Imminent baby delivery stories

Burnout tips: avoid the overtime. Sometimes the extra money is not worth the additional life stress.

Make sure you get off on time and make that transition to home life.

Andrew uses audio books so he has something to look forward to while driving to and from shift.

Patients are often not even the source of our stress, it’s operational difficulties, interpersonal difficulties and decision fatigue.

Decision fatigue is a big issue we face in our home lives after a significant portion of our day being in fight and flight mode

We talk about driving lights and sirens to every call and the dangers associated with this to the crew and public

This likely doesn’t save lives in any meaningful way that justifies the danger

There is a big push to decrease the emergent responses

We talk about the hazards with emergent returns, the confusion other drivers may have, the danger for the patient and crews.

Road rage isn’t worth engaging in, remember that the bar to obtain a drivers license is very low and many of the meth-using patients we take care of will drive as well. You never know what kind of person is in that other car.

I bring back up the discussion of “Where is God is emergency medicine?”

We see the whole spectrum of life and death. We see people come back from the brink of death that logically shouldn’t and those that succumb that logically shouldn’t.

We talk about strategies to compartmentalize and move on to the next patient

Schasny talks about the traumatic life and medical experiences she has come through and how they have changed her view on religion

Support the show

If you want to support the show, follow the links below for some great health and fitness products.

My favorite protein:
https://1stphorm.com/products/phormula-1/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite 1ST Phorm Energy Drinks:

https://1stphorm.com/products/1st-phorm-energy/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite creatine supplement

https://1stphorm.com/products/micronized-creatine-monohydrate/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite pre-workout supplement
https://1stphorm.com/products/project-1/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

If you want to work on your nutrition, increase your energy, improve your physical and mental health, I highly recommend 1st Phorm. Check them out here so they know I sent you.

1st Phorm | The Foundation of High Performance Nutrition

Everything you hear today from myself and my guests is opinion only and doesn’t represent any organizations or companies that any of us are affiliated with. The stories you hear have been modified to protect patient privacy and any resemblance to real individuals is coincidental. This is for ed...

The team mentality at all levels in the ED is key to a harmonious, efficient and effective environment

In EMS, this can be difficult on a given scene when you may not know the other responders all that well and it can be easy to get offended when no offense was meant

Developing a thick skin is important in emergency medicine. You can’t allow negative emotions of others to affect you all day long.

Patients can be really mean. This is just a fact that can be expected so you can make a plan to deal with it.

One of the cool things about being an emergency medicine provider is that we are the provider that the patient has access to any time of day or night. We are not a expert in any one specialty and that is okay.

Sarah talks about a rough shift in the fast-track part of the ED

Andrew talks about the first code he ran as a medical student and the impact it had on him

It is an honor to be there at a patients last moments and to help their families through it.

It is very easy to forget the human side of emergency medicine. Ask yourself how you would act if it was your family, you were taking care of.

Slow down. Focus on making a connection.

I naturally fall out of making that human connection, so I have to be intentional about connection it or I won’t happen.

Paramedics and EMT’s have a tendency to measure success and contentment by the acuity of the calls they run. I would venture to say we need a better metric: human connection. If you can connect with your patients, this will prevent burnout in your own life and improve your patient care as well.

Strategies for avoiding burnout: music on shift, nebulizing coffee to neutralize bad smells and planning trips

Crazy stickers for comedic relief

We talk about the inaccuracy of pain scales and alternate pain scales

Schasny talks about a patient with an ingrown toenail that got up and left after hearing multiple traumas and code blues announced overhead.

Support the show

If you want to support the show, follow the links below for some great health and fitness products.

My favorite protein:
https://1stphorm.com/products/phormula-1/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite 1ST Phorm Energy Drinks:

https://1stphorm.com/products/1st-phorm-energy/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite creatine supplement

https://1stphorm.com/products/micronized-creatine-monohydrate/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite pre-workout supplement
https://1stphorm.com/products/project-1/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

If you want to work on your nutrition, increase your energy, improve your physical and mental health, I highly recommend 1st Phorm. Check them out here so they know I sent you.

1st Phorm | The Foundation of High Performance Nutrition

Everything you hear today from myself and my guests is opinion only and doesn’t represent any organizations or companies that any of us are affiliated with. The stories you hear have been modified to protect patient privacy and any resemblance to real individuals is coincidental. This is for ed...

Meet our new panel

Matt (EMT) Julie (RN) Sarah (paramedic) Schasny (paramedic) Andrew (EM physician)

Advice for the newbies: Don’t panic, it is not your emergency

Find the balance of detachment while still making sure the patient feels cared for and understood

Part of avoiding burnout is taking some time to access the human side of youself in caring for a patient while also not taking the emotional stuff home with you

You don’t know it all when you are new. You have just been deemed safe enough to do the job.

Knowing where your limits are is important when you are new

Don’t be afraid to ask more questions of those around you in the beginning

Being a new paramedic has its own challenges as there really is no one to consult or provide direct feedback after a treatment

Some ER physicians are not familiar with EMS protocols so have some grace for this situation

In the ED, we must remember that EMS crews have a ton of operational problems to overcome on calls AS WELL as treating the patient for an emergent condition.

Confidence and experience only come by running call after call. You must see a lot of patients.

Medicine is an art not an exact science

Multitasking as an ER provider is just rapidly changing between focuses but is a huge skill you have to develop

Be in the chaos but staying organized is key to this “multitasking”

Another difficulty as a new ER provider is figuring out the order in which to complete the tasks you have to do

Controlled drowning. New people need to be allowed to feel the pressure and the stress while still having a backup so they don’t experience this for the first time by themselves.

Find a method to not let tasks get forgotten.

I talk about overwhelm when I was a new PA

Support the show

If you want to support the show, follow the links below for some great health and fitness products.

My favorite protein:
https://1stphorm.com/products/phormula-1/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite 1ST Phorm Energy Drinks:

https://1stphorm.com/products/1st-phorm-energy/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite creatine supplement

https://1stphorm.com/products/micronized-creatine-monohydrate/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

My favorite pre-workout supplement
https://1stphorm.com/products/project-1/?a_aid=PracticalEMS

If you want to work on your nutrition, increase your energy, improve your physical and mental health, I highly recommend 1st Phorm. Check them out here so they know I sent you.

1st Phorm | The Foundation of High Performance Nutrition

Everything you hear today from myself and my guests is opinion only and doesn’t represent any organizations or companies that any of us are affiliated with. The stories you hear have been modified to protect patient privacy and any resemblance to real individuals is coincidental. This is for ed...