The JEMS Report

Phillip Wahby was a 20-year heroin addict who, with the help of a 12-step program, has been sober since May 2011. Phillip earned his Associate of Applied Science-Paramedic from St Louis Community College Forest Park in 1988. As a paramedic for St Louis, he spent 12 years on the front lines providing emergency care and crisis intervention in emergency settings, receiving multiple Dressel Life Saving Awards for his work.

After getting sober in 2011, Phillip completed a recovery dynamics program, lived in sober living for 2.5 years and has worked hard to mend, maintain and create relationships.

Phillip works with local police departments, fire departments and EMS as a First Responder Liaison to aid in removing the stigma that may come with dealing with substance use disorder. In the past 10 years he has participated in countless local community events such as rallies, legislation days, town hall meetings, street and park cleanups, harm reduction services and Narcan distributions.

He serves currently as the elected Area Chairperson for the St Louis Area of Heroin Anonymous and remains grounded in his own recovery.

Hear from the Friends of Firefighters Podcast, a program that was born from the wreckage of 9/11 and has helped the firefighters of the FDNY. Friends of Firefighters has become an example non-profit that is creating real change with mental wellness among first responders.

May was Mental Health Awareness Month and this episode focuses on the story of a firefighter/paramedic who had a traumatic on-duty discovery. Candace Cox, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist, joins the podcast for a clinical perspective.

In the EMS Careers segment, Dr. Scott Gilmore, the medical director of the St. Louis (MO) Fire Department, discusses his career path.

We’re not ambulance drivers and the public needs to know. The common refrain, “I didn’t know you could do that sort of thing,” should not be uttered by professionals and legislators adjacent to our profession. Fighting entropy in our profession takes a volunteer spirit and Nancy Magee joins us to discuss strategies for doing just this. 

Nancy has been active in EMS for over 20 years. Having been a self-employed business owner and consultant for 25 years, and as a volunteer EMT, career AEMT, instructor, field supervisor and director of marketing and client relations for an EMS management service organization, Nancy combines marketing savvy and management perspective with a volunteer’s heart. Her workshop series “Redesigning Volunteer EMS-A Volunteer Survival Guide,” has been presented nationwide and is aimed at helping volunteer EMS agencies overcome fiscal, leadership and recruitment and retention challenges.

She is the author of “REDESIGNING VOLUNTEER EMS.” Her blogs on volunteerism, professionalism and ethics can be found on her website at medictrainingsolutions.org. She is a dynamic and passionate educator, subject matter expert and advocate for EMS volunteers, and presents clinical content geared towards rural BLS providers at EMS conferences across the country.

It’s the EMS Handoff crew on this one discussing medication error, how our squishy brains are terrible at handling complex numbers in high-stress situations and what we can do to offload some of that stress to do the right thing. 

This EMS Week episode discusses careers in EMS. Joel Thacker is a paramedic and has ascended to the post of fire marshal for the State of Indiana. How did he get there? Learn how, what inspirations he received and his next steps.

Happy EMS week to our first responders! Hear from a medical director on her perspective on the relationship between hospital staff and field personnel. She has a unique perspective of starting in the medical field as an EMT and how she views EMS.

Preventing Burnout by Advocating for Change in EMS with Dr. Candice McDonald and Nurse Robin Goldinger.

Special guests are Shelly Carter and James Garcia.

Dysfunctional workplaces and a lack of control are two causes of burnout in the workplace. Ignored or unaddressed job burnout stressors can have significant consequences on an individual and the organization.

One way to prevent burnout is to advocate for change within your organization and industry as a whole. It is easy to complain about the way things are, but becoming a change agent is one way to gain power.

Jason Haag is a well-traveled EMS educator who currently works as the quality assurance analyst and clinical educator for MultiMed Billing in Baldwinsville, NY. With more than 18 years of EMS experience, Jason is a critical care paramedic who has experience as an EMS supervisor and CIC certification teaching agencies across New York.  He also speaks at conferences, hosts classes and reviews texts for Jones and Bartlett Learning.  Jason continues his EMS advocacy with multiple EMS agencies and committees. His involvement with Geneva Fire Department, Boy Scouts, Masons, Rotary, and Ducks Unlimited occupies his days after his daily family time with his wife and son.

Due to mandatory staffing patterns, could this force first responders to leave their chosen career path because of burnout? Mike Lucero explains his perspective as a father, husband and his struggle for mental wellness within his dream career.