The Angry Biller
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A show where we explore the people and the businesses behind-the-scenes of healthcare, those men and women that are the catalysts that allow providers to concentrate on delivering exceptional patient care.
The Angry Biller
Ep 34 - Transforming Emergency Care: Steve Portnov's Journey from EMS to Event Medical Services
Discover the remarkable journey of Steve Portnov, a renowned emergency medical professional turned entrepreneur, whose life was transformed by a serendipitous encounter with an ambulance team at the age of 18. From his roots in Brooklyn to a lifetime of service with New York City's Emergency Medical Service and a new entrepreneurial chapter in Florida, Steve's story is one of dedication and impact. Tune in as we explore his establishment of the CPR Training Spot, an American Heart Association training site that empowers both medical professionals and the general public with crucial CPR and life support skills. Steve provides a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of CPR techniques and shares invaluable insights into the world of emergency medical care.
But that's not all. Get an insider's perspective on the complex world of medical event care with Steve's ventures—MedWatch, EventCare, and Rapid Response. These companies are revolutionizing on-site medical services at large events nationwide, from concerts to sporting events, ensuring safety and compliance with local ordinances. Learn about the meticulous logistics involved in coordinating with promoters and public services to ensure rapid response times and minimize liability. Steve's expertise in managing scalable operations highlights the growing importance of medical services at large gatherings and his vision for the future promises enhanced safety and success in this critical field.
Rapid Response Ambulance
Steve Portnov
Sunrise, FL
Phone: (863) 978-1200
Website: www.rrmtambulance.com
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Production of Podcast: VISUALS BY MOMO
Josh Fertel
00:04
Welcome to the Angry Biller, a show where we explore the people and the businesses behind the scenes of healthcare, those men and women that are the catalysts that allow providers to concentrate on delivering exceptional patient care. Welcome to the Angry Biller. My name is Josh Fertel, I'm the owner of J3 Medical Billing and I am your host. We are here at the Visuals by Momo Studios in Fort Lauderdale, florida. I have a very nice guest today. His name is Steve Portnov. He owns a rapid response emergency medical services. It's actually an umbrella for about three different companies. I want to have him tell you about all of those. He serves the community in many different ways with emergency situations. How are you doing, steve? I'm doing great, josh. Thank you. Well, I appreciate that you're coming on. I've wanted to have you on before and finally we made the time. So I want to hear a lot about the company, but I want to hear about you first. Tell us your story. Where did you start?
Steve Portnov
00:59
Well, it starts back in 1989 in a beautiful borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Okay, I was 18 years old, I didn't know exactly what I want to do in this life, and one day I was just standing in the hallway of my building and I see the ambulance pull in and two people came out, took the stretcher went inside of the building to take care of someone and I said, well, that could be interesting.
01:33
Yeah, so I did the research, I went to EMT class. Finished EMT class, got my first job. I was a private company in New York City and that's how it all started.
Josh Fertel
01:47
No, it's funny and it's odd. This happened before on the show, where just a sketchy situation creates this opportunity for you to decide what you want to learn, so that's commendable.
Steve Portnov
02:03
I don't know. I didn't want to go to medical school.
Josh Fertel
02:06
Right.
Steve Portnov
02:07
That was the plan, but then I met my wife.
Josh Fertel
02:13
Right.
Steve Portnov
02:13
She was very young.
Josh Fertel
02:14
Yes.
Steve Portnov
02:16
We decided that we're going to get married young.
Josh Fertel
02:18
Okay, and.
Steve Portnov
02:18
I have to support the family and I have to postpone the plans to go to medical school until it was kind of late to go to medical school. I have to work different venue, right, right.
Josh Fertel
02:30
And so what made you decide to start your own?
Steve Portnov
02:33
company I worked for New York City.
Josh Fertel
02:37
Okay.
Steve Portnov
02:38
Emergency Medical Service 911. Perfect For 26 years.
Josh Fertel
02:43
Wow, okay.
Steve Portnov
02:44
And I moved to Florida in 2016.
Josh Fertel
02:47
Right.
Steve Portnov
02:48
And I was planning to do the same thing work as a paramedic, maybe get into the administrative job. I have my bachelor in emergency service administration from New York and, quite frankly, I was just testing it out. My first company, which I started in New York, called CPR Training Spot. I moved that company here in Florida and I was training people in CPR, first aid, advanced life support, basic life support, pediatric advanced life support Everything life support, pediatric advanced life support Everything required for the medical professional to be able to practice medicine.
Josh Fertel
03:31
Right.
Steve Portnov
03:33
And that was. It was pure luck.
Josh Fertel
03:37
So to speak, it was a pure luck.
Steve Portnov
03:39
so to speak when I got in the right place and the right time got the right information, and that's how the rapid response EMS starts.
Josh Fertel
03:48
I love it. I have a special place in my heart for people who start their own, found their own company a little bit later on in life, you know, because I did the same thing. So you probably in your 40s or so at the time Late 40s, late 40s.
Steve Portnov
04:03
I was in late 40s. There you go, so I love that.
Josh Fertel
04:06
So let's start there with the CPR. Tell us about your company that does CPR, training, cpr.
Steve Portnov
04:12
Training Spot is the American Heart Association training site.
Josh Fertel
04:17
Okay.
Steve Portnov
04:18
Which means we work under Umbrella Training Center.
Josh Fertel
04:21
Okay.
Steve Portnov
04:22
And we provide basic advanced life support training for medical professionals and for general publics. Gotcha At this time, to know what to do in case of an emergency become very important and become essential.
Josh Fertel
04:42
Right.
Steve Portnov
04:43
What would you do if something collapsed? And how are you going to do? Call 911? Yes, that's what you're supposed to do, but you can help that individual even before 911 is going to arrive. And that's what we teach for general public and we teach medical professionals what to do at their level and they mandate to have the certification. Where do you do this? We doing at our office in Sunrise. Or we can come to your office or we train like general publics. Every spring we train here in Fort Lauderdale Park.
Josh Fertel
05:30
Right.
Steve Portnov
05:31
We train the trainers for Little League. Oh, that's very good. We do that classes every year for the past five years.
Josh Fertel
05:40
So you're training Little League participants. Yes, that makes sense. I mean, how has well me not having that background? Has the way CPR has been administrated changed since you first started?
Steve Portnov
05:56
Oh, it's been changed. American Heart Association did the major changes in 2010. Okay, major changes. Okay, the entire procedure. How the CPR? Well, okay, major changes. Okay, the entire procedure. How the CPR? Well, it's the same CPR. You push on the chest Right and you deliver breathing for somebody who doesn't breathe Right. However, the amount of chest compression is changed. The way we approach patient initial approach patient is changed and American Heart Association do extensive research.
Josh Fertel
06:29
Okay.
Steve Portnov
06:29
And every five years they come out with new recommendation to improve the way we do the CPR.
Josh Fertel
06:36
Okay, what's one of the things that they change? Is it the amount of compression or the amount of?
Steve Portnov
06:41
Okay, Okay. So back when I started, for example, we were delivering two breaths to five compressions.
Josh Fertel
06:51
Okay.
Steve Portnov
06:51
Right now it's two breaths to 30 compressions 30 compressions yes. And why, is that? Because it came to knowledge that the compression is very important.
Josh Fertel
07:06
Okay, that makes sense, and the amount of compression.
Steve Portnov
07:09
If you deliver five compressions and then you stop to deliver the breath, you do much more interruptions Rather than you compress 30 times and you trying to keep the mistake which some people think oh we're going to do the CPR. We're going to restart the heart Right. Cpr does not restart the heart.
Josh Fertel
07:31
Okay.
Steve Portnov
07:32
What CPR do is circulate blood, because the heart does not function, the blood does not circulate throughout your body, gotcha, and your brain can survive only for about four minutes. And then they start right, and then they start dying out. The cells of the brain start dying out, so the primary goal of that is to keep the blood circulating. That's why compressions become extremely important.
Josh Fertel
08:00
How long does it take you on average to train somebody? Certainly they won't be proficient at it, but to know the basics.
Steve Portnov
08:10
The class is. If it's one person, it takes about three to four hours. Okay If it's a bigger class it takes bigger because, on top of that, we have to explain what you're doing and how you're doing Right. We have to show it and you have to practice and we have to make sure that you know what you're doing and how you're doing. We have to show it and you have to practice and we have to make sure that you know what you're doing.
08:28
Because the complication for example, one of the complication of improper CPR is the broken ribs and people are afraid to do to do this because they're afraid to broke the ribs.
Josh Fertel
08:47
Yeah, and that's become a problem.
Steve Portnov
08:51
And we teach them that this is not how you do. You want to save their life, no matter what.
Josh Fertel
08:55
Right right, when somebody takes your class, do you have the ability to say that they're certified?
Steve Portnov
09:03
Yes, Okay, you take the class, you take the written exam and the practical skill exam and if you successfully pass with the certain percentage which you're supposed to press, we are certified and we show the American Heart Association certification you issue.
Josh Fertel
09:20
The certification Is the written and the practical done at the same time or two different times? You're doing it the same day? You're sure You're doing it on the same day? Yes, so one more CPR question.
Steve Portnov
09:31
Sure.
Josh Fertel
09:31
I am assuming again there's continuing education.
Steve Portnov
09:34
It is continuing education, and your team.
Josh Fertel
09:37
How often do you do that?
Steve Portnov
09:38
Does that have to be done? As per American Heart Association rules, you have to recertify every two years.
Josh Fertel
09:44
Every two years. Yes, so every two years. And what happened? Same thing. You do practical and you do a written.
Steve Portnov
09:50
This is kind of a refresher. You come in, we'll give you pre-test see what is your knowledge, what you need to be refreshed, what you still remember, and based on that, that's how we conduct the class. But usually class is the same.
Josh Fertel
10:04
And a lot of times. So, in order to do this, a client for you would be, let's say, a sports organization, a little league kind of thing, anybody, or anybody.
Steve Portnov
10:18
Anybody Hospitals, assisted living facilities, certified nursing facilities or the private offices there is a lot of offices right now who like to know how to do the CPR Plus the part of the class mandatory part of the class is using an AED which is automatic external defibrillator.
Josh Fertel
10:41
Right, right right.
Steve Portnov
10:42
And we teach how to properly use an AED.
Josh Fertel
10:44
Oh wow, you have a wealth of knowledge.
Steve Portnov
10:46
This has become very popular.
Josh Fertel
10:50
Tell me. There's one time where you got a call from somebody that you taught and they said Steve, it worked.
Steve Portnov
10:56
As a matter of fact, it happened kind of often when you have people who work in the medical facilities but, does not have a chance to practice CPR on a daily basis. Medical floor versus emergency room. In emergency room.
Josh Fertel
11:16
You practice often All the time right Way too often.
Steve Portnov
11:19
Right yeah, Okay On the medical floor when the people, especially rehab facility, they don't.
Josh Fertel
11:24
Right.
Steve Portnov
11:25
And if the situation comes in and they're able to save somebody, this is really. This is a big, big point for them.
Josh Fertel
11:35
Yeah, it's a wonderful thing.
Steve Portnov
11:36
Save somebody lives.
Josh Fertel
11:38
someone lives, it's extremely, extremely, of course.
Steve Portnov
11:43
It feels great, it's gratifying. Yes, it feels nice, awesome.
Josh Fertel
11:47
Let's take a couple of second break here and then, when we come back, I want to talk about the other things that you do Sure. Discover Gabby's Poppin' Pudding Shots, a female-owned business offering indulgent boozy pudding shots in flavors like Nutty, professor and Florida Sunshine. Try our reduced sugar options at Party Trays for unique treats. Visit us on Facebook today. The proof is in the pudding. We're back with Steve Portnov. Steve, we talked about CPR branch of your business. Tell us about the rest.
Steve Portnov
12:15
Okay, so there are another two companies which is interchange to each other is MedWatch, EventCare and Rapid Response. Okay great and they kind of combine. They are combined. I mean they've been run as a two separate company but they're really interchangeable.
Josh Fertel
12:34
Tell us what it does, tell us all about it Well MedWatch Event Care.
Steve Portnov
12:39
the name kind of speaks by itself.
Josh Fertel
12:40
I get it.
Steve Portnov
12:41
This company. It's a brand new company.
Josh Fertel
12:43
Okay.
Steve Portnov
12:43
We just started in July. Okay, because we saw the need for it and it gives us a more geographical ability to operate all over the country. So what we do? We provide medical care at events, at sport arenas, at the concert, anywhere. When it's required to have medical professional at the premises, Got it. Every county, every state has its own rules.
Josh Fertel
13:18
Right.
Steve Portnov
13:18
For example, in Broward County, I believe they said it's more than 800 people. You have to have at least one medical professional. More than 800 people, okay. Present at 800 people, okay, present. Okay, at the concert, okay, so that's what MedWatchers do and we can accommodate any size of the event or any requirement of event. Do you need only EMT basic people? Do you need EMT and the paramedics?
Josh Fertel
13:47
Right.
Steve Portnov
13:48
Would you like the nurse presented? Do you want us to have the staging that we can going to have the nurse, EMTs, paramedics, a doctor who can start treating the patient before they can call 9-1-1 and transport this patient to the hospital.
Josh Fertel
14:04
I don't know what you do. So in Broward County, 800 is the minimum. After 800, you need to have service there.
Steve Portnov
14:12
That's what we read in ordinance, that 800 people. They are required to have at least emergency medical technician present.
Josh Fertel
14:21
The other counties. Is it around the same? Is it more, Is it less?
Steve Portnov
14:26
I'm not sure. I don't want to give you the wrong information. I think it's a variety, right, but ultimately this is your decision. It doesn't have to be a hundred. Let's say you have a concert and you're expecting a thousand people.
Josh Fertel
14:37
Right.
Steve Portnov
14:40
Do you really want to take a chance and not to have a medical professional?
Josh Fertel
14:45
present Right?
Steve Portnov
14:46
Of course not, and wait for the ambulance to come in, or do you want have a medical professional be present? Start treating the patient. It's a less liability on organizers and it's a good for public to come in and to know oh, there is a medical professional right there, If God forbid something happened. I have someone who is going to be able to take care of me.
Josh Fertel
15:10
Right, you go to any event, a food truck thing or a walk-a-thon, you're always seeing those things. So who is contacting you? Promoters, the county themselves.
Steve Portnov
15:23
Promoters Okay, Mostly promoters event organizers.
Josh Fertel
15:26
Okay, event organizers.
Steve Portnov
15:27
This morning I have a call on the way here. I have a call from the promoter for MMA fight which is going to happen this Saturday, nice, in Fort Lauderdale.
Josh Fertel
15:39
Okay.
Steve Portnov
15:42
And I worked with this promoter before.
Josh Fertel
15:44
Right.
Steve Portnov
15:45
And he requests paramedic and EMT and an ambulance to be present at this event. He has the doctors working for him and he needs the ambulance, the paramedic and EMT to present the event, and that's what we're going to get.
Josh Fertel
15:59
So your job at that point is to be outside and wait for hopefully nothing happens, but wait for something to happen. They actually stand inside.
Steve Portnov
16:06
They respond with the ambulance. They remove stretcher, they put equipment such as cardiac monitor trauma bag medication bag. They go on inside and they stand usually by the ring and if something has happened, they're ready to go, and they're required.
Josh Fertel
16:22
They're ready to go. Oh, that's great. Okay, what other kind of functions have you done?
Steve Portnov
16:27
We did a concert.
Josh Fertel
16:29
Okay.
Steve Portnov
16:29
We did quite a few concerts. The biggest concert we did, I believe, on Father's Day Okay, it was Jamaican Day concert, I believe.
Josh Fertel
16:39
Right.
Steve Portnov
16:39
That was 8,000 people. Right, we have set up this staging area. Okay, we have paramedics working in. It was an area which we called the ambulance and that ambulance served as the TRIER center and we have EMTs walking around the perimeter and if medical field needs required, they would be able to get this patient to the ambulance. And the ambulance paramedical ambulance was treating the patient. We treat 40 or 50 people.
Josh Fertel
17:17
Wow.
Steve Portnov
17:17
It was very hot.
Josh Fertel
17:19
A lot of people got dehydrated.
Steve Portnov
17:20
A lot of people, I believe, was dehydrated. It was a few diabetic emergencies, a couple of respiratory emergencies.
Josh Fertel
17:30
You handled them all. It was busy. How does the staffing and equipment differ when it's 800 people or 8,000 people, or Taylor Swift concert?
Steve Portnov
17:40
First of all, it depends on the promoter. We're asking what you require.
Josh Fertel
17:45
Okay.
Steve Portnov
17:47
Then we're asking what is the anticipated amount of people?
Josh Fertel
17:50
Right.
Steve Portnov
17:50
And then we can suggest a certain amount or certain variation of the medical professionals.
Josh Fertel
17:57
Right.
Steve Portnov
17:58
But mostly it goes by what the promoter wants.
Josh Fertel
18:03
Right.
Steve Portnov
18:03
If the promoter is saying, yeah, it's 8,000 people, but I don't want a doctor and nurse, I just want paramedics and EMTs, then it's going to be paramedics and EMTs Gotcha.
Josh Fertel
18:12
No, that's perfect, Perfect. And so now, how does that tie into the ambulance end of your company?
Steve Portnov
18:19
It's an ambulance. We do work with the public services, Like, for example, the concert which I mentioned.
Josh Fertel
18:24
Yes.
Steve Portnov
18:25
The supervisor at the event was in contact with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Josh Fertel
18:30
Okay.
Steve Portnov
18:30
They set up the landing zone in case if they have to evacuate patient by the helicopter Got it. And there was a constant communication with the fire rescue. So if the patient needs to be transported from that field to the hospital, that ambulance would respond within three minutes.
Josh Fertel
18:50
See, I like this part of your business because you can scale it across the country.
Steve Portnov
18:54
Yes, Right, yes.
Josh Fertel
18:56
And so what's your plans? What's your next steps with that Grow that business, okay.
Steve Portnov
19:00
Make it bigger.
Josh Fertel
19:01
Okay.
Steve Portnov
19:02
And make it countrywide. There is a similar business, right, which has been very successful.
Josh Fertel
19:09
Okay.
Steve Portnov
19:10
And we just follow the footsteps.
Josh Fertel
19:12
Right, no, that's good. There's always somebody to show you the path and then you get to maybe improve on it.
Steve Portnov
19:18
And obviously the biggest part of Rapid Response Medical Group is Rapid Response Ambulance Got it At this point. We serve Southwest Florida.
Josh Fertel
19:31
Mm-hmm.
Steve Portnov
19:39
Florida. We serve Hendry, Glades, Highland, Hardy, Akchobie, Polk counties, which is considered as a. Southwest Florida, Southwest Central Florida, and we're also able to serve people in a low key waste.
Josh Fertel
19:51
Monroe County.
Steve Portnov
19:54
Okay, it's a big area, it's a very big area. What we do? We don't provide 911, because 911 is usually provided by municipalities.
Josh Fertel
20:02
Understood.
Steve Portnov
20:03
We specialize on the inter-facility transports. We transport patients from one hospital to another.
Josh Fertel
20:10
Right.
Steve Portnov
20:11
And that happens often, because different hospitals have different capabilities.
Josh Fertel
20:17
Got it.
Steve Portnov
20:18
One hospital is a general hospital.
Josh Fertel
20:20
Right.
Steve Portnov
20:21
Another hospital specializes on a stroke patient.
Josh Fertel
20:23
Okay.
Steve Portnov
20:24
Another hospital specializes on a patient who injures themselves. They're called trauma centers. Right there is another hospital who specialize in cardiac patients. There is a facility that specializes in everything Sure, which is great. It's very simple for us.
Josh Fertel
20:45
So your clientele in that case would be a hospital or assisted living facility or senior living Right.
Steve Portnov
20:52
Assisted living facility, certified nursing facilities, rehab facilities.
Josh Fertel
20:57
Right and mostly hospitals Rehab facility. Okay.
Steve Portnov
21:00
And mostly hospitals.
Josh Fertel
21:01
Okay.
Steve Portnov
21:02
So we provide advanced basic and the critical care transportation Right and our critical care transportation program is it's infantry, so to to speak. We're still building it yeah but we're trying to make this program as one of the best in florida and it starts with training. Okay, our critical care paramedics is all college trained paramedics. So either you come to us as a critical care paramedics is all college trained paramedics.
21:34
So either you come to us as a critical care paramedic and you're training based on the college program, or if you're working for us as a paramedic and you are willing to go to critical care program we send you to University of Florida. It's in Gainesville. It's a six months program, right? It's a hybrid program, so you're doing through the Zoom distance and you have to go there for a week, I believe, for the residency. At this point it's considered one of the best program in United States.
Josh Fertel
22:10
In Florida.
Steve Portnov
22:11
UF In United.
Josh Fertel
22:12
States. I know we touched on this with the CPR and I guess we'll say it again there's always continuing education, always continuing education. Is that done through UF also? No, okay.
Steve Portnov
22:23
You can go through UF and continue education. We do a lot of continuing education. I imagine we have to do a lot of continuing education constantly, constantly working on different programs. Give our medic ability to have hands-on training in every aspect of pre-hospital care. Make sure that they are one of the best in the business.
Josh Fertel
22:48
I'm sure you do. I'm sure you do. How would a facility that would like to employ you, how would they reach out to you? How would they?
Steve Portnov
22:55
reach you. They can email us. If anybody's interested, they can email us. They can call Communication Center.
Josh Fertel
23:01
What's the number?
Steve Portnov
23:03
954-998-1017 or 863-978-1200.
Josh Fertel
23:11
And that's the best way to reach you.
Steve Portnov
23:13
That's the best way to reach you, or they can email us at info at rrmtambulancecom. Say it one more time. Info at rrmtambulancecom Awesome.
Josh Fertel
23:25
Yeah, no, that's perfect. We definitely want to get the word out. So, these facilities that absolutely need your service, we'll try to reach out to you.
Steve Portnov
23:34
All three businesses could be reached through that number.
Josh Fertel
23:36
Great.
Steve Portnov
23:37
And dispatcher dispatch center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is no holidays. There is no weekend.
Josh Fertel
23:44
That's great.
Steve Portnov
23:45
And they can send you to the proper. If you're calling for MedWatch, you can call this number.
Josh Fertel
23:49
Right.
Steve Portnov
23:50
And they switch you to the MedWatch number. Or if you call for CPR training, they will going to switch to CPR training.
Josh Fertel
23:55
Awesome, that's great stuff. I have one more question for you. Sure, if I had a magic wand and I could give it to you and say, steve, do whatever you want to do with this for your business, any three of your companies what would you do?
Steve Portnov
24:07
with it, I guess, public education, oh good one. It's my belief, based on a lot of year of experience, that the general public has a very little understanding what it is. Pre-hospital care. Okay, I love it. Ems emergency medical service belongs to pre-hospital care and a lot of people, as we were talking before you said that people said, oh no, no, I'm not going to go to the ambulance.
Josh Fertel
24:34
People are afraid of ambulance.
Steve Portnov
24:36
A lot of people don't understand that paramedics and MTs is one of the greatest advocate for the patient needs.
Josh Fertel
24:43
True. Thank you for listening today. Please follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn, and you can check us out at theangrybiller.com.