About this episode
Episode notes
In this episode, Eric and Kari start with a case out of Massachusetts where paramedics and police credited cadaver lab training with helping them save a man critically injured by a circular saw. It raises a bigger question for EMS: should cadaver lab training be mandatory for every agency? Eric and Kari dig into what this kind of hands-on anatomy experience brings to the job and whether it should become a more routine part of EMS education.
Then it’s time for the Crew Poll: To Narcan or Not to Narcan? Naloxone has become one of the most familiar medications in EMS, but are we using it appropriately in the undifferentiated unresponsive patient, or sometimes giving it simply because it’s available?
For the Deep Dive, they tackle kratom. It’s easy to buy, increasingly common, and something EMS clinicians may encounter without knowing much about it. Eric and Kari break down what kratom is, why people use it, its opioid-like effects, toxicity, clinical presentation, and what providers need to know when a kratom-related emergency ends up in the back of the ambulance. Questions from the Crew shifts the conversation to leadership and the idea that leadership isn’t a rank. What happens when titles and egos get in the way of developing the next generation? Good leadership isn’t about protecting your position. It’s about opening doors, creating opportunities, and leaving the organization better than you found it.
Finally, Eric and Kari discuss the greatest movies of all time... or at least in their own minds.