Combo Medic

     There was a day that I was trying to get a podcast done, and had a blog post to submit all wrapped up in a busy work day.  In addition to all of this, I was trying to spend time with my family as that is my most important responsibility I have.  Then, in the midst of everything, I see the Podmedic Jamie Davis busting out daily podcasts (multiple avenues) and blogs like it was nobody's business.  I know that I am new and all, but I thought I was a pretty good scheduler of time, and I had none left!  The opportunties I had were limited and there was no current way to do what it was he was doing. Now, I don't want to replicate the work that Jamie Davis is doing, it would be pointless to have my own blog.  But I did want to know how such a busy individual had the opportunity to review, research and develop topics as well as type of narrate these hours worth of content.  So what did I do, I added to Jamie's workload and sent him an e-mail.  All I really asked was

I sat in a class once with a very interesting and entertaining individual who took the participants through a world of medical practices that were no longer proven to work.  In this he discussed medications, techniques, and procedures that had lost favor in the medical community, but some facets of the field would not, or could not let them go.  I have been in multiple conversations where I was the sole spokesman against certain techniques, but the argument against removing it was because they had seen it work.  One of the first was the argument of the trendelenburg position.  Dr. Trendelenburg was a famous surgeon in his day and created a position that would make it more feasible to conduct abdominal surgery.  Soon people thought the position would help treat those in hypovolemic shock by increasing pressures back to the heart and brain.  This was a large part of the treatment of hypotensive patients until the past decade.  Even the Doctor that created the position said it would w

The #COMBOMEDIC is back after a short hiatus...sorry about the delay, but I took a couple days off to recoup.  And yet, I remain tired...still!  I guess that is a sign, I just don't know of what yet.  There are times in which the significance of the events are overwhelming in and of themselves and yet when you combine them with something else it is even better.  For me this past weekend was just that...a weekend of such significance that it was overwhelming.  Mountain Man Memorial March On Saturday the 20th of April I has the privilege of walking for soldiers that have given their lives in the defense of a grateful nation.  I was asked to participate in the Mountain Man Memorial March and was part of a team that comprised military members, family members, and high school guys and girls.  On this day we took part in a 13.1 mile march around a terrain composed of flat areas and a large amount of mountainous hills.  This isn't supposed to be an easy march nor was it, but in

Wow, this week has been a difficult week for the country.  If you listen to the KLOVE radio station, they have been talking about the situations this week in Boston and Texas and have been trying to continue providing positive and encouraging radio.  It is really easy to get into the effect of these incidents and lose perspective of what is going on.  The tragedies of this week have been significant.  If you look, we lost several lives and injured many more in the bombings during the Boston Marathon, and several lives were lost and more were injured after a fertilizer fire/explosion in West, Texas.   In addition to that, a Senators office and the Presidential post office received letters that contained a highly potent biological warfare agent named Ricin.  Furthermore, a large business close to where I work was raided and under investigation for defrauding customers across the northern hemisphere and then Boston has been on lock-down all day today in response to the death of o

I have been at this active blogging environment for about the last two months.  During that time I have written about many topics, and a couple of them were providing updates of scenes that were going on around the country.  The two that I covered almost live were the hostage taking of 5 firefighters in Georgia, and the Boston Marathon explosions this week.  While I have never served as a true PIO, I know a little about the value of publishing accurate information.  I had the opportunity to watch (electronically) the hostage situation play out in Georgia a lot more closely than I was able to do with the marathon explosions, but I knew I had several readers out there that liked to get information together in a single location.  Now, when I started publishing information I was quick to start looking for multiple links to confirm the information that I was publishing, and during the firefighter rescue it was easy because the on-scene sources were great with information (a lot more co

Hello #COMBOMEDIC follower...sorry about the weekend hiatus.  This weekends lack of posting was brought to you by the our good friend, the GI bug...and that is all I have to say about that! As I was catching up this morning I saw a report that was broadcast on EMS World  related to an event in Santa Rosa California over the weekend. I am not sure if we can ever over express the need for the general public to learn the aspect of how to conduct CPR.  The designers of the new CPR processes have come up with a method that prevents people from having to put their mouth on people in order to limit those detracting factors that were keeping people from doing CPR.  SO WHY SHOULD WE ALL KNOW CPR!!! The hyperlink that I posted above will take you to a story where an 8 year old boy was hit in the chest by a pitch.  He started to take his base when he collapsed along the first base line.  The child was experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.  In the stands watching the game were two off-dut

Video from Finish Line Boston Fire Live Feed UPDATE - 15 APRIL 2013 - 1934HRS Right now, emergency responders are still checking the area after multiple bombs exploded around the finish line of the Boston Marathon, and a couple of additional devices have been found and disarmed prior to them harming others. Reports now show 2 confirmed deaths in this tragic terrorist attack on American Soil. In addition to the fatalities, dozens more have been injured (too varying degrees)and their conditions are uncertain at this point. Some reports (CNN) state that more than 110 are being treated with 8 critical and 14 serious, but overall unknown. CNN is compiling a list of confirmed statements/actions that are surrounding this evening and those can be found . Evidently, the news sources are announcing that investigators "close to the investigation" are announcing this as terrorism, but no clues are available as to domestic or international because of a lack of informatio

Ok, so I just referenced the Lion King...don't judge me. It was the last hand drawn animated movie done by Disney, and in my opinion one of the best. I have been watching several reports come out lately about the deadly crash of an Air Methods helicopter back in 2011. (Video Below)   In the report federal investigators are saying that a distracted pilot was the potential cause of this fatal incident. More specifically, the federal investigators are saying that a personal text chain between the pilot and another individual was the potential cause of the pilot not realizing that he was low fuel which resulted in the crash. Many states have adopted a no texting policy when driving on the roadway, and many more have adopted legislation that states individuals must use headsets just to talk on the phone while driving. Fire and EMS services in many areas have gone well above that and said no cell phone use while driving at all, especially during an emergency vehicles. In

I know that many of you are tired of hearing about the budget and the sequestration, fiscal cliffs and many many other things that are occurring in the federal budget.  Some of you don't care because it isn't currently affecting your department.  This is one budget update that you may want to pay attention to.  In the President's 2013 budget, the SAFER and Assistance to Firefighter grant programs are not being funded to previous years levels.  Now that cut currently sits at 2.5 million out of a total of 335m per program.  However, and this is where I caution you any cuts can be a dangerous sign to the future of this program.   As you know, emergency services (police, fire and ems) serves of America's first line of defense when it comes to dangerous situations.  These are the groups that are running towards the danger while others run out...i've always hated that quote, but it works.  Videos from the tragic events at the World Trade Center show just that

So, when you wake up in the morning, take a shower, get ready for another shift; what do you think about as far as how that shift is going to go? Emergency services folks always know in the back of their mind they may be giving their last full measure of devotion today. Every year, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation pays tribute to those wearing the bunker gear that lost their life in the past year. Having been through a firefighter funeral, I will say that losing a brother or sister in the service is not a good thing, but most of us don't think about it on a daily basis. More specifically, many of us don't even think about it when we arrive to a house that is raging from all sides knowing we still have to do our jobs. So really, what do you think about? I would always start the shift by taking a shower and getting my uniform on. Many days, the next question would be what are we doing for breakfast, unless I was bring it in that day. We checked off the tru

I am not sure that anybody can truly appreciate the position of public information officer without walking in their shoes for a day.  That is true for many other positions as well, but public information officer is one that is constantly overlooked and probably under appreciated. What does the public information officer do?  Well, that is a tremendous question.  One of my favorite television shows was one that ran for 7 years starting back in the late 90's.  I actually didn't start watching it until the 2002-2003 time frame and even then it took a while for me to get into watching it in its complete state.  Now, I own the DVD's and have watched the entire series more times than I care to really admit.  The show was the West Wing.  A show that followed the Presidential life of Josiah Bartlett, a democrat from New Hampshire.  Now the show followed all the senior staff almost equally, but one face that consistently stood out was that of CJ Craig, the President's Pre

5 Georgia Firefighters Currently Held Hostage LIVE VIDEO/AUDIO LINKS REMOVED Press Conference UPDATE:  0721hrs 11 Apr 2013 Reports are coming out that the incident resulting in five firefighters being held captive, 4 receiving minor injuries, and 1 SWAT operator being shot in the hand or arm was all because the individual with the gun wanted his power and television turned back on.  In the financial crisis this individual had lost their ability to pay for services and the home was foreclosed upon in November (estimates) of 2012, this individual still wanted to be able to utilize those services.  So he devised a plan that would allow him to lure in individuals who he could use as negotiating tools.   As emergency responders, the ways that people come up with the harm us know is difficult to determine.  From the FIRE PIO last night, the initial call provided no information about the potential use of force, nor did they have any reason to believe that the situation coul

    For those of you that enjoyed last nights blog post, I must say my wife and I had an interesting al biet short conversation about it last night.  She said really, you think it is a far stretch to connect those songs to EMS, and I responded with, with the brain power I have left, yep!  So now you can get the connection that she mentioned to me.  Phony calls from Weird Al has a perfectly good connection to EMS and Fire.  Don't go making phony calls... how many times have we been on those "false calls" regarding fire alarms, or patients that aren't on the scene when you arrive.  So evidently Weird Al really knew what he was talking about.  I have tied Michael Jordan to teaching EMS and now Weird Al to public education on false calls for 911.  Man I love this blog.    In addition to Weird Al, the EMS 10 awards also looked at a new process for eliminating an overworked EMS system.  We will hit this system tomorrow.    Today we are going to look at MedSta

You know whats funny...when I first started thinking about this topic my head starting playing the tune from TLC... Waterfalls Youtube don't go chasin' waterfalls,  please stick to the rivers and lakes that your used too.  I know that you are gonna have it your way or nothing at all,  but I think your moving to fast.   Of course then I immediately started thinking about the parody that was done by Weird Al Yankovic called Phony Calls!!!  Phony Calls Youtube Don't Go Makin' Phony Calls Please Stick to the seven digit numbers you're used to.  I know that you think its funny drivin' folks right up the wall But it's really gettin' old fast What does this really have to do with Fire / EMS, really you want me to make the connection?  Well I am typically pretty good, but I'm not sure I can make the connection.  I just wanted to take a quick break in the serious topics and give you something to listen too!!! Sometimes it is g

It really is a pleasure to hear people talking positively about other people even in the event of a bad thing happening. Now, I know there are times when negativity is the only course of action and we must have conflict. How nice would it be if everything went perfectly all the time...ok some of you are going to be negative on that as well, i'll deal!!! Now this is another instance in which people have been able to get together and make the life of one individual a little better. In the fire service, we have consistently heard about fire departments helping out families with loved ones that are suffered, EMS agencies helping those in their time of need, and law enforcement organizations sharing the pain by bring joy. There are times in which those of up willing to help step up to the plate and make things better for a lot of people. Spring football practices are starting up all across the nation, in fact many programs have been going for a couple weeks now. That is true

(PHOTO CREDITS) So what if I told you that today you have the ability to have another responder to your agency roster.  Better yet, what if I told you, you were now authorized to bring everyone in your town onto your active duty roster.  That is what they effectively did in Los Angeles County as they went live with the pulse point app.  In fact that number climbs when you look at all the agencies that have gone live with the newly created application. Pulsepoint  released this press statement when their President was one of the top 10 EMS innovators as named by JEMS and Physio-Control.  The application was developed as a way to take community responders to the scene of an incident they were close by.  Tied into the dispatch system, this app will locate those that are near the scene and can walk to assist.   Firehouse  magazine recent ran an editorial on the application as it helped send a responder to the scene of a cardiac arrest well before the fire department and EMS units a

Photo Credits  David Page is no stranger to having his name in the limelight.  He has been a keynote speaker at all types of Local, State, and National conferences.  He has been part to one of the most popular clinical tracking/scheduling systems, and he has been a creator of multiple test scenarios through his part with the NREMT.   Now he has been presented with the EMS 10 Award as one of the top 10 EMS Innovators in the country.  So now you may ask (if you haven't already seen the report)?  He was part of a multi-juridictional team dedicated to taking an old fire station and creating a unique environment to teach those disadvantaged individuals seek out their dream of becoming prehospital emergency care providers.   In creating this unique learning environment, Page et.al, put together a program modeled after a movement that started well before the first episode of Emergency hit the small screen in 1972.  Pittsburgh was putting together a program that took disadva

  Today I received an e-mail entitled JEMS & Physio-Control Present This Year's 10 Innovators in EMS.  As you know, JEMS is a top tiered authority in EMS News and Research and Physio-Control is a key partner in providing equipment for the healthcare fields.  As industry leaders it is always an honor to receive praise from these organizations.  Over the next 10 days I will be reviewing with you the top 10 innovators in EMS, and what they did to get recognition.  As I have mentioned in prior posts, where we go from here is based upon what WE do day to day.  Many of the items on our apparatus came from people in the field.  Some are from physicians, some are from nurses, and many are from our EMTs and Paramedics in the field.  For this we honor them. This years list is an unique cast of characters.  As mentioned above some are physicians, some are paramedics, and one is a service that is completely changing their identity...oh and the way we look at pre-hospital healthcare d

The banner above represented a key day of awareness for a topic that I have taken a passion into researching lately.  One of the main reasons that I am interested in the topic of autism is the fact that fire and EMS have struggled trying to figure out the best way to handle emergency responses with individual affected with autism. Today represents the World Autism Awareness Day, and as a group of providers that represents a large sector of the healthcare system we should embrace the meaning of this day.  What is Autism and why does it matter to Fire and EMS responders?  Well, answering the first question can be kind of difficult.  Without looking at the official definition of autism or autism spectrum disorder, it can be difficult to determine if somebody is affected by this condition.  I will look at the definition of autism shortly, but this leads me into the second statement; why does it matter to Fire and EMS responders? On the fire side, multiple children with autism have l

If you are a NCAA basketball fan you will have already heard about this primary topic.  Last night, Rick Patino's Louisville Cardinals was taking on the Duke Blue Devils coached by Coach K.  This midwestern regional final was a highly rated game as the only number 1 / 2 game left in this years March Madness.  Now I know you are asking what does this have to do with EMS?  Just wait a second and I will get there, as I mentioned if you like NCAA Basketball you will know what I am talking about.  This is where we get into the connection.  In the first half, Kevin Ware, a valuable teammate of the Louisville Cardinals came down in an akward angle following an attempt at a blocked shot only to fall quickly with a massive reaction from his teammates and coach.  Even though the game continued, the refs quickly brought it to a halt as all those that witnessed the events were overtaken by grief in this instance.  CBS news initially stated that it appeared to them as those Kevin Ware disl