutions to a greater audience.
About Dr. Ray Jarris, Jr. MD, MA, FAAFP
Ray was the medical director of the Swedish Ballard Emergency Department in Seattle, WA.
A tireless advocate for patients and improving the delivery of healthcare, Ray realized early on the profound benefits of pre-hospital early defibrillation and the impact it would have on survival from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. He also realized the need to build a structure around the product in order to ensure successful deployment of an AED and to manage corporate risk. Ray was instrumental in developing program management for Corporate and Public Access Defibrillation programs and the impact of his legacy is felt in the thousands of defibrillators under program management and the success stories we review every day.
An AED is a tool, and MD Solutions International provides the program support to make that tool useful.
Ray recognized the need to help corporations understand how to prepare and train for a Sudden Cardiac Arrest and how to manage risk through regulatory compliance and quality assurance. He built a team of physicians dedicated to public health and emergency and occupational medicine in order to support his vision of Time Zero Readiness® for Sudden Cardiac Arrest response. This team understands the challenges around developing, successfully deploying, and maintaining a quality PAD program as well as managing corporate medical risk.
Partners in the Industry
Ray partnered with industry leaders to build the company. He met Craig Aman, a paramedic and firefighter in the ER at Ballard in the 1990s when Craig would bring patients to the Ballard ER and they would talk about how to bring this new life saving technology to a greater audience. Craig rose to the position of Captain in the Seattle Fire Department and was a dedicated instructor with the Resuscitation Academy, MEDIC First Aid, and the Health and Safety Institute. An early adopter and advocate for high performance CPR training, Craig had an unwavering passion for improving outcomes from Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
Craig functioned as Chief Operating Officer for MD Solutions International until his passing in 2017.
Ray’s Legacy
Sadly, Ray passed away in 2018. His wife and business partner, Dr. Ann Jarris, now leads the team in providing unparalled customer service, deep industry expertise, and a commitment to honoring Ray’s legacy.
Ray’s vision was to provide a way for lay people to successfully use medical technology that had previously belonged only to the hospital realm. While once defibrillators were only allowed in operating rooms, we are now seeing more medical interventions available outside a medical setting. Whether tourniquets, Epi-Pens®, or Narcan®, MD Solutions International makes it possible for non-medical professionals to have access to the tools necessary to save lives.
We at MDSI carry Ray in our hearts, and he is missed every day.
