EMS Health & Safety

In this week’s episode of Inside EMS, co-host Chris Cebollero and I kick over a hornet’s nest by daring to question: do we run hot way too much? Here’s my TL;DR version: Hell yes. Most of our patients could be adequately served with the cable installer’s response time; sometime next Tuesday between the hours of noon and 5:00 pm. All ...

In the latest episode of Inside EMS, co-host Chris Cebollero and I discuss the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services new ground ambulance standards. CAAS’ public comment period on the proposed standards ended December 1. Personally, I’m all for safer ambulance design and better structural integrity for ambulances. They’re big trucks, but they get torn apart rather easily in crashes, ...

In last week’s episode of Inside EMS, co-host Chris Cebollero and I discuss the latest EMS news and events, including the Arizona medics suspended for misusing Versed, why you can rarely believe what you read in the news, and why Victoria paramedics are committing suicide at a rate far higher than the rest of the Australian population. Give us a ...

A couple of years back, my partner and I were assaulted by a combative, intoxicated patient. Not that unusual an occurrence, really. Spend enough time in EMS, and you learn that not everyone is happy to see you arrive on a scene, and not everyone sees you as the good guys. Plenty of them will express their displeasure with fists, ...

In this week’s episode of Inside EMS, co-host Chris Cebollero and I discuss the latest EMS news and events, welcome Brian Fass to the Guest Table for a talk about his new Fit Responder app, and discuss why every EMT should try to attend one regional, state or national EMS conference a year. TLDR version: because your agency’s educational program ...

… to donate to The Code Green Campaign. Your donations go to startup costs for registering The Code Green Campaign as a 501(c)3 charity dedicated to awareness, education and peer support for EMS and public safety professionals suffering from depression, PTSD and other mental illness. Their aim is to erase the stigma associated with provider mental illness, encourage our colleagues ...

Well, to be precise, it wouldn't be granting anything. More properly, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is considering recognizing a human right that supercedes any state regulation. Continuing the general regulatory trend started by Governor Mark Warner (D), and continued by Governor Bob McDonnell (R), Virginia is continuing to strike more state regulations banning gun carry. This time it's Old Domination ...

I find it fascinating to chat with EMS colleagues around the globe. It’s an eye-opening experience, seeing how other countries approach the provision of Emergency Medical Services; who does it better, who does it worse, who has practices we’d do well to emulate, who could learn a few lessons from the American model. One of the neatest things is discovering ...

Ah, the petty tyrannies of local governments and the creep of incrementalism. I think what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Statistically, you're much more likely to contract HIV if you have unprotected anal sex with gay Haitian IV heroin abusers. So why don't we require ol' Dave Byron to submit to HIV and STD testing, monthly drug testing, and tap his phones to see if knows any gays or Haitians? After all, he's a public servant, too. Why should he have any expectation of privacy?

One thing's for sure, though. If these designs take off, that's gonna spell the death of the old "Armor All the bench seat when your paramedic partner pisses you off" trick.

You may notice a new avatar pic over there on the left sidebar. I put it there in response to Epijunky’s and Happy Medic’s challenge to change something on my blog to pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Since changing my blog background to pink seems to be beyond my meager WordPress skillz, I found that handsome fellow ...

Bravery is desired, but recklessness and stupidity are better. Benefits include free funeral services, salary starts at $15/hour, body armor not included.

Godspeed to Gayla Gregory, Kenneth Robertson, and Kenneth Myer, Jr. Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds…and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of…wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the ...

U.S. Department of Transportation fines Mercy Flight of Oregon $30,000 for referring to a helicopter technically owned by another company as “our” helicopter. They can fine a company for using a pronoun inappropriately, yet they can’t mandate that the helicopter EMS industry impose stricter flight safety standards? How effed up is that? Because, you know, it’s not like the helicopter ...

A great many ground EMS crews are infected with advanced rotoriasis, but the problem is not limited to the EMS profession. Quite a few rural ER docs are ate up with it, too.