Author: Bryan Selvage

Reading Time: 6 minutesLook, we’ve all been there. It’s 3 AM, and dispatch sends you to a private residence for an “agitated hospice patient.” Your partner’s half-asleep, you’re on your fifth cup of coffee, and this kind of call needs you fully alert. Because what you’re about to walk into isn’t your typical agitation call…

Reading Time: 8 minutesAfter 20 years in EMS and another decade teaching the next generation of life-savers, I’ve seen some things that make my mustache curl (and I don’t have one). But few things get under my skin quite like watching crews stroll into the ED with nothing but their good looks and a pulse…

Reading Time: 5 minutesBy that same paramedic who still watches too many crime shows Listen up, investigators. Today we’re conducting a thorough interrogation of an increasingly popular witness in our prehospital investigations – the point-of-care ultrasound. Like that rookie detective who just transferred from another precinct, this witness shows promise but needs careful questioning. Background…

Reading Time: 6 minutesAfter 20 years in the field and 15 years teaching, I’ve developed what you might call a love-hate relationship with mnemonics. You know, those clever little memory devices we all learned in school? SAMPLE, OPQRST, DCAPBTLS – sometimes I feel like EMS is just one big alphabet soup. Don’t get me wrong…

Reading Time: 4 minutesListen up, medical warriors. After years of developing  Intubation/RSI Checklist and reviewing hundreds of Rapid Sequence Intubation (RSI) protocols, I’ve discovered something that makes me cringe harder than a first-year medic attempting cricoid pressure – between 80% to 90% of RSI protocols are dropping the ball on post-procedure pain control and sedation.…

Reading Time: 2 minutesYou associate sweet potatoes with many things: Thanksgiving and sweet potato fries! However, I recently had the chance to learn that sweet potatoes can be cold-blooded killers!  Let me set the scene for you. It’s a day or two after Thanksgiving, and you are housing another sweet potato pie leftover from Thanksgiving!…