When you arrive on scene of a medical emergency, do you talk with the patient? Sure you do. In fact, if you’re still fairly new at EMS, you likely practically interrogate them. Questions like, “When was your last oral intake?” or “What were your events leading up to this incident?”…are laughable, when heard outside a run.How about, “When did you last have something to eat or drink?” or “What happened just before you passed out?” A real conversation will get you farther faster than trying to act like a doctor—who, if he has experience, knows better anyway. Here to explain some of the things we can learn from just talking to a patient is Tim Nowak. Tim’s the founder and CEO of Emergency Medical Solutions, LLC, an EMS training and consulting company. He's been involved in EMS and emergency services since 2002, and has worked as an EMT, paramedic and critical care paramedic. He’s also been involved as an EMS educator, firefighter and HazMat technician throughout his career.