I wrote Letter to a New Preceptee back in 2007. It holds true to this day. You are probably excited and apprehensive about starting your preceptorship. I know I was many years ago when it was my turn. I wondered whether I would make it – whether I was cut out for this job, whether…
Last week my partner and I were called Baby Killers on a call. We haven’t been the only crew to have names shouted at us in the last two weeks. This all stems from a news story about a delayed ambulance response — the implication being if the ambulance had arrived quickly the patient would…
An ambulance is late. Someone dies. There is public outcry. Calls for an investigation. If you want to understand how this could happen, here are some questions you will want answered. Who provides ambulance coverage in your town. It is a full-time municipal service with pensioned employees. Is it a volunteer service? Or does the…
It’s been a bad year for EMS. Between the Illinois crew charged with first degree murder for their treatment of a man in alcohol withdrawal who died of restraint asphyxia to the new story of the Shameless paramedic filmed stealing £60 from woman, 94, moments after she collapsed and DIED, it has not been a…
On March 22, 2023, the Connecticut Public Health Committee held a hearing on a series of bills it was debating. One of the bills was to create pilot overdose prevention sites in Connecticut. Two hundred and seventeen people signed up to speak that day on a variety of issues, but a good many of them…
The illicit drug supply in America today is as dangerous as it has ever been. Fentanyl, badly mixed into $4 bags, cross contaminated into cocaine or hidden in counterfeit pills, is poisoning our people, This week the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a Naloxone nasal spray for over-the-counter (OTC) sales. This is a tremendous step toward…
I am proud to be a paramedic. I believe paramedics save lives. If I or one of my family members were critically ill, I would want a seasoned paramedic taking care of me rather than a brand new basic EMT. When I say paramedic, i mean that in the sense of a health care provider…