Administration & Leadership

One of the most egregious disservices to EMS students is what passes for medicolegal education in EMT or Paramedic school. Far too often, students are subjected to myth, dogma and outright bullshit from instructors who have at best a superficial understanding of the subject, most of whom have never had their lessons taught or vetted by an actual lawyer. This ...

… there’s a new column up on EMS1. The Special Forces of Healthcare: Becoming Force Multipliers in Emergency Care

It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the fire department EMS model. I’ve written about it a number of times: Marriage Counseling Part I: The Dysfunctional Fire-EMS Relationship Marriage Counseling Part II: The Dysfunctional Fire-EMS Relationship Marriage Counseling Part III: Detente in the Fire-EMS Relationship A few weeks back, I posted an EMS1 column about the recent ...

In this week’s episode of Inside EMS, co-host Chris Cebollero and I welcome women EMS leaders Nancy Magee, Tracey Loscar and Catherine Counts to the Guest Table, where they share with us what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated profession. Short version: If you have a Y chromosome, you really have no clue how much crap women ...

… there’s a new issue of the Paramedic Chief newsletter out, with great content from folks like Rommie Duckworth, Bob Sullivan, Robert Avsec, Dan Limmer, and some blowhard from Louisiana who wrote an article about teaching EMS Dinosaurs to Evolve. Go read, and get your EMS leadership groove on.

Well, yet another respected physician has resigned as Medical Director for that miserable semblance of an EMS system, DC FEMS (that’s pronounced “eff EMS”). The EMS landscape is littered with the professional corpses of talented medical directors who have tried, and failed, to polish that turd. Jullette Saussy lasted only seven months, and she pulled no punches as to what ...

… there’s a new column up on EMS1. The EMS Protocol Paradox. Read. Enjoy. Opine.

Short answer, YES. It can’t and won’t happen overnight, and there will be some growing pains. And no, a degree doesn’t make you a better clinical provider. But it does raise the bar for entry into our profession, which will hopefully lead to better seed corn for future crops of medics. It lends us legitimacy in the eyes of policy ...

In this week’s episode of Inside EMS, co-host Chris Cebollero and I discuss his five-year plan to implement a mostly BLS system at his agency. While there is no “one size, fits all” solution to EMS system design and optimal staffing configurations, my opinion is that we do not have an EMS shortage in this country. We have too much. ...

On this week’s episode of Inside EMS, EMS1 columnist Steve Whitehead and I duke it out with co-host Chris Cebollero and EMS1 Editor in Chief Greg Friese over whether mistakes are inevitable in EMS. Are they? Does accepting the fact that mistakes happen equate to condoning them? Does your QI process treat medical errors as teachable moments, or as grounds ...

Voting in the NAEMT elections opened October 15, and closes at midnight, October 28, 2014. You’ve got until then to cast your vote. If you’re not a member of NAEMT, why not? It may have its flaws as an organization, some of which I have bitched about publicly before, but it’s the most visible advocacy organization we’ve got, and it’s ...

… there’s a new episode of Inside EMS. Chris Cebollero and I discuss what’s wrong with EMS continuing education, current EMS news, and paramedic and lawyer Wes Ogilvie dispels some of the legal dogma that persists in EMS education. Listen to the current episode here. 9 out of 10 people at the skateboard park rated our podcast as “totally bitchin’.” ...

There’s a new episode of Inside EMS, brought to you by the incredibly sexy minds of Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson. This week we talk about the latest EMS news, the coming demise of routine spinal immobilization, and Kelly interviews Chris on leadership styles. Give us a listen, and Bill Gates will give you a nickel for every new listener ...

A JEMS article on the Austin-Travis County EMS System asks is Austin’s EMS system broken? Honestly, ATCEMS hasn’t been anywhere near as good as its press clippings for at least ten years. See: laurels, resting on. The article concludes: “Using the ICMA six signs as a diagnostic, one could conclude the Austin-Travis County EMS system is in distress. The EMS ...

I follow a few EMS forums on various social media sites, but lately I've been commenting less frequently because the signal-to-noise ratio leaves me in despair of the future of our profession. I have to wade through far too many comments from adrenaline junkies, protocol monkeys, booger-eating cretins and fervent disciples of EMS mythology to find the comments of the ...