EMS Today

Paramedics Mike Brown and Adam LaChappelle unpack a troubling EMS and law enforcement response in Monroe County, Tennessee, involving an elderly retired preacher named Lester Isbill. Officers and medical crews responded to a call regarding an altered elderly driver who could not remember the current president, yet the patient ultimately ended up arrested, falling in jail, and dying from cardiac ar...

Mike Ettenberg spent over five years working as a firefighter and paramedic for the city of Coronado before pivoting into full-time entrepreneurship. Faced with the heavy mental toll of the job, especially during the pandemic, and the constant frustration of breaking expensive duty sunglasses, he launched Frontline Optics with five thousand dollars in overtime savings. What started as a side hustl...

What does it look like to build a legacy beyond the firehouse? In this episode of  Just A Little Salt , host  Cody Spaulding (The Salty Paramedic)  sits down with  Jim Scano , former firefighter/paramedic, entrepreneur, nonprofit founder, pilot, and the man behind  Firehouse Shirt Club . Jim shares his journey from working in engineering to joining the fire service, the lessons he learned as a fir...

Mark Flauter has a conversation with Chief Brandon Hill from Hays County (TX) Emergency Services District 9 about the challenges of starting a new EMS transport service from the ground floor. The bulk of the conversation covers peer support. They talk about how Chief Hill got involved in peer support and some of the hurdles starting a peer support program. They also talk about providing support fo...

Liz Harney joins Just a Little Salt to share her journey from overdose survivor to EMS educator, program director and quality leader for Baptist Health. We cover paramedic school realities—sleepless study sessions, pharmacology struggles, clinical gauntlets—and how hands-on mentorship shaped her early career. Liz recounts the paramedic who saved her life and later reappeared at her clinical rotati...

Dr. Tim Nutbeam challenges long-held EMS dogmas surrounding vehicle extrication and post-collision trauma care. Drawing from the landmark EXIT project, Dr. Nutbeam explains why fast extrication takes priority over prolonged, in-vehicle interventions. True physical entrapment is surprisingly rare—occurring in under 10% of cases—and traditional "slow and steady" spinal immobilization doesn't effecti...

JEMS Development Editor Mike Brown speaks with Aaron Weedman, PhD, technical lead for machine learning in emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Lenny Weiss, EMS physician and medical director for air and ground services. They discuss how natural language processing can analyze prehospital free-text data, such as chief complaints and 911 call notes, to predict the need for cri...

Jim McGuire, founder and CEO of Entrotech Incorporated, sat down with JEMS Product Pod Host Mike Brown to discuss the origin and tactical advantages of the Multi-T—a self-recoiling, non-stick compression dressing and tourniquet. Developed alongside military veterans for special operations teams, the device was designed to look like simple tape while offering high-strength occlusion at a fraction o...

Infection control consultant Katherine West explains why current Bundibugyo Ebola activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is considered low risk for the United States. She reviews outbreak drivers—border-spanning transmission, insurgent attacks on treatment centers, community distrust, and limited PPE—and summarizes Uganda’s rapid public-health response (isolation, contact tracing,...

Mark Flauter hosts Dan Gerard and Walter Adler for a frank, policy-focused discussion on recognizing EMS as an essential public good. They unpack the EMS Bill of Rights, why ambulances must be ready 24/7, and how a federal EMS Corps and a Department of EMS could rebuild workforce pipelines and guarantee standards. Dan and Walter explain demonetizing true emergencies, aligning bargaining objectives...

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is rapidly transforming emergency medical services, stepping up as the modern equivalent of the 12-lead ECG for today's paramedics, according to Dr. Ross Prager. While portable ultrasound technology was initially developed to miniaturize heavy hospital equipment for field use, widespread adoption faced friction due to complex training demands and accuracy drop-offs...

FDA has cleared Ezplaz, a shelf‑stable freeze‑dried plasma product, opening new possibilities for prehospital transfusion. In this episode Dr. Matt Levy and Dr. Randi Schaefer walk through the history, physiology, and practical realities of dried plasma: why it can stabilize bleeding patients, how it’s reconstituted, and where it fits alongside whole blood and component therapy. They emphasize tha...

This episode breaks down the ICEBERG Study and why driving pressure may provide a clearer measure of ventilator stress and patient outcomes than plateau pressure alone. We define driving pressure, explain how it is calculated, and review evidence showing that higher driving pressures are associated with worse outcomes in mechanically ventilated patients. The discussion explores why plateau pressur...

Lt. Stephen Zachar, lead recruiter for the Memphis Fire Department, explains how the department rebuilt recruitment and retention by hiring EMS licensed candidates, fast-tracking recruits with Firefighter I, and using lateral hires to reduce academy time and overtime costs. Learn how the department hired 1,000-plus EMS licensed recruits from 42 states, increased local retention to 77%, saved upwar...

Three members of the Cool Fireman Podcast join the Salty Paramedic on Just a Little Salt for a wide-ranging conversation about firehouse culture, leadership, and life on shift. Brian Kelly, Doug "Big City" Bishop, and Adam "Unkie" McCoy discuss crew integrity, how phones and station design have changed the kitchen-table camaraderie, what earns a rookie respect, and leadership lessons like "inspect...

EMS has long been technologically underserved compared to hospital systems, forcing medics to perform high-stress mental math in the field. On the JEMS Podcast, OneDose co-founders Tristan and Colton Hazlett share how they're changing that dynamic. What started as a hardware project in their parents' basement, resulting in the OneWeight smart gurney scale, has evolved into a comprehensive medicati...

Tracey Loscar, deputy director-EMS for Matanuska-Susitna Borough (AK) joins the Not A-Fib Podcast. We discuss the challenges of working in Alaska. Some of those challenges include the lack of resources, the distance to care, the difficulties in reaching patients, and all versions of EMS in the state. We also discuss the vastness of the Alaskan wilderness and the long hours of daylight and darkness...

Mike Brown and Jesse Carroll from Hamilton Medical break down ventilatory management for the DKA patient and other metabolic-acidosis presentations in the prehospital setting. They focus on why minute ventilation, not just rate, matters when you take a patient's airway: match or exceed the patient’s compensatory minute volume, size tidal volume to ideal body weight), and account for dead space. Pr...

In this episode we walk through how noninvasive ventilation for pediatric respiratory distress moved from an idea to standard practice in central Ohio. Guests Rob Glaze and Kyle Goodknight describe a child’s near‑miss, the partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Westerville Fire’s rollout. They debunk myths—kids won’t tolerate masks, PEEP will harm hypotensive children, blow‑by works—...

Jana Williams, president and CEO of the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS), joins Mike Brown to discuss the evolving role of air medical and critical care transport. They cover AAMS’ three pillars—advocacy, collaboration, and education—highlighting current priorities: Medicare reimbursement that reflects modern clinical and aviation investments, the mental health and aviation bill, and a c...

Matt Zavadsky from PWW Advisory Group (PWW|AG) joins the podcast to discuss the economics of EMS. We discuss the current economic landscape of EMS and how it has strained some services to the point of closure. We also discuss the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection Surveys conducted over the past few years and how some of the data collected were not included in the final results published. W...

Dr. Tim Nutbeam, a consultant and professor of emergency and prehospital medicine at a major trauma center in Plymouth, UK, explains evidence that should change how teams manage vehicle entrapment. Key takeaways from the EXIT research program: self extrication often produces less spinal movement than complex “slow and steady” techniques; minimize entrapment time because clinical observations poorl...

Mike Brown sits down with Dr. Sarah Fabiano and Mike Ellis as they distill pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis into a clear prehospital approach. Using a “sour blood stew” recipe metaphor, they explain how zero units of insulin produces ketones, osmotic diuresis, dehydration, and electrolyte shifts. Key takeaways for EMS: prioritize perfusion with IV fluids (lactated Ringer’s preferred), monitor rhyth...

Paramedic Brad Lawson joins Just a Little Salt to talk about founding the PIERCE Foundation and PIERCE Provisions, running mental wellness summits and a new Responder Fest. Brad explains why cumulative trauma drives PTSD and emotional numbness, how healing looks, and why peer led, story driven summits cut through the usual PowerPoint culture. He announces upcoming events: Responder Fest (Greenvill...

Melody Mesmer tells the story behind Foundation 1023, a peer driven nonprofit born after a string of 2015 line of duty tragedies.   Melody explains how 1023 (Kristen McLean’s badge number) connects first responders, dispatchers, medical crews, tow operators and families in Texas and Colorado to culturally competent, trauma informed counselors, peer support training, and outdoor resiliency programs...