Keeping you on the pulse of what’s happening inside the EMS community. Catch up with Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson weekly as they discuss EMS life through good-natured banter and expert perspectives. Their vehicle for delivering the news and know how is that of two medics sitting on the truck between calls. Their mission is to make all listeners, EMS insiders.
Episodes
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
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.
Inside EMS has been serving up industry news and hot topics for 10 years, with over 600 shows and about 2 million listens!
In this episode, our cohosts, Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson discuss the importance of getting outside your rig, your agency and your silo to learn from others.
Our dynamic duo break down an article from rural EMS expert Nancy Magee on the top 10 reasons to attend EMS conferences.
Memorable quotes
“If you’ve seen one EMS squad, you’ve seen one EMS squad, and way too many agencies only know their way of doing things, and they kind of stagnate – or they run the risk of stagnating – if they don’t get outside their own little bubble and see the ways that other agencies are doing things.” — Kelly Grayson
“If you feel like you’re the smartest person in the room; you’re in the wrong room.” — Kelly Grayson
“There are people who are doing the work in organizations who are far more advanced than you are.” — Chris Cebollero
“There are very few new problems under the sun.” — Kelly Grayson
Listen in as they discuss:
- Getting out of your comfort zone/tearing down your silos
- The benefit of networking – seeing what’s working for other agencies
- How enthusiasm is infectious
Additional resources
- 10 reasons to attend EMS conferences
- EMS World Expo 2023: Welcome to New Orleans
- Can’t make it to EMS World Expo?
Rate and review
Catch a new episode every Friday on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, PodBean, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS feed.
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. LIST
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
This episode of the Inside EMS podcast is sponsored by Verizon Frontline. The advanced network for first responders on the front lines. Learn more at verizon.com/frontline.
“To remember those who have sacrificed, and who ran up the stairs and escorted people in the eyes of danger, you owe it to them to try to be your best every day.” — Aaron Zamzow
In this special crossover episode of the Policing Matters, Better Every Shift and Inside EMS podcasts, Cohosts Jim Dudley, Aaron Zamzow and Chris Cebollero come together to discuss preserving the legacy of 9/11 responders and to assess our readiness to respond to a large-scale MCI in our communities.
Together, they dive into technology trends that we could (and should!) use to improve the security of citizens and first responders, from license plate readers to crime mapping, facial recognition, drone surveillance and AI analysis.
Watch in as our panel discusses:
- Keeping the 9/11 legacy alive with new generations
- How awareness of occupational cancer and mental health concerns is more prevalent today
- Community preparedness and incident command
- 9/11-related illness and its continued impact and devastation today
- How AI can contribute to the security of citizens and first responders
- The importance of information sharing and security
Memorable quotes
Our cohosts shared poignant reflections of the infamous September day and offered their analysis on how best to prepare first responders for large-scale mass casualty events, with several notable takeaways:
“It’s up to all of us to try to get better, try to improve, try to do something to hone our profession to provide the best service we can when we’re called to do that. And that doesn’t require a chief, that doesn’t require leadership; that requires a mirror, and that requires you and some dedication.” — Aaron Zamzow
“After 9/11, we had PPE in the trunk of every radio car, and training every year, and little-by-little, the suits expired, the training stopped, the funds ran out; and we may be at a situation worse than before, so we need that impetus to take another run at preparedness, training, exercises, PPE, equipment, and a best practices manual, and that’s got to come from above so that we’re all doing it the same.” — Jim Dudley
“The economic factor should not be a factor. FEMA puts out 100, 200, 700, 800 for free to law enforcement agencies and many more subsets beyond that. So if you are an agency – if you’re listening to this podcast – if you’re not practicing ICS, find out why and explain to your chief sheriff, ‘it’s free, we’ve got to do it; we should start doing it now.” — Jim Dudley
“We’re not working for today – we’re working for the next 5 and 10 and 15 years now – and how do we need to prepare for this?” — Chris Cebollero
“We saw firefighters run into that building – there were police officers there too – that were in harm’s way, trying to get people out of there, and that’s what we do, and now we’re seeing ‘hey, even though we do that, there are harms beyond just that physical incident.’” — Aaron Zamzow
“We’re in protective service and we need to be proactive in the way that we look at these things … we looked and said this could never happen; well it did, and we did a heck of a job responding after the fact, and we were very proactive after a period of time, and I think that’s gotten a little bit lax and we need to stay on our toes, stay vigilant, and I think that’s one of the best ways to remember all those people sacrificed in these events, is to grow from them.” — Aaron Zamzow
Additional resources
Read more reflections, tips for processing and lessons for training to respond to MCIs in our 9/11 coverage, sponsored by Verizon.
Learn more with these resources mentioned in this episode, as well as additional articles from Police1, FireRescue1 and EMS1:
- The Raytom Group – training law enforcement officers in EMS
- Policing Matters: BRINC's Blake Resnick and Don Redmond on evolving drone technology
- Policing Matters: Jamie Hudson on how Elk Grove’s Real-Time Information Center gathers and shares information AI in action: Enhancing school security with ZeroEyes' gun detection system
- FEMA’s free ICS training
- Why all law enforcement officers should read the 9/11 Commission Report
- POV: ‘It is time to demand adherence to NIMS/ICS and accountability for failure to implement’
- On-Demand Webinar: What Firefighters Want from Incident Commanders
- Are we communicating better after 9/11?
- Responding to an MCI of 9/11’s proportions, with today’s limitations
Rate and review
Catch a new episode of Inside EMS every Friday on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, PodBean, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS feed.
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.
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
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.
“Tell me a time when you were stressed and how you dealt with it.”
You’ve like heard, answered or asked a variation of that question in one or more interviews during your career. But how can interviewers get more from their questions?
In this episode of Inside EMS, cohosts Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson discuss a recent article by Lexipol Editorial Director, Greg Friese, MS, NRP; “How to use ChatGPT for paramedic interviewing, selection.”
In the article, Greg outlines how leaders can use Chat GPT to craft panel interview questions, and a sample prompt:
I am interviewing applicants for a full-time job as a paramedic at a busy, private ambulance service that responds to 911 calls and interfacility transport requests. One component of the process is a panel interview with the operations supervisor, a field training officer and an experienced paramedic. Recommend five scenario-based questions the panel should ask each applicant.
In this episode, Chris and Kelly put Greg’s prompt to the test and debate, should we be using AI in our daily work in EMS?
Tune in to this episode
Listen in as our hosts discuss:
- Other use cases for generative AI in EMS – from scenarios to deployment plans
- How AI is a potential resources – as well as a potential headache – for educators
- Takeaways from the recent 2023 NAEMSE Symposium
- Flattening the forgetting curve – retaining training
And don’t miss a side debate: is there a case for prehospital ultrasound?
Memorable quotes
“When we think about interviewing, that’s when people really will put the dog on; they are giving us the very best of who they are and we are just getting answers to questions that may or may not be true, and we really have to try to decipher, but how do we challenge these people who are coming in?” — Chris Cebollero
“Our dean walked into the office and said, ‘I need you all to start thinking about how we can use ChatGPT and generative AI to enhance and augment our paramedic program.” — Kelly Grayson
“The better you are at writing prompts and giving it some specific direction, the better content it’s going to churn out for you.” — Kelly Grayson
Let us know how you’re using AI in EMS: contact editor@ems1.com.
Rate and review
Catch a new episode of Inside EMS every Friday on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, PodBean, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS feed.
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.
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Get better every shift with stress management and leadership insights from Aaron Zamzow and Janelle Foskett
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 special episode of Inside EMS, Host Chris Cebollero welcomes the dynamic hosts of the Better Every Shift Podcast, Aaron Zamzow and Janelle Foskett. In Better Every Shift, Zamzow, a Madison (Wisconsin) firefighter; and Foskett, editor-in-chief of FireRescue1, spotlight the passion and perseverance of firefighters and EMS providers, as they dig into what drives responders to improve themselves, their crew, the service as a whole. Listen in to get better every day, every call, every shift.
In this episode, they discuss:
- Getting out of your comfort zone
- The issues no one wants to talk about in the fire service (e.g., recruitment and sleep)
- Leadership and stress management
- Managing up
- The need for leadership training
- How a staffing crisis leads to a leadership crisis, that leads to a stress crisis – and the ramifications on health and wellness
Foskett also shares insights from the FireRescue1 "What firefighters want in 2023 report," into firefighter stress. Foskett notes among respondents, 46% reported considering leaving their fire department – mostly due to staffing – and a staggering 42% of firefighters are considering leaving the fire service due to their stress levels.
Memorable quotes
“In order to be a better whatever – paramedic, firefighter, EMT, podcaster – you need to get out of your comfort zone.” — Aaron Zamzow
“We’re really starving for leadership, but in the same breath, we’re looking in the maybe the wrong places, whereas we should be starting in the mirror and then looking out.” — Aaron Zamzow
“People are craving leadership and when there is a lack of leadership, that doesn’t mean all is lost; you have options, you have solutions, and you can take ownership of that and be proactive.” — Janelle Foskett
“There are some of those fire houses, they don’t turn a wheel in a 24 hour period; there are other ones that don’t get to see their beds in a 24 hour period. It’s one of the things that we now have to start to think about. We’re still running models for EMS and fire that we were running 40 years ago.” — Chris Cebollero
Learn more
- Follow Better Every Shift on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcastsor wherever you listen to your podcasts
- Download the "What firefighters want in 2023 report" for more insights into staffing and stress relief
- Download the "What paramedics want in 2023 report" for insights into mitigating stress, staffing challenges and leadership shortfalls
Thursday Aug 03, 2023
Thursday Aug 03, 2023
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, Chris and Kelly discuss the recent spotlight on public access defibrillation after high profile cardiac arrests in young athletes, as well as the growing danger of assaults in the field for EMTs.
Together, they discuss:
- Bronny James, USC freshman and son of Lakers star LeBron James, was resuscitated after a cardiac arrest at USC basketball workout
- Julia Taylor Fatum, a N.Y. EMT, was stabbed and nearly killed by a patient in her ambulance
- The death of Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, who was stabbed multiple times
- The collapse of Damar Hamlin and the world watching his on-field resuscitation
- Has EMS taken a step backwards in training the public?
- How violence against providers is becoming a retention issue
Memorable quotes
“Children and athletes and young adults can go into cardiac arrest, and I would wager that the only thing that saved Bronny James’s life is that second link in the AHA chain of survival, which is prompt, early access to defibrillation, and it’s a shame that public access to defibrillation in so many places is still a pipe dream or poorly implemented such that it’s not really public access.” — Kelly Grayson
“Public access to defibrillation means just that: public access to defibrillation. It’s not a special thing for special people to use. The whole point of public access to defibrillation is that it can be readily accessed by anyone.” — Kelly Grayson
“As an EMS leader … that has to be first and foremost concern of mine: to make sure that the workforce goes home at the end of their shift. And I’m losing faith in that we are keeping our providers safe.” — Chris Cebollero
“We’ve been on calls that have been very benign, that have escalated verbally, that have escalated behaviorally.” — Kelly Grayson
“Keep your heads on a swivel. Always be alert, always have your eye on your patient.” — Kelly Grayson
Learn more
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Monday Jul 24, 2023
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, Cohosts Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson dive into critical thinking. They point out the need to teach EMT students how to make the leap from linear to critical thinking, and the key critical thinking skills needed to make decisions:
- Being curious: Asking the question why
- Reasoning
- Self-awareness
Memorable quotes from this episode
“Critical thinking is all about the discipline of being able to take in information to experience what’s happening, to have a good observation of what’s happening and to reason and make the best decisions that we can.”
“I think one of the hallmarks of intelligence is intellectual curiosity.”
“This is a missing component of critical thinking. Just because we’ve gotten some information doesn’t mean that information is acted on without good analysis.”
“When you can divorce yourself emotionally from the information that you’re processing, it makes it much easier to analyze.”
Together, they discuss:
- Linear thinking vs. critical thinking
- Taking emotions out of thinking
- Emotional intelligence
- Falling victim to confirmation bias
Thursday Jul 20, 2023
Thursday Jul 20, 2023
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.
After 30 years in EMS in Louisiana, the past 15 as a critical care paramedic, Kelly Grayson is leaving the Bayou state – and the rig – for a full-time paramedic educator role in New York.
Kelly will begin his position as the lead instructor as the lead instructor for the new CoAEMSP-accredited paramedic program at Clarkson University in Pottstown, New York, in August.
Chris and Kelly discuss what motivated Kelly to make this leap, and what happens when you change jobs and have to prepare for the next chapter.
Memorable quotes from this episode
“I can render no higher praise for an EMS agency than to say they let me do my job without handcuffs.”
“When we lose a longtime member of the workforce – it hurts – and I hate to be the one to do that.”
“You never want to burn a bridge. Even if you hate the place you work, you never know that you may have to go back to them one day and say, you know, ‘are you looking for any help?’”
“If I make a commitment to a place, I’ll follow their rules, cheerfully.”
“Make yourself valuable to prospective employers. If you’re not happy where you are, you can make a good living at EMS, you can have career satisfaction in EMS. You might not be able to have those things at the place you are currently.”
“It’s an employee’s market right now.”
“Vote with your feet.”
Together, they discuss:
- When it’s time to make a career change
- The skills you need when you come off the truck
- Shifting the paradigm in EMS education
- Developing and standing up a new paramedic program
- Bringing affordable EMS education to rural communities
- How to leave a position without burning bridges
Friday Jul 14, 2023
Friday Jul 14, 2023
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.
“My first reaction was, what the hell. My second reaction was, well, I guess if there’s not going to be any participation agreement, then we’re not bound by confidentiality anymore, and I’ll just email the Booz Allen presentation to every member of Congress, and say, ‘here’s the savings to the Medicare program, please pass the TIP and TAD language. And I honestly think we should do that, and we probably will.” — Matt Zavadsky
In this crossover episode of Inside EMS and EMS One-Stop, Matt Zavadsky, MS-HSA, EMT, chief transformation officer at MedStar Mobile Healthcare (an ET3 participant), joins cohosts Chris Cebollero and Rob Lawrence to discuss the recently announced end of the ET3 program.
Top quotes from this episode
- “That must be a mistake … I was just dumbfounded, absolutely dumbfounded.” — Matt Zavadsky
- “We can’t stop this – we’ve got to continue to move this along somehow and ensure that we’re still doing the things we need to do for our patients.” — Chris Cebollero
- “Continue to do what you do while we try to sort out this mess, because we thought we were on the right route, and then someone’s now put out a roadblock, so we have to work out how to detour or indeed knock it down. Keep up the good work while we try to work out how to get around this.” — Rob Lawrence
- “We as a profession cannot let this be the final word.” — Matt Zavadsky
In addition to why CMS didn’t see the savings they were anticipating, and the hoops agencies had to jump through to participate in the ET3 program, the group focuses on what’s next for reimbursement reform.
Together, they discuss:
- How the national associations (NAEMT, AAA, IAFC, IAFF) are working to get legislation introduced in Congress to get treatment in place and transport to alternate destinations (TIP and TAD) covered
- The need for data from organizations that participated in the ET3 model that proves the cost savings
- Admittance avoidance vs. arrival avoidance at the ED
- Turning frustration with Medicare into action
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.
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Steve Grau, Anna Liotta and Steve Wirth join hosts Rob Lawrence and Chris Cebollero at the American Ambulance Association Annual Conference 2023
This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence 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 EMS One-Stop/Inside EMS crossover podcast, Chris Cebollero teams up with Rob Lawrence to report on the 2023 American Ambulance Association Annual Conference from the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Rob and Chris discuss their own personal highlights and Rob’s leadership session, delivered with Acadian Ambulance President, Justin Back.
Rob and Chris are joined by Page, Wolfberg & Wirth Founding Partner, Steve Wirth, Esq., and discuss bias, the topic of Steve’s conference session. Rob then interviews AAA keynote speaker, Anna Liotta, together with Royal Ambulance President Steve Grau, as they discuss:
- Generational codes in the workforce
- The revolving door of employment
- Creating the milestones of forward progression
- Understanding that your people are you primary customer
TOP QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE
“In dealing with bias, self-awareness is absolutely critical – you have to do an inventory of your life and say ‘where are these things that I’ve experienced and how do they affect my decision making today and my interaction with other people,’ so self-awareness is really the first step.” — Steve Wirth
“When you go to a conference, go up to somebody. The reason that you have a nametag, with your first name in very large font is so that I can say, ‘Hello Chris, I’m Rob, pleased to meet you. What do you do?’ and that’s how a network occurs.” — Rob Lawrence
“Having this culture of a high-level of engagement is really focusing on our employees as our primary customer and making sure that we understand what their goals, ideals, passions are, and how to meet them.” — Steve Grau
“Just by the way they answered a simple question ‘so, what do you do?’ I could tell if they had been working there 2-3 weeks if they answer with a bright sparkle, ‘I work at Amazon.’ But if they had been there 2-3 months, they would pause, ‘well … I work at Amazon,’ And 6 months, they would drop a codeword, ‘I currently work at Amazon.’” — Anna Liotta
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Watch for more
https://www.ems1.com/leadership/articles/the-10-commandments-of-servant-leadership-OkBq610vz8C12Gb1/
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EPISODE CONTENTS
Part 1: Rob Lawrence and Chris Cebollero – Serving to lead
00:30 – Rob and Chris introduction
1:30 – Car seat safety (not rated for ambulances)
3:30 – Rob’s leadership session with Acadian President Justin Back on the principles of leadership, serving to lead
05:30 – Chris discusses leadership as a science
06:30 – What we want from our leaders
Part 2: Steve Wirth – Overcoming bias
07:30 – Welcome Steve Wirth
08:00 – Steve discusses his conference session, “We are all prejudiced” delivered in partnership with Macara Trusty (GMR)
11:30 – The importance of networking and meeting professional friends
14:56 – Chris talks about his leadership series on EMS1
Part 3: Anna Liotta and Steve Grau – Retaining your primary customer
16:00 – Introduction: Anna and Steve
17:00 – Generational difference - Have you seen a “Star Wars” movie?
17:30 – Anna: Common sense is not that common
18:30 – The Royal Ambulance (award winning) Career Bridge Program
20:00 – Generational codes in the workforce
22:50 – The revolving door of employment
24:00 – Creating the milestones of forward progression
25:00 – Anna’s Experience with Fortune 500 companies
25:30 – Understanding that your talent and people are your primary customer
26:00 – Creating an arc of experience
28:00 – Not allowing yourself to say “that’s how I did it”
29:00 – Fostering the whole human
30:00 – Pulling talent forward
31:00 – Rob and Chris close
ABOUT OUR GUESTS
Anna Liotta
Anna Liotta, creator of Generationally Savvy Communication Solutions, is an award-winning speaker, business consultant and author. She engages audiences with her practical strategies for attracting, growing and retaining top talent and loyal clients from every generation.
Anna integrates communications, sociology, business psychology and demography to unify workplaces and dramatically improve company performance. Her expertise and insight have helped such companies as Pike Place Market, Intel, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Amazon, the PGA, NBA and United Way.
Steve Grau
Steve Grau and his family emigrated from Ukraine in 1989, arriving in San Francisco with $80 to their name. He became interested in healthcare 15 years later, when he took a hands-on role caring for his grandfather after a series of debilitating strokes. Witnessing how emotional support impacted physical healing, Steve was inspired to leave the tech industry to start an ambulance service that focused on patient experience.
Steve Wirth
Steve Wirth is a founding partner of Page, Wolfberg & Wirth. In a distinguished four-decade public safety career, Steve has worked in virtually every facet of EMS – as first responder, firefighter, EMT, paramedic, flight paramedic, EMS instructor, fire officer and EMS executive. He was one of central Pennsylvania’s first paramedics. Steve brings a pragmatic and business-oriented perspective to his diverse legal practice, having served for almost a decade as senior executive of a mid-sized air and ground ambulance service, helping to build the company from the ground up.
Friday Jun 30, 2023
Friday Jun 30, 2023
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, our cohosts and best-selling authors put our listeners on the path to becoming authors.
Top quotes from this episode
“Everybody has a book title in them and we’re going to put everybody on the path of becoming authors.”
“I have an idea of where I want the story to go, but how the characters interact, how they talk, the adventures and trials and tribulations they go through, develop as the story goes along.”
“When I'm at my best, the writing just flows, and I'm just typing away and I'm giggling or crying, as the case may be, and enjoying the hell out of it.”
“The days that it doesn't flow like a waterfall is where it takes some work ethic and some discipline, and you have to get the story on the page no matter how bad you think it is, and then find your muse and find the spark in it in the editing process.”
Together, Chris and Kelly discuss:
- How writing can be therapeutic
- Kelly’s latest short stories, “They call me Tully”, “Cecil the Combat Wombat,” and “The battle of Waffle Haus 814”
- Chris’ top 10 tips for success in “Ultimate leadership”
- Writing process: how Kelly gets through the tough days and Chris’s unique approach, that isn’t writing at all
Additional resources
- How to submit an article to EMS1
- 5 alternatives to journaling if you don't like to write
- Getting published in EMS
- How writing may have saved my EMS career
Send your book titles to theshow@ems1.com