Loud & Clear: EMS Guiding Principles - Advanced Continuing Education for Paramedics, EMTs & Prehospital Care Providers

Ross Orpet, Paramedic turned EMS Physician

Paramedic training is over, you’re in the front seat now. Whether day 1 or day 1,000 you can’t shake the fear you’re underprepared. You were taught to systematically decide if A... do B. But what if “A” wasn’t in the book? The truth is each emergency call is too unique to teach the right response to every situation. We need to go beyond algorithmic thinking and understand deeper principles, the WHY behind the algorithm. When every decision counts you want to rely on a framework that will guide you when things don’t make sense. Loud & Clear: EMS Guiding Principles is your resource to build that framework. Through discussions with experts, review of evidence-based best practices, and real-world case studies we teach you one step past what you learned in paramedic school. But all of this advanced education is connected back to the guiding principles that answer the question- “at the end of the day, what actually matters to the patient I have in front of me?” Our mission is to elevate your practice and help you improve patient outcomes in every emergency situation. You may not feel ready, you may not feel like you know enough, but by understanding the guiding principles of emergency medicine you can become an expert EMS clinician. Because what you do matters. Loud & Clear: EMS Guiding Principles is an EMS Cast LLC production

  1. 5d ago

    When You Can’t Stop the Bleeding: Inside A Massive Trauma Case

    A mangled extremity, uncontrolled bleeding, bad weather grounding every helicopter nearby, and a trauma center nearly an hour away. Sometimes the biggest challenge is  figuring out what to do when the ideal plan is no longer available. Ross talks with critical care flight paramedic Jim Phipps about a severe farm-auger injury that pushed multiple teams to adapt in real time. Jim walks through how the responding EMS crew, local hospital, flight team, and receiving trauma center each had to solve a different part of the problem while keeping the patient moving toward definitive hemorrhage control. This episode covers tourniquet reassessment during resuscitation, wide-band and junctional hemorrhage control, hypotensive resuscitation, whole blood, contingency planning, and the communication required when a team realizes its current strategy is not going to work. Jim also explains the workable solution that helped get this patient to the operating room alive. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why a tourniquet that controlled bleeding initially may need to be tightened again  How wide circumferential compression can help when a tourniquet no longer has enough usable tissue to work with What “accuracy, brevity, and clarity” sounds like when a resuscitation team needs to change plans quickly Why asking yourself for 3 things that went well and 3 things to improve can make a post-call reflection more useful Resources: Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Just have a question and want some personalized help? Book a free coaching call with us. Episode 136: From Tractor Rollovers to Grain Entrapment: A Field Guide to Farm Emergencies Guests: Jim Phipps, Critical Care Flight Paramedic, UNC Air Care

  2. Sep 28

    Maternal Trauma Emergencies: What Changes in the Pregnant Patient

    Pregnancy can make even experienced clinicians second-guess decisions. Can you image the patient? Can you cardiovert? Should the trauma assessment change? And at what point does the fetus become part of the resuscitation? Will talks with maternal-fetal medicine physician Dr. Johanna Quist-Nelson about what matters when caring for a pregnant trauma patient, where fetal assessment fits into the trauma survey, how pregnancy changes positioning and oxygenation goals, why necessary diagnostic imaging should not be withheld, and what clinicians should understand about maternal cardiac arrest and resuscitative hysterotomy. She also addresses the emotional impact these rare, high-stakes cases can have on families. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why bleeding may be an important clue after trauma even when the pregnant patient appears stable How lateral uterine displacement can improve venous return without compromising chest compressions Why an unstable arrhythmia in pregnancy should not automatically delay electrical cardioversion What a low fibrinogen level can signal differently in a pregnant trauma patient  Resources: Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Just have a question and want some personalized help? Book a free coaching call with us. MomBaby.org UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health Perinatal Emergency Checklists Guests: Dr. Johanna Quist-Nelson, maternal-fetal medicine physician

  3. Sep 21

    Training for the Big Call: How Emergency Teams Can Build Better Performance Under Pressure

    The hardest calls fall apart when communication is unclear, roles blur, feedback feels personal, and the team starts working around each other instead of with each other. Today, Ross and Will talk with Dr. Daryl Johnson, Adult Trauma Medical Director for the UNC Health Trauma Program, about what it takes to build teams that can perform consistently under pressure, how leaders can manage disagreements without shutting down valuable input, and why relationships built during ordinary shifts matter. Dr. Johnson also shares how UNC uses shared processes, simulation, video review, coaching, and deliberate repetition to create consistency across an ever-changing team, and why excellence has to become something clinicians practice on ordinary cases rather than something they hope to switch on for a big one. In this episode, you’ll learn: What a question or disagreement from a teammate may signal about a leader How reviewing “game film” can help clinicians recognize their own blind spots  Why lower-acuity calls are an opportunity to rehearse the habits you’ll need during a resuscitation What “smooth is fast” really means when the goal is to reduce chaos    Resources: Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Just have a question and want some personalized help? Book a free coaching call with us. UNC Health Trauma Program TeamSTEPPS Guests: Dr. Daryl Johnson, Adult Trauma Medical Director, UNC Health Trauma Program

  4. Sep 14

    From Tractor Rollovers to Grain Entrapment: A Field Guide to Farm Emergencies

    The mechanism behind agricultural emergencies can completely change the risk to both the patient and the responders arriving to help. Ross talks with Jessica Wilburn, Agromedicine Nurse Coordinator, and Maggie Denning, Outreach Coordinator with the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute, about the injuries and environmental hazards first responders may encounter in agricultural communities. They cover tractor rollovers, livestock injuries, pesticide and fumigant exposure, grain-bin entrapment, hydraulic injection injuries, and machinery involving augers and power takeoff shafts. The conversation also covers responder safety, including how to recognize when machinery is still energized, why a barn or greenhouse call may involve dangerous chemical exposure, and how local farmers can sometimes be one of your best sources of information. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why farmers often minimize injuries, and why “minor” complaints deserve a closer look Why grain bins and manure lagoons can create secondary victims when rescuers enter How a tiny hydraulic-fluid puncture wound can threaten an entire extremity despite looking benign at first What a first responder should do first when approaching moving farm machinery   Resources: Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Just have a question and want some personalized help? Book a free coaching call with us. North Carolina Agromedicine Institute Guests: Jessica Wilburn, Agromedicine Nurse Coordinator, North Carolina Agromedicine Institute Maggie Denning, CNA and Outreach Coordinator, North Carolina Agromedicine Institute

  5. Sep 7

    The First 60 Seconds After ROSC: How To Prevent Re-Arrest

    The First 60 Seconds After ROSC: How To Prevent Re-Arrest How do you improve your resuscitation systems beyond the ACLS algorithm? Will talks with Ian Blanchard, Senior Scientist for Alberta’s provincial EMS system about the “frame of survival” and why rehearsing equipment placement and vector change can make critical actions nearly automatic when the call comes in. Then, Ross talks with Mike Humphrey of Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services about what happened when his team reviewed their cardiac arrests and discovered a recurring pattern: post-ROSC hypotension followed by a near 50% re-arrest rate. Their response was to redesign post-ROSC care around the first 60 seconds to prevent life-sustaining therapies from disappearing during the transition of care. In this episode, you’ll learn: What “doing reps in the clinical gym” looks like when you don’t have access to a high-fidelity simulator Why moving a cardiac-arrest patient too early can undermine CPR quality and make resuscitation worse What 1 minute blood pressure reassessments can reveal that a single “good” post-ROSC pressure may miss Why a vasopressor-dependent patient should stay on the EMS stretcher  The best time to prepare for vector change, pit-crew roles, and post-ROSC care   Resources: Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Just have a question and want some personalized help? Book a free coaching call with us. Canadian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium Resuscitation Academy International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Episode 133: Post-ROSC Care & Pacing: Prove the Perfusion Guests: Ian Blanchard, former paramedic and Senior Scientist for Alberta’s provincial EMS system Mike Humphrey, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services

  6. Aug 31

    Post-ROSC Care and Pacing: Prove the Perfusion

    Getting a pulse back feels like a win. Seeing pacer spikes and something that resembles a pulse feels reassuring. But in both situations, the monitor can make you feel better before the patient actually is. Geoff Murphy of Master Your Medics breaks down the fragile minutes after return of spontaneous circulation. He explains why hypotension deserves immediate attention, how falling end-tidal CO2 can warn that cardiac output is deteriorating, and when fluids can serve as a short bridge to vasopressors. Then, paramedic Jacob Miller challenges some of the assumptions clinicians learn about transcutaneous pacing. He discusses pad placement, pacing current, ultrasound, pharmacologic support, and why clinicians need to keep reassessing even after they think they have capture. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why an initially normal blood pressure after ROSC can be falsely reassuring How skeletal muscle contraction during pacing can create ECG artifact and a false sense of mechanical capture What can improve your chances of capturing a patient when transcutaneous pacing is needed Why practicing the pacer during routine monitor checks can make a rare, high-stress call much easier to manage Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Interested in ABLS Now? Our listeners get 10% off with code LOUD26POD. Jacob’s Resources: Article with images of false vs true electrical capture: Kimbrell J, Kreinbrook J, Poke D, et al. False Electrical Capture in Prehospital Transcutaneous Pacing by Paramedics: A Case Series. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2024;28(7):928-936. doi: 10.1080/10903127.2024.2321287   Link to Scott Weingart's EMCrit podcast episode discussing false positive SpO2 signal without actual capture:  https://emcrit.org/emcrit/tcp-pulse-ox-fail/   Jacobs website with handout version of my slides:  https://jacobmilleracnp.com/slides/   Guests: Geoff Murphy, Founder and Lead Educator of Master Your Medics Jacob Miller, paramedic, flight nurse, critical care nurse, nurse practitioner, and DNP

  7. Aug 24

    Burn Care in EMS: What Actually Matters in the First 15 Minutes

    Burn patients can create a disproportionate amount of anxiety. The calls are uncommon, the injuries can be visually overwhelming, and it is easy to get distracted by the burn itself. Ross and Will talk with Mark Johnston, a longtime Advanced Burn Life Support instructor and burn program leader at Regions Hospital, about simplifying prehospital burn care. Mark explains how most burn patients should be approached and why you need to resist the urge to make wound care the first priority. They also dig into the findings that should make you truly concerned about an inhalation injury, how to estimate total body surface area, and which smaller burns still warrant burn-center evaluation. In this episode, you’ll learn: Which airway findings increase concern for inhalation injury Why the simple 125/250/500 mL-per-hour approach can be more useful in the field than calculating a full Parkland formula How mechanism changes your priorities in thermal, chemical, electrical, and enclosed-space burns How wet dressings and aggressive wound care can increase heat loss or distract clinicians from early interventions   Resources: Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Just have a question and want some personalized help? Book a free coaching call with us. Interested in ABLS Now? Our listeners get 10% off through the end of August. The Emergency Mind: Wiring Your Brain for Performance Under Pressure, by Dan Dworkis, MD PhD Peak Performance Under Pressure, by Stephen Hearns Episode 109: Understanding the EMS Power Curve Guests: Mark Johnston, BSN, RN, TCRN, Burn Program Manager at Regions Hospital

  8. Aug 17

    Readiness Beyond the Medicine: Neurodivergence, Pediatrics, and Better Communication

    Readiness is about more than knowing the medicine. It’s about creating the conditions for patients, families, and clinicians to feel safer and more capable when the situation is unfamiliar, overwhelming, or high risk. First up, Boston MedFlight flight nurse Nicole King discusses neurodivergence, sensory overload, and how traditional EMS behaviors can unintentionally escalate distress. She explains why slowing down, reducing stimuli, and involving caregivers can completely change the experience for patients who are struggling. Then, Ross talks with pediatric flight nurse and Blakery Content creator Christopher Blake about pediatric readiness and why confidence on low-frequency, high-risk calls has to be built before the tones drop. They discuss pediatric emergency care coordinators, agency-wide readiness, and using QA/QI. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to recognize when behavior may be the result of sensory overload or difficulty processing the environment Why pictograms, fidget toys, headphones, sunglasses, and weighted pressure can reduce escalation  How a Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinator can help an agency identify gaps Why family-centered communication can reduce fear and improve cooperation How to adapt your assessment when a patient cannot tolerate standard vital-sign monitoring    Resources: Want more? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Confidence Dispatch. Want individualized coaching and mentorship? Check out The Loud & Clear Fellowship. Just have a question and want some personalized help? Book a free coaching call with us. Interested in ABLS Now? Our listeners get 10% off through the end of August.   Pediatric Readiness Assessment KultureCity Ben’s Blue Bags and Carter Kits Emergency Medical Services for Children Innovation & Improvement Center Birth Vibes: Stories & Strategies for An Empowered Birth, by Jen Hamilton Guests: Nicole King, flight nurse, Boston MedFlight Christopher Blake, pediatric flight nurse and creator of Blakery Content

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Paramedic training is over, you’re in the front seat now. Whether day 1 or day 1,000 you can’t shake the fear you’re underprepared. You were taught to systematically decide if A... do B. But what if “A” wasn’t in the book? The truth is each emergency call is too unique to teach the right response to every situation. We need to go beyond algorithmic thinking and understand deeper principles, the WHY behind the algorithm. When every decision counts you want to rely on a framework that will guide you when things don’t make sense. Loud & Clear: EMS Guiding Principles is your resource to build that framework. Through discussions with experts, review of evidence-based best practices, and real-world case studies we teach you one step past what you learned in paramedic school. But all of this advanced education is connected back to the guiding principles that answer the question- “at the end of the day, what actually matters to the patient I have in front of me?” Our mission is to elevate your practice and help you improve patient outcomes in every emergency situation. You may not feel ready, you may not feel like you know enough, but by understanding the guiding principles of emergency medicine you can become an expert EMS clinician. Because what you do matters. Loud & Clear: EMS Guiding Principles is an EMS Cast LLC production

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