EMS Today

This is a stirring conversation with Michael Touchstone. Be a change agent. Be a student. Treat other humans well.

Sean J. Britton, MPA, NRP, speaks about his recently published JEMS article,  Financial Health and Wellness for EMS Clinicians . Britton is a practicing paramedic and EMS educator at Superior Ambulance Service in Binghamton, New York. Sean is the principal and financial Planner at STAT Financial Health. He was formerly the chair of the EMS workforce committee of the NAEMT.

In this episode, Raphael and Dov discuss how remembering to focus on the basics of EMS saves lives. The duo talks about some humorous, and some not so humorous, stories that took place recently in Israel and how focusing on basic protocols ended up saving the lives of the patients. 

Host Eric Chase speaks with Aaron Rhone, PhD, MPA, the bureau director at Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of EMS, about flexibility, connection, education, vision, bias, and integrity, among other subjects.

In this episode, Dov and Raphael delve into the week that was (August 5th-12th) wherein United Hatzalah, as a national EMS provider, responded to a war, a major terror attack and a series of horrific bus accidents. Give a listen to get a taste of what that one week was like for the EMS first responders in Israel.

Hosts Scot Phelps and Maria Werner talk about Scot’s trip visiting EMS systems in Helsinki, Finland, Tallinn, Estonia and Vilnius, Lithuania.

This episode discusses the really tough calls, the ones that leave us scarred and filled with emotional and psychological baggage. It gets into a lot of heartfelt and tense issues. It may not be suitable for all listeners. In today's episode, Dov and Raphael dig way down and discuss “That Call,” the call that no one wants to respond to, the worst calls that we have ever responded to, the ones that...

On this week’s episode of the EMS Handoff, Bradley and David are joined by Jim Bazluki and Jeff Hinshaw where they take on the topic of the new school year and the rise in sports-related injuries. An extension of the “Jeff and Jim Show,” as they call it, our guests discuss the capabilities of athletic trainers at the local high school, university, and professional settings – as well as relationshi...

This year, David had the opportunity to take the Handoff Podcast to the Tennessee EMS Educators Conference in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In this compilation, you will hear from Tennessee EMS Education Association (TEMSEA) President Shannon Morphis, Medcognition CEO Russell Unrath, Sumner County EMS Training Officer and TEMSEA Board Member Brent Dyer, and John Scullin from the National EMS Museum.

On this week’s episode of the EMS Handoff, Bradley Dean and David Blevins take on multiple topics affecting EMS in today’s environment. From the proliferation of Monkeypox in the United States to the recently posted position from the NREMT on Accreditation, and lastly, retention efforts in EMS, Bradley and David take on these controversial topics to bring some conversational discussion. We would l...

On this week’s episode of The EMS Handoff Podcast, hosts Bradley Dean and David Blevins get back in the Handoff Media Studios for another episode after an extensive break. They welcome Mr. D. Todd Spence, 911 director, paramedic, and author of the book, “What’s a Tactical Medic,” available from Amazon and on Kindle. During this episode, we talk with Mr. Spence about his process for writing the boo...

Technologist Jonathon Feit has often said that the greatest innovations serving Mobile Medicine (Fire & EMS) come from rural spaces. The most obviously reason, perhaps, is that agencies have fewer resources to begin with, and it takes longer for their neighbors to arrive on-scene, therefore they have no choice but to learn how to do more for themselves. This has always been the hallmark of tho...

In this episode, Dov and Raphael take an in-depth look into the challenges presented to first responders by one of Israel's deadliest highways, the Jordan Valley Highway, otherwise known as Highway 90.  

Fire Captain Pete Evers shares his story of 30 years of experience catching up to him after retirement and how he started his mental health journey with therapy dogs. Pete is very involved in the non-profit organization 4Paws2Freedom. He currently has a therapy dog sponsored through this organization and encourages his fellow first responders to consider this resource and make mental health a prio...

Infection control expert Katherine West explains what needs to be done to eliminate syphilis in the United States.

Eric Chase talks with Adam Culbertson, fire/EMS coordinator of Edgecombe (NC) Community College. Joining them are instructors Sara Lewis and Gabby Robinson, lieutenants with Edgecombe County EMS, NC. They talk about education, leadership, accountability, patience, love and more.

In this episode, Dov and Raphael talk about how important it is for first responders to honor and get support from our families.

A Marine combat veteran and current law enforcement officer shares various stories of impulsivity and struggle about his journey to get to where he is now.

In today's episode, Dov and Raphael get into the issues surrounding the desire of all first responders to do everything that they can to help -- sometimes too much. The episode includes a harrowing personal story from Dov's past where his rig was involved in a serious accident that left the patient hanging, literally, and Dov had to treat his own crew members.

"As a firefighter, one can expect to be placed in high risk-situations such as an initial attack on a large scale incident.” Hear clips of a “near miss” that Capt. Kelley Craig experienced. These events can cause fear and doubt about the job. Learn how Craig processed his emotions to have a long career. "I was absolutely shocked because it was literally moonscaped. It was ash and black twigs stick...

Tony O'Brien, a captain with Boston EMS and treasurer of the National EMS Memorial Foundation, talks about the progress being made to get an EMS memorial in Washington D.C.

In this episode, Dov and Raphael explore the rivalry between EMS rookies and EMS dinosaurs and discuss what each of these groups brings to the table so that each of us as first responders can "play at the top of our game" to benefit our patients. 

Katherine West explains what monkeypox is, how it is transmitted and its signs and symptoms.

Celebrating STAR of Life recipients during EMS Week 2022, here’s a beautiful conversation with Juliana Castro, a paramedic with UT Health East Texas EMS.

The Case RaDonda Vaught was a 39-year old registered nurse serving as the "help-all" nurse (for which there is no specific job description) at Vanderbilt University Hospital on Dec. 26, 2017.  She also had an orientee. She was asked to go down to Radiology PET scan and administer the medication Versed to 75-year old Charlene Murphey who had been hospitalized for a subdural hematoma, because she wa...