Medic2medic Podcast

Episode 83: David Bunnell is a Paramedic whose plan was not to become a Physician Assistant. That changed and he now works as a PA at VA in Washington DC. Dave's practice experiences include Cardiothoracic Surgery, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Medicine. Before becoming a PA, Dave was Paramedic (still has his certification in Pennsylvania) and an Organ Recovery Coordinator. Dave is very active in leadership of the Association of PAs as well as peer reviewer for the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. We discuss how he got is start in EMS, his days at the Center for Emergency Medicine and Medical Rescue Team South. We spend time discussing what it is like in the operating room as PA, team leadership and a work day for Dave.

Episode 82: Brian Behn is a Critical Care Paramedic in Colorado and is known on the Facebook Page EMSQAQI. You can say that Brian is pro QA/QI and he is a dedicated educator. Brian has spoken at State Conferences, written for EMS1.com and likes to write test questions for a well known EMS review site. Our conversation touches on all the above subjects as well as Brian takes inside a call that every EMS provider can learn from.

Episode 81 Chief Lloyd Parker: The podcast goes international this week as my guest works in Kuwait. Chief Lloyd Parker since June of 2011 has served as the Chief of Emergency Medical Services for the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Department of Emergency Medicine for the US Army Central Command Bases in the State of Kuwait. Chief Parker has served in leadership roles at eleven Type I Incidents (Haiti, Florida Wildfires, Tornadoes, and Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina to name a few). Chief Parker worked on National Security Special Events like the Obama Presidential Inauguration and 4th of July in Washington DC. Our discussion includes how EMS works in Kuwait and the pros and cons on being a Paramedic in Kuwait. We touch on his career, working on the top level security events, leadership style and how he got to Kuwait.

Episode 80: Eric Bernard is a Pittsburgh, PA native beginning his public safety career as a volunteer EMT in the Pittsburgh suburbs (Swissvale) starting at the age of 15. That is how we meet. Only a few people call me Stevie and Eric is one. In 2004, he was selected as the first executive director for the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association where he continues today. Eric works directly with the County Fire Chief, County Executive, County Council, and the public representing the needs, efforts, and work of the over 2,400 volunteer, fire, rescue and EMS professionals in 19 local volunteer fire and rescue departments of the County. He served in the United States Navy as a combat airborne medic and emergency/healthcare provider both as a US Navy hospital corpsman and later as a medical officer for eight years, including assignments supporting Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Our discussion goes from how we meet, jumping out of planes, leadership, EMS and much more.

Episode 79: Dr. Spiro is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of ReelDx. He is the former Fellowship Director and Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Using real patient video, he led efforts to raise 5 million dollars of philanthropy to open the first Pediatric Emergency Department at OHSU in 2009. He received his MD at University of California San Francisco and worked as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine prior to his current appointment at OHSU. Dr. Spiro is passionate about disseminating the use of case-based, flipped classroom learning using HIPAA compliant real patient video.We discuss how Reel Dx came about and how do you receive permission from the patient in an emergency to videotape their illness? Reel Dx is being used in training programs in EMS as well as in Medical School.

Episode 78: Cary Area EMS's own Christian Heinrich joins me this week on the podcast. Christian has over 20 years of service with Cary Area EMS starting as a volunteer and moving up the career ladder to his current position as Division Chief. Christian was not heading towards a career in EMS, but like so many of us he got the "bug". Christian talks about his early days in EMS and volunteering in Virginia, why he moved to Raleigh and how he ended up at Cary Area EMS? We talk leadership style, he provides insight with the 2001 recruitment of a new chief and jumpsuits.

Episode 77: Gene Starzenski is the Producer and Director of the documentary Freedom House. Freedom House Ambulance was started in Pittsburgh and was the precursor to the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS. Before Gene produced this wonderful documentary, he served as the Medic Advisor and Set Medic on hundreds of television shows and 50 films. Some of his films include The Dark Knight Rises, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Pearl Harbor and Jaws 2. He started his EMS career in 1971 in Pittsburgh. Please pay attention to Gene's beginning and how he learned to work the stretcher? Gene is a great storyteller and our podcast includes behind the scenes of some of my favorite television shows and stars. We also learn about the story behind the almost TV Series based on the film Mother, Jugs, and Speed. You will hear his passion, determination and the ups and downs to make the documentary and his EMS career.

Episode 76: Did you ever look in the mirror and say enough is enough? This week Daniel Mills, a 14 year veteran of the fire and EMS world tells his story about looking in the mirror. Daniel is the founder of 911 Buddy Check. Daniel is a veteran of the US Navy where he served as a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman with the United States Marine Corp for 8 years. He is currently a Flight Medic in Alabama.His story has twists and turns that include difficult subjects like addiction, suicide and PTSD. A dog and mirror play a pivotal role in the unbelievable turnaround of his story and what he does now to help others. Daniel is passionate 911 Buddy Check and making sure the public safety family has somewhere to turn when they are in trouble. His story is incredible and I was honored to speak with him.

Episode 75: FBI, City of Pittsburgh EMS, diving the murky waters of the 3 Rivers and EMS are some of the topics that are on the podcast this week. Kurt Gardner has been in EMS for over 30 years. He became an EMT in 1985 and was a volunteer for Medical Rescue Team South in the south suburbs of Pittsburgh PA. He became a Paramedic in 1987 and was hired as a Paramedic by the City of Pittsburgh in 1988. While with the City of Pittsburgh, Kurt also served on the city’s HAZMAT team and was a Master Diver with the River Rescue.Following the September 2001 attacks, the Commonwealth established an in state Urban Search and Rescue team and the City of Pittsburgh was an integral part of that team. Kurt served as Medical Team Manager. Kurt retired after 21 years in the city to take a position within the FBI to provide specialized medical support. In his current position with the FBI, he is a Weapons of Mass Destruction Specialist. We discuss all the above and how the FBI uses Paramedics in the Bureau.

Episode 74: Jean Bail is the Director, Disaster Medicine and Management at Philadelphia University. Jean is a dedicated teacher, educator, paramedic, nurse and mentor. If it was not for Jean, this podcaster would of never graduated from college. It was a little EMS program at Hahnemann University, where our paths crossed. I was struggling as a college student up to this point. I was about to start a new job as supervisor in the City of Brotherly Love. Jean accepted me in the EMS Degree program and the rest is history. Jean and I talk about how she got the program started, the early days, the great faculty and her interest in EMS and infection control. We might mention some of my past podcast guests and what kind of students they (me) were like. A good discussion on leadership and education in EMS is included.

Episode 73: Jason Friesen is the Founder and Director of Trek Medics International. Trek Medics International is a non-profit, humanitarian organization dedicated to developing prehospital and emergency care in low and middle income countries. Jason is a paramedic with entrepreneurial spirit and has been working in international development since 2003. He is originally from the NYC-area and has spent many years living in Central America, the Caribbean and Europe, working for a number of recognized international humanitarian organizations including Project HOPE where he was the Haiti Country Director until mid-2012. We discuss how he got started in EMS and all about Trek Medic International. Jason is using technology (Beacon) in certain countries that allow the EMS providers to use their cell phones to respond to emergencies, ask for more resources and notifying the hospitals. How do you make a pitch to country's leaders that your organization is the right one for them? Jason answeres this question and more t

Episode 72: It is the night before Halloween and simulation is the name of the game. Is practicing and pretending is a good way to learn? We will find out. Amar Patel is the Director of the Center for Innovative Learning at WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is responsible for integrating technology-based education to include human patient simulation, healthcare gaming, and hybrid learning methodologies. Amar is a nationally registered paramedic, firefighter as well as the expert in patient simulations. So everything you want to know about the how, because and why we use simulation in EMS is discussed this week on the podcast.

Episode 71: David Page, MS, NRP, is the director of the Prehospital Care Research Forum at UCLA and field paramedic with Allina EMS in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. He is an adjunct Senior Lecturer and PhD candidate at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. David was awarded the prestigious Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Educator of the Year in 2011. He was also recognized as one of the 2012 EMS 10 Innovators for his role in creating the Saint Paul Fire Department’s EMS academy and Freedom House BLS unit. We discuss all the above and more. David is my third Eagle Scout to be a guest on the podcast. Is there a correlation between scouting and EMS? We talk about his first EMS call, which is one heck of a first call. David mentions what it was like to meet James Page for the first time. There is a great conversation about diversity and EMS.

Episode 70: A Special Pink Edition of the podcast. A year ago our friend and colleague from Cary Area EMS Division Chief Tammy Patton was diagnosed with breast cancer. Tammy joins me for a second time on the podcast to talk about her journey, her positive attitude and how the EMS community rallied around her. Check out this album of the fundraiser held for Tammy at caryems.org.

Episode 69: Everitt Binns has 50 years of EMS experience. That is a lot of years and time in this profession. He has held all positions and he is currently the EMS Chief for Grand View Health is Sellersville Pennsylvania. HIs experience as a leader, executive and professor has provided his employees, students and the EMS world with a wealth of knowledge and teachable moments. Ev as he likes to be called was one of my professors at Hahnemann University (now Drexel) and provided me with not just education, but lots of wisdom. We discuss Ev's leadership style, how he got into EMS, what I was like as a student and many other topics.

Episode 68: What do do when you mix a pilot and paramedic? Drew Baird is the answer and he is my guest this week on the podcast. Drew always wanted to put his passion of flying and EMS together and he knew it way back when in high school. Learn how this all began as well as Drew talks about his first call in EMS. We discuss his new venture Vector AeroMed. This aeromedical company flies patients all over the eastern 2/3 of the United States, Canada, Caribbean and Latin America. Through a partnership with Children's Flight of Hope, Vector AeroMed provides a great number of trips to kids traveling for specialty treatment of various illnesses free of charge to the families. We talk about Drew's entrepreneurial spirit and his love of teaching within the EMS community.

Episode 67: Ryan Stark is an associate attorney with Page, Wolfberg & Wirth. His concentration is with HIPAA, Labor, Medicare reimbursement and related areas of the law that affect the EMS industry. Our discussion surrounded the use of Body Camera use within the EMS community. Ryan answers the question that comes up any time you mention Body Cameras and EMS: Is it a HIPAA violation? The discussion leads to the pros and cons of body camera use by EMTs and Paramedics. If you are Chief or Administrator, what do you need to set up a Body Camera program in your organization? How do you get the "buy in" from your staff and the public? Ryan answers these questions and more.

Episode 66: Steve Daniels is the co-anchor of ABC11 Eyewitness News at 5:00 pm, 6:00 pm, and 11:00 pm Monday-Friday. In addition, Steve anchors Breaking News coverage from the Breaking News Center. Steve joined ABC11 Eyewitness News in June, 1999. Before coming to WTVD, Steve was a correspondent for "Dateline NBC". Steve traveled the country and the world interviewing newsmakers and reporting stories for the national newsmagazine program. Steve also appeared on the "Today" show, "NBC Nightly News", MSNBC, and CNBC. We talk about how the news covers public safety? How public safety is treated in the media? We discuss where he was during 9/11. Steve provides us with a behind the scenes look on story development and breaking news. We have fun talking his first job as a reporter and where he went to school to study journalism.

Episode 65: Dr. Jose G. Cabanas is a board-certified emergency medicine and EMS physician with a particular expertise on prehospital systems of care, continuous quality improvement and resuscitation. Dr. Cabanas is the Director/Medical Director for Wake County EMS in Wake County, North Carolina. Dr. Cabanas currently serves as a member of the National AHA ECC Systems of Care committee and Mission Lifeline Resuscitation Committee. He also serves as Member-at-Large for Board of Directors NAEMSP. In addition to his interest in the practice of prehospital medicine, Dr. Cabanas has an interest in clinical research and regularly publishes scientific articles on a number of topics in EMS, Emergency Medicine and Resuscitation. We discuss his early interest and start in emergency care, his leadership style and Dr. Cabanas reveals a few unknown facts about himself during our conversation. We discuss what is upcoming in EMS as well as in the Wake County EMS System.

Sgt Eric Sweden from the Raleigh Police Department joins me this week. Sgt Sweden is our first police officer to be on the podcast. We talk about the training he did for the Wake County EMS System regarding verbal judo. Before we get to that topic we banter about his beginnings in public safety. Sgt Sweden was a firefighter, EMT and Paramedic. He even worked as a Paramedic for Wake County EMS. You can tell Sgt Sweden is passionate about his career choices and he tells us about two patients that had an impact on him. Our other topics include violence to EMS providers, we touch on ballistic vests and a few pointers on how to deescalate a scene and safety for EMS providers.