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Reading Time: 6 minutesPATI in EMS Leadership: Breaking Free from the “Chain of Pain” After 20 years in EMS – from running calls to somehow ending up with a white shirt and too many meetings – I’ve learned one universal truth: micromanaging is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Yet here…

Reading Time: 8 minutesOpening Rant: The Irony of Forgotten Memory Aids I’m guessing most of you didn’t read my previous blog about mnemonics. You probably saved it with a clever acronym like “READ LATER” (Really Exciting Article Discussing Learning And Teaching Everyday Resources). How’d that work out for you? If you’re anything like my students,…

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: 12 minutesPlease watch first……. https://www.thehumbledmedic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Awake.mp4 “The most terrifying stories aren’t from horror movies. They’re from hospital rooms where patients are paralyzed but awake, silently screaming for hours.”— Anonymous Flight Paramedic PROLOGUE: A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR I never thought I’d be writing a horror story about medication administration. After fifteen years as a…

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: 14 minutesPicture this: You’re in a dimly lit room, a single lamp illuminating your subject. The pulse oximeter sits there, displaying its numbers with unwavering confidence. But after 20 years on the streets as a paramedic, I’ve learned that even our most trusted witnesses can be unreliable. Today, we’re going to put this…