EMS Today

Brain Drain of EMS

Professionalism is an expectation of any profession and EMS is no exception. Dealing with stress, knowing our specialized skill sets, navigating industry relationships and interacting with the public are parts of the whole that compose the EMS professional. Today’s podcast poses the question of professionalism in our industry and how we can effect change in a real way.

Joining us today is Julianne Stevenson, founder of Sterling Credentials.  She’s been a paramedic, a supervisor, an educator and an educational program director.  Through a strange turn of events, she has a bachelor's degree in biomedical science and a master’s degree in molecular physiology and biophysics.  Decades ago, she got into EMS by accident. Decades later, passion keeps her there. Today, she talks with us about professionalism and its implications to the EMS profession as a whole.

Show Highlights

• Why does professionalism matter?
• Public perception and pay
• What makes a professional
• Toxic cultures = The EMS “brain drain”
• Profession and professionalism
• Current state of affairs
• Educational methods
• Professional peer pressure requires professional courage
• Are we public health, public safety, or something else?
• Psychological exam for school?

 

Epic New Book Shows ‘Principles, Pearls and Pitfalls’ in EMS

This podcast presents an in-depth discussion with the editors of a new in-depth book recently introduced for EMS providers, educators, students and EMS junkies.

Prehospital Medicine: Principles, Pearls and Pitfalls was self-published by the International Prehospital Medicine Institute (IPHMI) with one purpose in mind: to get the most up-to-date EMS principles, pearls and pitfalls into the hands (and minds) of dedicated EMS providers.

IPHMI dedicated the book in the memory of famed trauma surgeon, EMS leader and friend to all on EMS, Dr. Norman McSwain and priced the book at only $14.95 for the e-book version and $29.95 for the 737-page printed version to make it affordable to emergency providers and physicians who could benefit from its content.

The book is written in a question and answer format, features 86 easy-to-read educational chapters on a multitude of subjects. It is 737 pages of amazing content that, in the e-book version, will be updated as topics, science or techniques change. There were 33 contributing authors in addition to the five primary authors whose mission it was to give providers the latest important information in 86 subject areas.

Join A.J. Heightman for a conversational discussion of the book, its contents and its purpose with the five EMS educators who developed its content: Wilfred (Will) Chapleau, RN, EMT-P; Greg Chapman, BS, RRT, REMT-P; Michael J. Hunter, EMT-P, TP-C; Peter T. Pons, MD, FACEP; and Lance Stuke, MD, FACS.

Mobile Integrated Healthcare with Kevin Spratlin

The EMS Handoff guys talk to Kevin Spratlin, MS, NRP, about the Memphis Fire Department’s unique way of handling an overwhelming number of calls. 

Spratlin leads Memphis Fire Department’s Healthcare Navigator Program, an innovative mobile integrated healthcare/community paramedicine model which seeks to reduce the impact of non-emergent medical calls on the department’s emergency response capabilities. He also chaired the Tennessee MIH/CP Task Force. Spratlin has served in the emergency services field for over 28 years.

Show Highlights

 

• Top three issues that patients face
• Challenges confronting
• Monetary cost of ambulance misuse
• Abuse versus misuse
• RADAR program (rapid assessment decision and redirection)
• Community education
• HUG (High utilizer group) team and COVID-19
• Community paramedicine

 

Connect with the Guest

healthcare.navigator@memphistn.gov

 

Resources/Articles Mentioned in Podcast

Memphis Fire Department Healthcare Navigator Program

Pediatric Restraint with Tim Nowak

The EMS Handoff crew is joined by Tim Nowak, AAS, BS, NRP, CCEMTP, SPO, MPO, CADS. Tim is the founder and CEO of Emergency Medical Solutions, LLC, an EMS training and consulting company that he developed in 2010. Through this venture, he is the editor-in-chief of EMS Director magazine, a webinar/app-based continuing education content developer, columnist and blog writer, product developer, instructor and speaker, podcast guest and host, and a social media influencer on LinkedIn.

Tim is also the assistant chief of special operations with a county-wide EMS agency based in Florida, where he oversees the planning and logistics sections, special operations functions and community paramedicine programs for the agency.

This podcast, the EMS Handoff crew is going to review Nowak's article, Training Day: 3 options for safely transporting your pediatric patient.

1. Pediatric transports can be challenging!

• Safe versus Not Safe

• “Mom holding onto baby”

2. Best practices for pediatric transport in the ambulance

• The “Working Group Best-Practice Recommendations for the Safe Transport of Children in Emergency Ground Ambulances” https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811677.pdf
• NHTSA 1999 “Dos and Don’ts of Transporting Children in an Ambulance” https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811677.pdf

3. What is acceptable?

• Start with their own car seat
• Parents tend to keep up with their child’s growth
• What if it was in an accident?
  • 2012 NHTSA document https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811677.pdf
  • No visible damage

  • Where do you place them in the vehicle?

4. Car Restraint Systems

• Inflatable car seats
• In-seat/ convertible restraint systems

• Cot-secured, adjustable straps

• Contour-padded restraint systems
• Roll-out restraint systems

5. Four-point shoulder/ chest restrains

• Pad the voids

• Use four-point straps

6. What is not acceptable

• No one in the ambulance – parents, caregivers, medics or other passengers should be unrestrained during transport.

• Consider your options and plan ahead so you are prepared when faced with a pediatric patient.

7. 4 Safety considerations for Pediatric Transport

• Do tightly secure all monitoring devices and other equipment
• Do ensure available restraint systems are used by personnel and other occupants, including the patient.
• Do not have the child/infant held in the parent’s caregiver’s or EMS personnel’s arms or lap during transport.

• Do not allow emergency vehicles to be operated by persons who have not completed an approved driving course.

“The next time you are completing your PCR, take a look at all of the transport options.  Via stretcher leads the pack, but mom holding onto baby…. Well, it is not there for a reason…”

New Information on HIV

While EMS is rightly focused on COVID-19 right now, Katherine West explains why keeping up-to-date on HIV infection is extremely important.

Project Mayday: Lisa Bertaccini, LCSW

Why did you choose to be a first responder? Is there a link between the impact of childhood trauma, or does a generational family history of career choices influence a person's career choice? Hear a different perspective from a military family life consultant from the Department of Defense on her experience with her psychological perspective on how to maintain mental wellness, the effects of PTSD on the family and how to do a mental health check on yourself.

The Role of EMS Data and COVID-19 with Dr. Remle Crowe

On this week’s Episode of the EMS Handoff, hosts David Blevins, Eric McCullough and Bradley Dean are joined by Dr. Remle Crowe, a research scientist with ESO. Dr. Crowe discusses the significance of data and how EMS data is being used to help support the understanding of COVID-19 in the country. 

Dr. Crowe is an expert in EMS research and quality improvement. From truck clutches to clinical care, she has shown how research and improvement science work to solve problems across fields. Prior to earning a PhD in epidemiology, her EMS career began with the Red Cross in Mexico City as a volunteer EMT. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications related to prehospital care and the EMS workforce. Now, as a research scientist with ESO, Dr. Crowe routinely uses EMS data to improve community health and safety.

Diabetic Emergencies with Dr. Bryan Bledsoe

In this week’s episode of The EMS Handoff Podcast, Bradley and David talk with Dr. Bryan Bledsoe about clinical issues related to diabetic emergencies and the need to expand critical thinking within the profession. Dr. Bledsoe is certainly an individual that certainly needs no introduction. He is professor of emergency medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine and an attending emergency physician at University Medical Center in Las Vegas. He is board certified in emergency medicine and EMS.

Dr. Bledsoe has over 40 years of experience in EMS and is the author of numerous textbooks, journal articles and peer-review papers. In 2008, he was named a “Hero of Emergency Medicine” by the American College of Emergency Physicians. In 2014, he received the John P. Pryor, MD, Award for exemplary service to EMS. He resides in Midlothian, TX and Las Vegas, NV. 

Project Mayday: Whitney Gaudaur

Hear the story of the private industry EMS through the lens of a female paramedic in a busy 911 system from Whitney Gaudaur.

Pinellas County (FL) Implements Model Vaccination Programs for Skilled Nursing Facilities and Emergency Personnel

Join JEMS Editor Emeritus A.J. Heightman and Pinellas County, Florida, EMS/medical direction officials as they discuss model COVID vaccination programs implemented for emergency responders and skilled nursing home facility (SNF) residents and staff.