We're getting closer and closer to EMS Week. What does that mean? For many of us, it leads to a slice of cold, cheap pizza and some random piece of EMS Week swag. For others, it's a chance for them to prove their bona fides as either an "EMS … [Continue reading]
I Know Better Than You Do
Posted on March 21, 2024 Written by
Over the last week, I've had some interesting conversations with some smart people in EMS. Likewise, I've had some conversations with people who think they're smart. During the course of these conversations, I noticed that a common trait of these … [Continue reading]
Doing The Right Thing
Posted on March 17, 2024 Written by
Last week, several EMS friends and colleagues asked me to look at the recent Kentucky case on EMS liability. Obviously, as a lawyer, my first and foremost answer is always going to be "it depends." I'd also remind you that even appellate cases are … [Continue reading]
Texas EMS Conference 2023 Postmortem
Posted on November 22, 2023 Written by
Well, it’s the week of Thanksgiving and for most people that meansturkey. For me, Thanksgiving has always been stressful – mainly due tofamily issues. But therapy has helped with that. (Mostly kidding,y’all.) For me, this week has always been … [Continue reading]
Why Can’t We Get Perfect Volunteers?
Posted on September 1, 2023 Written by
Earlier this week, I watched a great documentary movie about the volunteer fire (and EMS) service called Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat. The movie does a great job illustrating the various cultures of volunteer emergency services throughout the country … [Continue reading]
Blunt Talk
Posted on August 8, 2023 Written by
I was discussing some issues with some EMS friends online this afternoon and the topic of physician and nurse involvement in EMS practice, policy, and regulation came up -- and how physicians and nurses seem overrepresented when EMS policy is being … [Continue reading]
Enough with the British/Australian/Canadian Medic Comparisons.
Posted on June 27, 2023 Written by
First of all, apologies for not blogging in a while. Between practicing law during the day and two EMS roles that keep me busy, I tend to forget that I have a blog and only will wander over here when one of two things happen. One - when I get the … [Continue reading]
Recruitment and Retention: More of the Same
Posted on January 16, 2023 Written by
I was thinking about some of the recruitment issues that EMS is facing. Lots of large, well known departments are having challenges filling paramedic vacancies. Over the last decade, many of them have gone away from double medic staffing because of … [Continue reading]
For Love of the Job
Posted on September 21, 2022 Written by
I have a few friends I consider extended family. One of them in particular feels like a brother from another mother. We have a similar taste for good food and sarcasm mixed with snark. And like me, he doesn't do EMS full-time. He's not paid … [Continue reading]
What Does A Paramedic Need To Know?
Posted on May 12, 2022 Written by
When I was still a relatively new paramedic, I took an EMS instructor class. My instructor had also taught my paramedic course. While I've forgotten a lot about drafting lesson plans (which I think may be the educational version of nursing care … [Continue reading]
