Blogs

By Scott J. Ash, NRPThe Paramedic Hive – Beyond the Sirens I remember when people wanted to be paramedics. Being able to work medicine away from a hospital setting, make life and death decisions and save a life here and there was enough to draw an entire generation of young men and women to our…

Things People Don’t Understand About EMS By Scott Ash You’re late for work. Coffee in the cup holder. Traffic is already terrible. Somebody three cars ahead apparently believe 42 miles per hour is an acceptable speed in the left lane. Then you hear it. A siren. You check the mirror. There it is. An ambulance.…

By Scott Ash There’s an odd inconsistency in EMS that few people talk about. Paramedics are expected to work independently. To make real-time clinical decisions about patients we often know little about. Patients without diagnoses. Patients we treat in chaotic environments. Patients where we may be the only healthcare provider on scene. But when it…

By Scott Ash For The Paramedic Hive For decades, the prehospital response to opioid overdose has followed a familiar sequence: Find the patient.Support ventilation.Give naloxone.Restore breathing.Watch the patient wake up. And often wake up miserable. The patient who was unresponsive minutes earlier may suddenly be vomiting, sweating, restless, anxious, cramping, aching, and begging you to make…

When Did EMS Become a Stepping-Stone Instead of a Career?  By Scott Ash For The Paramedic Hive There was a time when becoming a paramedic meant you had found your profession. You went to medic school. You survived Clinical’s and field internship. You learned how to read an ECG bouncing down a freeway, you can…

And the Experience Gap May Be Making It Worse By Scott Ash For the Paramedic Hive For years, we’ve called it an EMS staffing shortage. I’m beginning to think we’ve been calling it the wrong thing. “Staffing shortage” sounds administrative. It sounds like empty boxes on a schedule, overtime texts going out at six in…

By Scott Ash, EMHA, BS, AAS, NRPThe Paramedic Hive™Built for Those Who Answer the Call Not too long ago becoming a paramedic was as much apprenticeship as it was education.  Many new paramedics spent years riding as EMTs prior to promotion. They spent hours in vehicles with experienced clinicians who taught them more than just…

By Scott Ash, NRP  The Paramedic Hive – Built for Those Who Answer the Call Some heroes wear badges and run into burning buildings. Some fly high above us and keep our skies safe. But few have run faster than Paramedic Johnny Gage. Some heroes never respond to a 911 call. Some never place an IV, intubate a…

“Where have all the applicants gone?”  EMS has been asking itself the same question for years.  Every class there are less candidates.  Training academies have open seats they can’t fill.  New grads don’t stay for more than a few years. Rural communities can’t staff their ambulances. Urban systems are scraping by on mandated overtime and burned-out…