This week Jim and Josh discuss owning and operating your own business as an EMS provider. Many providers have started their own ventures, created products, written books and pursue their passions in and outside of EMS as entrepreneurs. For most its a different view than your average small business. Listen in for this behind the scenes look at what it takes, challenges faced and what a definition of success really means.
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Show Notes:
Jim’s site at EMSSEO.com
Josh at WANTYNU.com
This patient assessment sign is discussed during this Monday Minutes session. Remember, assessment of the patients skin during your primary EMS assessment can give you clues to the patients circulatory status. See the video version over at youtube http://youtu.be/dgEoeGAeMMU
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This week I had a selection of topics lined up for the show but the first one on whether or not to allow EMS providers to carry weapons like firearms, knives, batons etc. took over and the listeners seemed pretty passionate about it. Take a listen and be sure to leave your story or comment below.
I also posted links to the other topics we didn’t get to below. Hopefully we will cover them in upcoming episodes.
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Show Notes:
Josh Knapp Facebook page
Tim Noonan – Rogue Medic – Why Are We So Afraid Of Our Patients?
EMS Museum post at Rescuing Providence
Copy & Paste post on Federal EMS agency at EMS Patient Perspective
Other links
“Small Talk” in EMS article from Thom Dick
Case Study on Frequent Flyers over at EMS1.com
Last nights live Office Hours talked about arming EMS. The full episode will be posted here Wednesday, but I wanted to just give a few extra minutes on scene safety and situational awareness. What do you do to maintain your safety on scenes?
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New Microwave Medic covering needle decompression of tension pneumothorax. This 10 minute video talks about signs, symptoms, landmarks and procedures for treating a tension pneumothorax. Does your EMS agency use a commercial device to perform needle decompression or are you still doing it the old fashioned way? [Read more...]
How EMS is perceived is important for many reasons. Some of this perception can be controlled by what you do or how active your agency is in it’s community. The media can also have a part in this as well and many times it is more negative than we would like. Take a listen to the discussion on the medias role in how EMS is perceived. What can we do better? Is there anything we can change or control? Post your opinion below.
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Show notes:
Check out PIO Social Media Training
On last nights live EMS Office Hours podcast, we talked about perception in EMS, the media and why we can’t seem to master our destiny in the public eye like Fire or Police. One thing that was mentioned is using social media like Facebook or Twitter to make small individual changes in this perception and bringing positive messages through these outlets. Take a listen to these Monday Minutes and see if you can get on board with these ideas.
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The recorded podcast will be posted on Wednesday 2/01/12
We are conditioned to work lots of overtime and second jobs, but recent studies done by Dan Patterson show how dangerous this can be. At what point does our health and patient care suffer from lack of sleep? How does your agency address this issue?
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Show notes
Check out this article on Dan Patterson
Bob Sullivan at EMS Patient Perspective
Even More Links on This
www.emsarn.org has Dan Patterson’s projects.
http://www.emsleadership.com/?p=30 is an early EMS Leadership episode that Dan was on.
Here are EMSBlog.com posts about sleep
http://roguemedic.com/2011/10/sleep-quality-and-fatigue-among-prehospital-providers/
http://tooldtowork.com/2011/12/and-ems-too/
http://emspatientperspective.com/2011/10/22/drunken-ambulance-drivers/
This weeks Minutes, I am giving a quick overview on the respiratory and ventilation functions along with some things you should think about when assessing a patient complaining of difficulty breathing. This is only about 13 minutes long, but I hope will help give you a refreshing view and motivate you to study and review further. Be sure to post your own tips and assessment ideas below.
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EMS goes beyond just you and your partner. Other EMS agencies, first responders, law enforcement and even doctors all may be a part of your next call. How do you deal with this interaction, decide on patient care and transport? Is it as simple as higher medical authority? Should it be? Listen to this episode and post your inter-agency interactions, patient treatment & transport decisions and whose patient is it anyway in the comments below.
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Show Notes:
Bob Sullivan at EMS Patient Perspective
EMS Continuing Education
EMS Study Resources
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