Inside EMS

Mechanism of injury: Does it matter?

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

In this episode of Inside EMS, Host Chris Cebollero is joined by Firefighter/Paramedic Steve Whitehead, NREMT-P, and scholar-practitioner Nick Nudell, PhD(c).

Real-life friends, Whitehead and Nudell bring forth an EMS debate in which they find themselves on opposite sides: the importance of reporting mechanism of injury.

In paramedic school, they teach us to take what we see at the scene and bring that into the hospital – to take photos, describe the damage to the vehicle, etc., Chris notes. But, does it matter?

Chris listens to their perspectives as they state their case, and then makes his decision. Listen in and let us know your thoughts: is reporting mechanism of injury important?

Memorable quotes from this episode

“This is one of the few things in EMS in which we need to own. Because if we make a mistake and we evaluate the mechanism of injury wrong, no one else can fix that for us.” — Steve Whitehead

“For all except the most unusual mechanisms of injury, the photo is likely worthless.” — Steve Whitehead

“The critical things that the trauma surgeons are really trying to get at in that moment when the patient arrives is – is their airway patent, are they breathing, is their blood circulating – they are going to the ABCs, just like we do.” — Nick Nudell

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Steve Whitehead

Steve Whitehead, NREMT-P, is an EMS instructor with the South Metro Fire Rescue Authority in Lone Tree, Colorado, and the creator of the blog The EMT Spot. He is a primary instructor for South Metro's EMT program and a lifelong student of emergency medicine. Reach him through his blog at steve@theemtspot.com.

Nick Nudell

Scholar-practitioner Nick Nudell, PhD(c), is the manager of trauma research services for UCHealth, in Loveland, Colorado; and the president of the American Paramedic Association. He has more than 24 years of data science, public policy and paramedicine experience at all levels, including as a hospital and ambulance-based clinician, educator, consultant, regulator, program manager, executive and researcher.

His research interests include innovative governance models and improving health system design to reduce systemic healthcare disparities through mixed methods research concentrated on system design and implementation. He is an advocate for social justice and health equity, interested in discovering the most appropriate resources to provide for a person's needs, in suitable locations, at the right time.

Additionally, through his clinical practice, he has gained significant real-world field and academic experience with behavioral health and substance use disorders that contribute to his health equity and social justice scholarship.

Why do we use morphine in cardiac cases?

Jon Lee joins the podcast to discuss following the evidence and pharmacology research insights

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

In this episode, one of Chris Cebollero’s favorite authors, Jonathan Lee, joins Chris for a discussion of his most recent article, a research analysis examining the benefits of midazolam vs. morphine.

While morphine is the go-to drug when it comes to cardiac events, once you look at the research, there are some red flags, Lee notes.

Lee’s analysis focused on

• The in-hospital mortality had no significant difference between midazolam versus morphine
• The frequency of serious adverse events in using morphine versus

Listen in to the discussion.

Resources mentioned in this episode

• Jonathan Lee: Front-line pharm
• KinderMedic
• Research analysis: Midazolam vs. morphine

About our guest

Jonathan Lee is a critical care paramedic with Ornge in Toronto, Canada, with over 25 years of experience in 911, critical care, aeromedical and pediatric critical care transport. Jonathan’s teaching experience includes classroom, clinical and field education as well as curriculum development and design across a number of health professions.

He is currently delivering KinderMedic, a program he developed to improve the confidence and competence of prehospital providers caring for acutely ill children. In addition to his clinical practice, he is also adjunct faculty in the Paramedic Program at Georgian College. Jonathan is a freelance author and has been invited to speak across North America and Europe on topics such as pediatrics, analgesia and stress.

Jonathan has previously served on committees for professional organizations including the Ontario Paramedic Association and NAEMT. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Critical Care from Cardiff University. Jonathan can be contacted via Twitter and LinkedIn.

Rate and review Inside EMS

Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Contact the Inside EMS team at theshow@ems1.com to share ideas, suggestions and feedback, or if you’d like to join us as a guest.

Catch a new episode every Friday on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, PodBean, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS feed.

The ultimate sacrifice

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

In this episode of Inside EMS, cohost Chris Cebollero reflects on his time in the military and the privilege of serving in the military’s Honor Guard. Chris explains the significance of the 13 folds of the American flag and the honor felt in folding the flag that would be given to a family member of a fallen servicemember.

Chris is joined by Folds of Honor’s Senior Vice President of Outreach, Luke Sherman. Sherman is a past chairman and now senior member with the Board of Directors for the National Tactical Officers Association; a 29 year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department; and owner and principal with Aegis CPG, a Tulsa-based security consulting company.

Sherman shares how the Folds of Honor scholarship program will now benefit first responders, including paramedics and EMTS.

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney started Folds of Honor after his second tour of duty in Iraq. As a fighter pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, he became painfully aware of the realities families face when a loved one in uniform is fallen or disabled.

On his return flight home, the pilot announced the plane carried the remains of Corporal Brock Bucklin on board. Lt. Col. Rooney watched as Corporal Bucklin’s twin brother walked somberly alongside the flag-covered casket to meet his family on the tarmac.

Lt. Col. Rooney committed to meeting sacrifice with hope through Folds of Honor, providing life-changing scholarships to the spouses and children of America’s fallen or disabled servicemembers. Folds of honor has awarded more than 44,000 educational scholarships totalling about $200M since 2007

And now, the mission expands to the families of America’s first responders.

Additional resources

Learn more about supporting Folds of Honor’s mission to help fund educational opportunities for military and first responder families, or to apply for a scholarship at FoldsOfHonor.org.

When de-escalation fails, with Jason Brooks

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

According to Bureau of Labor statistics, for healthcare workers, assault is the most common source of nonfatal injury or illness requiring time off of work.

In this episode of Inside EMS, Host Chris Cebollero is joined by Jason Brooks, BAS, EMT-P, I/C, to discuss the rising frequency of assaults against EMS providers.

Brooks owns and operates DT4EMS, LLC, providing defensive tactics for escaping, mitigating and surviving violent attacks. He has been in the EMS profession for over 25 years, serving as a firefighter, paramedic, paramedic educator and EMS administrator.  He has spent nearly a decade studying the issue of violence in healthcare.

Together, they discuss:

• Personal defense and de-escalation training
• When to de-escalate domestic violence cases
• What to do when verbal de-escalation fails
• 4 rules of physicial and mental defense
• When to leave the scene

Notable quotes from Jason Brooks

If you’re being threatened, you need to make the decision, “is this safe for me to stay here?”

“It's not patient abandonment to leave a scene that's unsafe.”

“There's no law out there that says that you have to sit there and be abused, be assaulted, etc. If it's unsafe, we need to know that care can end.”

“If it gets to the point where it's escalated so quickly, if you have to leave equipment behind for your safety, leave it.”

Additional resources

• Special coverage: Protecting EMS providers from violence
• Preventing violence against EMS personnel
• Research Analysis: Preventing downstream consequences of EMS assaults

Rate and review the Inside EMS podcast

Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Contact the Inside EMS team at theshow@ems1.com to share ideas, suggestions and feedback, or if you’d like to join us as a guest.

Where does the money go?

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

In this episode of Inside EMS, host Kelly Grayson welcomes Nancy Magee, volunteer EMS consultant, and

Rom Duckworth, fire captain and paramedic EMS coordinator for the Ridgefield (Connecticut) Fire Department and the founder of the New England Center for Rescue and Emergency Medicine.

As a NAEMT board member, Rom recently attended the EMS advocacy event, EMS on the Hill, along with Nancy, who attended to represent the interests of rural EMS providers. 

Rom shared, “Bottom line, the experience was great, some parts a little frustrating, but I feel like we were fighting the good fight overall and it was a learning experience for me and I think an eye opening experience for a lot of the other people who were down there trying to fight for a little bit more money, a little bit more protection and a little bit more rights for EMS providers.”

Nancy and Rom recount their experiences and what they learned in Washington, including:

• What the representatives asked of legislators
• Why it’s important to be specific in grant funding
• The elephant in the room (hint, it’s fee-for-service)
• Where the money goes

Connect with us

Email theshow@ems1.com to share your feedback!

Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. 

Creating and supporting resilient responders

While EMS is uniquely rewarding, it is also uniquely challenging, with physical, mental and emotional impacts. During the inaugural First Responder Wellness Week, our dynamic duo, Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson, hosted a special live edition of Inside EMS.

In this edition, our cohosts, joined by EMS One-Stop podcast host Rob Lawrence, welcome Global Medical Response's Ed Racht, MD; and Rhonda Kelly, who manage one of, if not the biggest EMS wellness programs in existence. Listen in to learn how wellness programs are essential to creating resilient responders, and what's working to support members' health, emotional wellness and coping strategies for career longevity.

WHAT ATTENDEES LIKED FROM THIS PRESENTATION

"Great ideas and options to assist providers when they need help and to encourage them to ask for help." 

"Good practical ideas to implement."

"It was very informative on information that we as an industry are using to move ahead with responder wellness." 

Helping the helpers

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

As we lead up to Lexipol’s First Responder Wellness Week, this week’s cohosts Rob Lawrence and Kelly Grayson learn about the work of two important EMS and public safety charitable organizations – EMS Gives Life, with Executive Director, Christine Fiechter, and the Code Green campaign with Treasurer and Board Member RJ Morrison.

Top quotes from this episode

 “Who knew you could donate a portion of your liver – many of us don’t and that portion of your liver you donate grows back in full size and functionality in a short period of time.” —Christine Fiechter

“This is a community that has a very hard time asking for help. They don’t want to ask for help, they want to sit silently; they are used to being the helper, it’s very awkward to ask for someone to donate a kidney.” — Christine Fiechter

“We bring to your attention the names of people that have passed through suicide or have passed through medical or accidents, etc., but we never talk about the people that didn’t – what about the people that did go and get help, that did reach out, that did ask for support, and we don’t read their name, because they were successful.” — RJ Morrison discussing the Code Green “Names not read” tag line

“No one knew how many of our brethren took their own lives unless someone reported it, or said so in an obituary, and we still don’t know how many died in accidents because they were depressed or suffering from PTSD. It’s hard to do good work if you don’t have the statistics and the [FBHA Register] is a crucial initiative.” — Kelly Grayson

Rate and review the Inside EMS podcast

Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Contact the Inside EMS team at theshow@ems1.com to share ideas, suggestions and feedback, or if you’d like to join us as a guest.

Coffee break with Jason Patton

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

If you’ve seen his videos, you’ve likely said to yourself, “been there, done that.” In this episode of Inside EMS, cohost Kelly Grayson and guest cohost Rob Lawrence welcome Firefighter-influencer Jason Patton to the show. Patton, famous for Fire Department Chronicles and Fire Department Coffee, offers a caffeine-fueled glimpse at how he got started in producing videos that have garnered him over 5 million followers.

Listen in as they discuss:

• The power of social media
• The “can’t make this stuff up” calls we’ve all been to that produce fodder for his videos
• Patton’s tips for sharing your own message with the masses, including an outside-of-the-box suggestion for why mistakes are a good thing

Don’t miss:

• “The world, especially our world, needs humor.”
• Patton’s approach to tough topics
• What he did to get a cease-and-desist letter from National Geographic

Sink or swim: Flaws in the onboarding process contribute to the EMT shortage

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

In the 10-year anniversary episode of the Inside EMS podcast, Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson discuss the shortage of EMTs, the imperfections of the onboarding process, and the importance of having good leaders in demanding jobs.

Join Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson as they celebrate 10 years of the Inside EMS podcast by taking a hard look at the desperate search for more EMTs. With more EMS professionals nationally registered now than ever before, the duo dissects why those statistics don’t match up with the number of EMTs currently working.

Our hosts take a close look at EMS leaders and their impact on new EMTs. Plus, they cover specific ways that we can improve the onboarding process to better prepare EMS professionals, and how the sink or swim method is harming new EMTs.

LISTEN IN WHILE WE DISCUSS:

• The lack of preparation in onboarding new EMTs.
• Is there really a shortage in EMS?
• Why is it so important to pair new EMTs with good mentors?
• The negative impact of hazing in EMS.
• How to take care of yourself while maintaining a successful EMS career.

CAN’T-MISS MOMENTS

• “What we have is a shortage of people who are willing to work under horrible conditions for chump change and be unappreciated.”
• “We spend an inordinate amount of time recruiting adrenaline junkies and trying to teach them to be hand holders when we should be recruiting hand holders and teaching them how to function in a crisis.”
• “We need to teach new EMTs to keep that soft chewy center and retain that compassion for as long as they possibly can.”

Resources mentioned on the show

• Article: “Top 10 Ways to Ruin a Good EMT” written by Kelly Grayson
• Book: “Ultimate Leadership: 10 Rules for Success” written by Chris Cebollero

Connect with us

• Listen to this episode of the Inside EMS podcast and look out for new episodes every Friday
• Contact us at theshow@EMS1.com
• Review the show on Apple Podcasts and leave us some feedback

’Any of us can suffer’: Working through post-traumatic stress

This episode of Inside EMS is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

Host Kelly Grayson gets vulnerable on the podcast, as he shares his experiences with PTSD, resiliency and how best to deal with hidden emotions. Asked to be a guest author in a recent anthology on coping with traumatic stress, Kelly's contributed chapter in "But Not Broken" focused on a particular call that caused him to struggle for years and how he worked through it. 

Our co-hosts also explore how the act of writiung or journaling can have therapeutic benefits for first responders who are grappling with traumatic stress, as Kelly shares his tips for dealing with feelings through the written word. 

"Any of us can suffer from PTSD ... and as the saying goes, it's not what's wrong with you, it's what's happened to you," Kelly says.

Have an idea for an episode? Send an email to theshow@ems1.com.