Skip to content

Archives for ems

See all posts in the network tagged with ems

5 things I took away from EMS Today

1 comment

Last week I attended EMS Today, the National EMS conference in Baltimore that is put on by JEMS every year. The high point of the conference for me was a lecture by Dr. Corey Slovis, and in honor of his lecture style, please allow me to present the 5 things I took away from EMS Today.

1) Plan your time wisely. Between my entire slate Con Ed lectures, time spent wandering through the exhibition hall and the myriad of dinners, lunch, coffee and drinks with friends and associates I didn’t have much down time. Next year, I plan to block out some alone time to decompress a little.

2) Bring a notebook to the presentations. I noticed several people in the audience just passively watching the lectures, which is fine… but if you really want to take anything from the lectures home with you, you need to take notes, even if it’s just to copy the presenter’s email or web address to download the PowerPoint slides when you get home.

3) Prepare to Share. No matter if you paid for the conference yourself or if your service sent you, you should be ready and willing to share some of the material your learned with your fellow coworkers. I don’t mean you should regurgitate a lecture verbatim, but a small presentation at your monthly Con Ed would certainly make you look like you did more than drink in Baltimore and may cement your spot on the trip roster next year.

4) Reach Out. I made it a point to wear a T-shirt or sweatshirt emblazoned with my services logo to the conference every day. Not because I’m a whacker, but because I’m proud of where I work and what I do. I made it a point to talk to people around me in the exhibition hall or in the lecture rooms to introduce myself, find out a little about them and talk about my service. Like many EMS agencies, we’re suffering some staffing issues and if I can make people aware of what we do, how we do it and why we’re a great place to work, we may find a few more qualified applicants to fill our vacancies.

5) Stay social. I found Facebook and Twitter a great way to stay in touch and meet friends that I’d previously only connected with on EMS Forums and through the blog. Justin Schorr, Ted Settla and Kelly Grayson did a great job with this at the conference. The hashtag #EMStoday was seeing a lot of use. If you’re not following your favorite EMS blogger on twitter (@Medic_2_2, hint, hint.) you should do it now.

Posted by on March 4, 2012 • Filed under: EMS, EMS Topics, Training • Tagged: ,

Wow!

No comments

I just realized I haven’t written anything since the end of December, and for that I apologize. I’ve been awfully busy at work… Plus I decided to go back to school and get my bachelors in organizational leadership. I think it’ll help with my teaching and eventual supervisory position here.

Things have been busy at work and I also bought a new house, I’m writing a book, I’ve got a new girlfriend…. Life sometimes gets in the way of the blog.

However, I will be at EMS Today and I’m looking forward to meeting my fellow bloggers, at long last. There are several people I need to buy beers for, and you know who you are. ;)

Life is really good here in medic 22 land. I’m feeling happy and things have never been better. Next big goal, buy a ring and propose to this wonderful woman I’ve met. More about that later.

Posted by on February 22, 2012 • Filed under: EMS

Dave and Tom

9 comments

I feel awful about not writing more frequently… but ya know what? This is time I need for myself. I need time to study and learn and process all of the new info that I’m sucking up every day. Just being around the medics I’m working with is great. I’m getting a lot of the nuts and bolts of day-to-day practice almost by osmosis. Just by working with them, and watching how they interact with patients and each other, I’m learning the art of having presence as a medic. And, to a lesser extent, I’m making careful note of the things I’ll never do when I’m a medic. These are valuable lessons my friends.

I’ve been on some excellent calls recently. Calls that I’m sure seem mundane to my preceptors, but present me with a new learning experience every time I step out of the medic unit. Every chest pain call is an opportunity to hone my assessment and interview skills and tighten up my IV skills. I’m working hard on delegating tasks to the EMTs and other medics with me. These guys and gals want me to run the scene and they’re poised, ready to jump when I say the word, all to help me succeed. I just need to tell ‘em what I want. And that’s a little hard, when sometimes I don’t know myself. But I’m getting better.

I made some mistakes over the past few days. I’m moving fast. Sometimes too fast. Going down the checklist in my head at a chest pain call at 2 in the morning…

“Okay, Tom, let’s get this gentleman on the monitor and some O2… Dave, can you grab me another set of vitals while I get the aspirin and nitro?”

Tom, my Medic preceptor, hops right to getting the patient on the monitor and some Os flowing on a cannula while Dave, the Firefighter EMT that’s with me, looks up from his BP cuff and says, “As soon as I’m done here, I’ll go spike a bag for you and set it up in the truck. I’ll make sure to set the nitro next to your IV roll.”

“That’s great, thanks Dave.” I mouth a silent “thank you” in his direction. He winks back.

And don’t think that Tom didn’t catch that. On the way back to the station after that call Tom asks in the headset, “So, how’d you do?”

I review the call in my head before I answer. I had a great rapport with the patient, we were laughing and joking on the way to ED. I did an great Q&A. Got a 12 lead in the first 5 minutes in the door, got ASA on board quickly, got an 18 gauge in the right AC while we were en route…

“Well,” I start.

Before I could go any further, Tom says, “It was pretty nice of Dave to save your ass with the Nitro, huh?”

“Yes. Yes it was.” I answer slowly.

These guys aren’t out to bust my balls. They’re working to make me the very best medic I can be. And I appreciate that. That’s why I don’t mind helping with chores around the fire house or cleaning up after dinner. These guys don’t get paid to teach me. They like teaching. And I appreciate it.

And yeah, I wasn’t gonna give that guy any nitro ‘til I had a line. I know better than that. But Dave was there to back me up.

I love riding with these guys.

Posted by on January 24, 2010 • Filed under: EMS, paramedic, Partners, Training

Red Cross FAST team

No comments

I’m often asked, “Hey, how do I get involved in EMS?” Well, you start by taking an EMT class and you go from there. However, The EMT class is at minimum 110 hours. That’s a big commitment for someone who’s not really sure if they want to go down that road.


A great way to test the water, to see if you actually can cope with the sick and injured, is to join a First Aid Team. In Seattle, the American Red Cross has a group of very dedicated volunteers that provide first aid at a myriad of outdoor events and festivals. I’ve been a Team Lead with the Seattle FAST team for a while and it’s a great group of people. The cast is wide and varied; from new EMTs and Nurses to Pre-Med students to folks who’ve taken a basic first aid class and just want to be involved.


If you’ve got an interest in EMS and want to learn a little more, I invite you to contact your Red Cross chapter and see if they have a FAST team. If they do, join. If they don’t, convince them to start one!

Posted by on June 30, 2008 • Filed under: EMS, Red Cross