Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
Lessons Learned on the Way
Bruce Nepon
“Probably the first, most important lesson I ever learned was that you can be nice and then rude, but you can’t be rude and then nice.” Click to hear Bruce Nepon and Charlie discuss more strategies for lengthening your professional lifespan.
Bruce Nepon is acting chair of the Allied Health Dept. of Delaware Technical and Community College in Dover, Del.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
Between Two Vehicles
Dilanga Manuweera
“My story would be along the scene safety lines,” Dilanga begins. He recalls an MVA at which one of the drivers became combative. “They were trying to restrain this patient and forgot to turn the ignition off… He took his foot off the brake pedal, jammed on the accelerator and went straight toward the car that I was assessing.” Click to hear the full story.
Dilanga Manuweera is a faculty member at the UCLA Center for Prehospital Care.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
A Dark Night in Florida
Tony Hartman
It was one of those nights that literally there was no light out there, and we found the scene just by the flashing lights. When we landed, they pointed us to the ambulance that had the patient. He had rolled his Honda CRX, and it had caught fire. He was trapped underneath the car as it was burning.” In this episode, Tony Hartman talks to Charlie Soucheray about an exceptionally memorable call.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
History of L.A. EMS
Baxter Larmon
The history of Los Angeles EMS is really pretty unique … it started with two cardiologists.” Listen as Baxter Larmon gives a brief history of EMS in Southern California, including an overview of the Daniel Freeman Paramedic school at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Baxter Larmon, PhD, MICP, is Director of the UCLA Center for Prehospital Care in Los Angeles, CA.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
Active vs. Passive Assumptions
Chris LeBaudour
“When you make an active assumption it requires work, it requires action. Human nature is generally a passive approach… Eventually, passive assumptions slip in… It’s a very dangerous period in an EMS person’s career. It’s a very dangerous period.”
Click to listen as Chris LeBaudour explains why some assumptions are better than others.
Chris LeBaudour is an EMS instructor and a prolific writer with several major EMS publications on the market. He is a faculty member in the Department of Public Safety, EMS Division at Santa Rosa Junior College in California, and he is also the Director of Communications for REACH Air Medical Services, an air ambulance provider in the northwest.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
The “Most Craziest Run”
Dave Long
“My partner Tom and I had gotten a call to a patient who was suffering from a stroke…” This ordinary beginning led to a chaotic night! Click to hear Dave Long share his “most craziest run.”
Dave Long is a paramedic and nurse at North Memorial Medical Center’s EMS Education Department in Minneapolis, MN, as well as a national EMS educator/speaker and contributor to EMSResponder.com.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
Circle of Life
Bruce Evans
Bruce Evans, EMS Chief for the City of North Las Vegas FD, shares the story of a patient whose sister asked to speak with the responders – several years after the incident.
“It turns out she was so impressed with the care that her sister got that she changed her major from accounting to nursing and had since become a cross-trained flight nurse and paramedic. She had also gone onto become an EMS instructor – all within 5 years time.”
Bruce says the lesson was all about caring for the person, not just the patient – which he had learned from a flight nurse and then passed on, unknowingly, to a new flight nurse.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
Snowmobiler vs. Tree
Greg Friese
Greg recalls an incident in rural Wisconsin in which a snowmobiler zoomed up to his ambulance and motioned for him to get on the back in order to reach an injured person. After they took off, Greg realized, “The stench of alcohol on his breath was so strong I almost fell off… and I realized the folly of what I had done in accepting a ride from this fellow.”
Click to here this story by Greg Friese, president of Emergency Preparedness Systems LLC.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
EMS Study Tour
Neil Kirby
Listen to “meet” Neil Kirby, tour guide for the EMS Diversity in America tour traveling the Southwest U.S. this fall. Tour participants will spend the week of Oct. 7-14 visiting EMS systems throughout the region, and will earn 30 hours of continuing education credit by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS). Participants will also do some sightseeing along the way, and will finish the tour in Las Vegas, Nevada in time to attend EMS Expo, where they will receive a complimentary 3-day admission.
Neil is the Director of Special Programs for the North Central EMS Institute, and has 30 years experience in EMS, most recently as the Deputy Commissioner of the Queensland Ambulance Service in Australia.
Listen for further details, and to register for the tour visit http://worldemstour.ncemsi.org. To learn more about EMS Expo visit http://www.emsexpo2008.com.
EMS Magazine Monthly Preview: March ‘08
Get the rundown on the latest features in EMS Magazine from Editor Nancy Perry. This month’s topics include best practices being implemented around the country to solve EMS recruitment and retention issues, as well as cardiac care. Listen to find out more.