Practical EMS
My mission is to use the stories we all have in emergency medicine to encourage and uplift you where you are. EMT, Paramedic, nurse, PA, NP or physician. Emergency medicine is a very difficult specialty with unique challenges, and it calls us all to be better than the average person in order to stay healthy for our patients, our families and own mental wellness. I want to connect with EMS crews, fire crews, ER RN's, ER techs and new ER advanced practice providers to better understand their current struggles. I also want to bridge the gap between prehospital medicine and the emergency department and to encourage those seeking to become an advanced practice provider. Disclaimer: All Practical EMS content is opinion only. It is unaffiliated with any company or organization and does not represent any company or organization that Aaron currently works for or has worked for in the past. No content should be taken as medical advice.
Episodes
103 episodes
98 | Fire paramedics and medical director panel | Assessing capacity | Suicidal patients | Involving medical control
New panel: Fire officer/paramedic John, fire paramedic Jason, retired fire paramedic Terry and EMS medical director KashHow to determine capacity and how this differs from competency This becomes critical when doing refusals ...
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36:02
97 | Drs. Sean and Adam | Difficult admissions | What admissions do and do not accomplish | Group culture | Obs vs in-patient status | How we can help the hospitalist from the ED
The difficult admissions are the generally weak, unable to walk with no acute findings. They typically do not uncover any acute findings while in the hospitalIn the ED, we can probably do a better job of involving some of our resources l...
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31:20
96 | Drs. Sean and Adam | EM vs IM | Admitting the weak elderly patient | Workflow as a hospitalist | Consulting a hospitalist
EM and IM physicians don’t get a great insight into each other’s careers in medical school or in residencyDo hospitalists like doing consults as opposed to just taking admission requests?Sean says, yes, because it gives us an oppo...
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35:42
95 | Drs. Sean and Adam | Emergency medicine vs Internal Medicine | Mindset differences | Good storytelling | Advice on admission requests
New panel with Adam and Sean. Emergency and IM medicine physicians There is a study from 2023 called Battles to Burnout. Studying the role of inter-physician conflict in burnout. Primarily the conflict between emergency physicians a...
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33:16
94 | Eddie opens up about his deepest struggles in EMS | Retiring from EMS | Lossing partners | Advice for newbies
A difficult aspect of the job is the poor understanding of the public of what we do in EMS, and the poor understanding that our non-EMS friends and family have of what we doThose of us in EMS can understand each other better, we have see...
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31:04
93 | Old school paramedics Casey and Eddie | I’m not doing it for the pay | The Privilege we have | Working in the ED as a paramedic
I tell those EMT’s that want to go to PA school or further education to just skip paramedic school. Go to paramedic school if you want to be a paramedic“I’m not doing it for the pay, I’m doing it because I love it.”Being a paramed...
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30:47
92 | Eddie and Casey | Good EMT partners | Calls that damage you | Remembering the bad calls over the good | Effects of a career in EMS
We talk about the immense responsibility and stress of being a paramedic and the stress difference I’ve noticed moving to ER PACasey talks about RSI and how it still causes his palms to sweatWe should have a healthy respect for hi...
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33:28
91 | Old school paramedics Eddie and Casey | Is EMS just a steppingstone | For some it’s a job, for some it’s a life
Best online EKG course you can finish in less than 4 hours:Practical EKG Interpretation - Practical EMS4 Category 1 CME credits - Fundamentals through advan...
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33:10
90 | Doing difficult things makes you stronger | Pain of getting well is sometimes greater than the pain of staying stuck | Is emergency medicine your purpose
Whatever your beliefs regarding God or lack of a God as you work in emergency medicine, I hope this episode will uplift and encourage youLaurie likes to reflect on the one patient she was there to help during the day. Or the one patient ...
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26:51
89 | Death and dying | Pastor Daniel Grothe | Non-anxious presence | Emotional whiplash | Habits to hit the reset button
Whatever your beliefs regarding God or lack of a God as you work in emergency medicine, I hope this episode will uplift and encourage youDaniel talks about how the most anxious person in the room gets the most attention, but we should st...
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30:05
88 | Death and Dying in emergency medicine | Pastor Daniel Grothe | New panel | Burnout comradery
Whatever your beliefs regarding God or lack of a God as you work in emergency medicine, I hope this episode will uplift and encourage youNew panel! Welcome Pastor Daniel Grothe, ER Physician Eric and ER PA LaurieDaniel talks about...
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31:17
87 | Kevin Hazzard | American Sirens | The great story of Freedom House and EMS origins | The good Samaritan | Early emphasis on intubation
Kevin Hazzard Author of A Thousand Naked Strangers and American Sirens (you can find these on Amazon or wherever books are sold). You can find Kevin Hazzard at KevinHazzard.com...
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25:30
86 | Kevin Hazzard | Missing EMS | American Sirens | Chaotic scenes | Early paramedic John goes from cleaning hospital rooms to intubating critical patients
Kevin Hazzard Author of A Thousand Naked Strangers and American Sirens (you can find these on Amazon or wherever books are sold). You can find Kevin Hazzard at KevinHazzard.com...
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22:02
85 | Kevin Hazzard | Being an EMT tourist | Paragod phase | Moving on from EMS | A Thousand Naked Strangers
Kevin Hazzard Author of A Thousand Naked Strangers and American Sirens (you can find these on Amazon or wherever books are sold). You can find Kevin Hazzard at KevinHazzard.com...
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38:14
84 | Kevin Hazzard | A Thousand Naked Strangers | Writing for film/TV | EMT school process
Kevin Hazzard Author of A Thousand Naked Strangers and American Sirens (you can find these on Amazon or wherever books are sold). You can find Kevin Hazzard at KevinHazzard.com...
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30:33
83 | Is medicine your entire personality? | Get off on time | Burnout | Compassion fatigue | A physicians personal experience with the ER
Don’t make your career your entire personality, extra shifts will affect you over time. Sometimes the extra money is not worth the burnoutThe culture is shifting from working a ton to a better work life balance
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29:28
82 | Getting comfortable saying “I don’t know” | Advice for newbies | Learning from those lower than you on the perceived hierarchy
Batching work applies with nurses too. Do multiples things when you enter the room, so you don’t have to go in and out many timesBen talks about efficiency in the field being important due to the limited time and resources<...
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31:25
81 | New panel | Charge RN advice | Physician efficiency tips | Developing Confidence
New panel! Lucas (ER physician), Kendra (Charge RN, NP student), Ben (paramedic and educator)Kendra talks about her advice for new charge RN’sHave some ER experience first. She says it was difficult starting a...
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33:35
80 | Lori Hodges Part 2 | Author | Paramedic | Emergency Manager
Lorihodges.com (4) Lori Hodges, MA, CCP, PMP | LinkedIn
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36:26
79 | Lori Hodges Part 1 | Author | Paramedic | Emergency Manager
Lorihodges.com (4) Lori Hodges, MA, CCP, PMP | LinkedIn
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31:50
78 | Kelly Grayson Part 2 | Author | Blogger | Paramedic
Kelly Grayson is a very experienced paramedic, educator, speaker and author that serves the EMS community. You can follow him here: (10) Kelly Grayson (@AmboDriver) / X ...
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28:47
77 | Kelly Grayson Part 1 | Author | Blogger | Paramedic
Kelly Grayson is a very experienced paramedic, educator, speaker and author that serves the EMS community. You can follow him here: (10) Kelly Grayson (@AmboDriver) / X ...
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27:21
76 | Difficult intubation | Advice for newbies | Don’t blame patients | Your happiness is up to you | Event horizons on calls
Nick talks about a difficult RSI intubation and his struggle to overcome the feeling that he didn’t do his bestWe talk about how intubation success was such a critical point as a paramedic that everyone would have judged you on...
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29:52
75 | We can’t choose what affects us | Teamwork on scenes | Recognizing you need help | Responding with anger
Nick talks about a difficult traffic accident and how something that seems like not a big deal but actually affected him – we can’t choose the things that affect usIs there something protective in the fire or law enforcement world...
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29:23
74 | Burning out on EMS | Sleep deprivation | Raging at dispatch | Daily micro-traumas
Why did Nick switch to law enforcement? He burned out on medicineWhat does he miss the most: The team mentality. The fire crews that he grew close to. He felt certain they could handle whatever call came their wayWe ...
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32:55
