!Please Remain Calm!

We finally answer the number one question every paramedic is asked whenever someone finds out what you do for a living. Danny gives you a huge payoff to this question, as he shares the craziest childbirth story ever, along with multiple suicide stories including something you never really consider at the scene until you're there. Then he ends it by expanding on the story of his most personally traumatic response that put him on stress leave for a month and led to a PTSD diagnosis for him. We talk about the phases of a career, busy stations, stress on the job, the "map" in your head of all your worst incidents & how you can never really forget them, & why it's important to seek help and find hobbies outside of work. Also, these stories are seriously wild, can't really put more in the description. This episode deserves a vacation.

Albert Sanchez was a 33 year old LA County Firefighter in great shape, with 10 years on the job, when he was hit suddenly with a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis after experiencing sharp abdominal pains at work. Albert explains his entire ordeal to us, from staying up all night researching his condition, to checking himself out of the hospital and getting into a cancer specialty center. Albert undergoes a risky surgery, then 6 months of chemotherapy, where he has a complete change of perspective on life and its challenges. Here is an otherwise healthy man who was given 30 days to live and is now completely in remission for years. This is an amazing story & Albert is totally candid and honest & gives great insight on what it's like to be hit with a deadly diagnosis at a young age & beat it. Everything that goes thru your mind is explored here as well as what happens to your body, & we learn how your own determination can save your life.

We talk about where we were on 9/11/2001, & realize how old that makes us now. Danny gives insight into what the firefighters felt going into that building & how unique and dangerous the situation was for the FD. He also talks about talking to younger firefighters about that day & how those events changed his view of the job. We talk about the real reaction and feeling that day & week, as well as the layout & timeline of the events and reactions. We talk about the changes in the world since then, desensitization to mass death, effects on the course of history, defense contractors, Pat Tillman, the economy, Al Gore, Covid, old movie references, Danny's art skills, & more.

Comedian Zach Miller tells us about an ass whooping, his own ass whooping. He explains a unique scenario, where he happened to be celebrating his bday on the same B Dubs patio as 4 marines home from Iraq, who wound up having alcohol fueled words with him. Those words soon led to an attack on Zach, who walked out the door & woke up in an ambulance after getting assaulted by the 4 men, in front of his former workplace and coworkers. We dive into this as well as a few other random assault stories involving dogs, married couples, gangs, homeless encampments, & more. We also talk about the changing streetfight landscape, & why we avoid them at all costs now. Plus we explain the transport decisions you have to make with assault victims & why you never know what you're getting into when you respond to an assault call. This episode needs a head CT.

It's just the 2 of us talking about the latest controversy sweeping thru the FD ranks, vaccination mandates. Notably, we discuss a recent social media video posted by a member of Danny's department. We talk about the motivation behind these videos as well as pandemic clout chasing, checking sources, fake news, algorithms, doing your own research, & knowing who pays the person you're listening to. We talk about how misinformation works & spreads & why it's driving some FD members to extremes. We discuss the LAFD social media policy, the social media captain, the internet room, the Personal Standards Division, & we also debunk some of the most popular reasons guys on the job give for refusing to take the shot. This episode just got FDA approval.

Comedian Tony Klein becomes our 1st two time guest (Ep 3 "Get the Jaws") as he tells us about his own motorcycle crash in Hollywood, one morning before work. Flying over the hood of a car, waking up in the street with his bike on top of him, he literally dusts himself off & goes straight to work at LA's busiest breakfast cafe with his chin split open to the bone. We talk about Tony's treatment odyssey with no health insurance. The lengths he went thru to try to get diagnosed & treated "unofficially" & how that changed his riding habits. We talk about how he developed those habits in Wisconsin, which has the winning combination of highest DUI rate & NO helmet laws, & the differences between riding in the Midwest vs LA. Plus Danny describes the craziest motorcycle crash call ever off of an LA Freeway interchange ramp, & he gives his own motorcycle crash story involving his wife and himself. We also get a good chunk of motorcycle riding affection in this one as well as real talk about the dangers and how that hits you differently later in life. We talk about different riding styles, do you like having someone riding with you, which helmet is best, street racing, electric bikes, & Ben explains why this lifestyle passed him by completely. This episode splits lanes.

Kevin Green was a rookie firefighter with the LAFD who was off duty one night out on a date when he witnessed a car crash on the freeway late at night. After pulling his truck over to help, a drunk driver crashed into the disabled vehicle, knocking it into Kevin & crushing his leg against his own truck. What happens after is a story of survival, recovery, & the importance of the fire family as Kevin frees himself from the wreckage, helps the original victim, then treats his own shattered leg. Once en route to the trauma center the firefighters treating Kevin notify his station as well as his previous department, the Compton FD. Members from both departments meet Kevin at the hospital with his family, and stay with him every step of the way. We talk about the multiple surgeries and attempted surgeries Kevin endured, as well as not knowing if he would lose his leg. He describes hearing conversations while he was supposed to be completely unconscious but was only paralyzed. We also talk about the long road to recovery that saw Kevin miraculously return to work in a year. We talk about martial arts, discipline, growing up in Compton, filming a reality show as a rookie fireman, Compton FD stories, LAFD vs CFD drill towers, fat guys with Black Belts, Serra HS career day, Ernie Reyes, & we get a mention for one of Ben's MAC trauma centers, Harbor UCLA. Kevin is an awesome guy & his positive outlook on life is infectious as are his stories about growing up as a karate kid in Compton. This episode stands strong.

We're joined by Dr Bob Kilroy, a chiropractor who was teaching his daughter to surf one Sunday at Venice Beach when the unthinkable happened. On an otherwise clear day a cloud appeared & started a light drizzle with a single lightning strike that hit the waters of Venice Beach, right next to Bob! Struck by literally a million volts in the equivalent of a bathtubs distance, Bob goes into cardiac arrest & inhales some seawater. His daughter, who was knocked off of her surfboard but spared from serious electrocution, pulls him to safety where lifeguards and an ER Cardiologist who happened to be at the beach pull him out and begin CPR. Then our own Danny shows up after what he described as "a bomb going off" followed by a call for an electrocution, upgraded en route to a lightning strike, then to a full cardiac arrest. The lifeguards regain a pulse, then they're off to UCLA ER with Danny pulling off a risky intubation en route. Dr Kilroy makes a full recovery & he and Danny have a unique discussion as Danny is able to fill in the blanks for the 24 hours where the Dr was in a coma. We also talk about the incredible lesson Dr Kilroy took away from this experience as well as how crazy Venice Beach is on a Sunday, what a spinal adjustment is like, how to become a chiropractor, why both hosts like to see a chiro, how the nervous system responds to a lightning strike, what the recovery is like, & also HOLY CRAP THIS DUDE WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND LIVED & sat with us & showed us the tattoo he got to remember it. Dr Kilroy is super cool, & also has a great broacasting voice, kinda Bill Walton ish. This episode also has footage from the actual event as well as a shout out to Body Glove.

We're joined by Santa Monica FD Training Chief James Altman. Who recounts a day he'll never forget as a HazMat Captain, working on a special security detail for President Obama's visit in 2013. Just 6 minutes after the motorcade passes thru a quiet Santa Monica, California neighborhood, they get a call for shots fired and a shooting victim over the radio, followed by a call for a structure fire in the same neighborhood. What follows is the aftermath of an active shooter rampaging thru the city while the president is in town, resulting in 5 separate crime scenes! These included a house fire, carjacking, bus attack, and a mass shooting attempt at Santa Monica College before being neutralized by police in the library. This is an incredible story of bravery but also of leadership and candid honesty regarding operations in situations you are not really prepared for. What happens when your department's resources are completely tapped out with 5 major simultaneous incidents with the President a couple of miles away. What does the Secret Service do? How do you deal with guys who refuse to go into an unsafe scene, or with police who refuse to stay back and protect the FD? How have policies changed since this incident? James also knew us as kids and gives a great interview that starts with old Westside memories & ends with a real insightful look at leadership in Fire service & what it really means, especially when things get wild. We also talk about what it means to really be ready for anything.

We're joined by triple threat (Paramedic, Water Polo Ref, MAC guy) Jeffrey Molina who tells us about an ordinary high school water polo tournament where one match tried to go into sudden death in the 2nd quarter. A 14 year old boy struggled to get out of the pool during a substitution in the 2nd quarter. When he needed 3 teammates to pull him out, Jeffrey the Referee noticed something was wrong, & sprang into action. Realizing the boy was pulseless, he began CPR & started to direct the most bizarre full arrest of his career. With no equipment, no partner, & an entire water polo tournament around him, Jeffrey manages to get an AED & deliver a shock. After another shock, he gets a pulse back, & then things get crazy. What's it like to be completely on your own to save a kid with no gear? How do you switch from referee to paramedic, and keep control of the scene? How long does it actually take help to arrive? How do you delegate when people want to help but have varying levels of qualifications? What happens when the patient's family finally realizes you've been shocking their kid this whole time? This story has a great outcome & we also get insight to the world of water polo, how crazy it gets underwater, why the Europeans love it, & how hard the training is. Plus we get to hear how satisfying it is when victims survive and thank you later. We also talk about why kid calls are so tough, how critical stress debriefing can help with these calls, & more. This episode wears speedos.