911 Squirrel
A fun, informative podcast about life, training, and other insights, within the careers of all first responders (Law, Fire, EMS, etc). Telling stories, sharing insights on training, diving into serious subjects, and laughing at ourselves.
911 Squirrel
EMS Week
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It was EMS Week! Did we get this episode out before it was over? NOOOOOO!
Why? Due to the stupidity of our host who uploaded the wrong things to edit. Happens. Not ever again though.
Enjoy!
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Welcome to 911 Squirrel, a podcast for all the fine men and women who serve as first responders. Stories will be told training at time, and everyday responder life is explored, all while having a great time doing it. So grab your coffee and watch those tails. This squirrel shift is about to begin. And now, a man that once jumped off a stage to administer CDR on a patient in the parking lot. Please welcome your host, Brad Matt.
SPEAKER_04Well, hello, and welcome to episode number six of 911 Squirrel the podcast for first responders. That's right, episode number six. You now need two hands to count the number of episodes that 911 Squirrel has in its uh series. Series in season one. Basically, this whole year is a season. So so in year one, this is episode number six. Brother. And as the cool tech voice said, I am your host, Brad Mack, and this episode is called, for lack of a better title that I could not think of, EMS Week. That's right. I couldn't think of a better title. So you get EMS Week. Uh may the White Cloud form follow and bless you all with fun and rewarding shifts. Now it is EMS Week, and guess what I did? I almost completely missed it, but I had the plan. I was going to have this out, this episode out, by Thursday, Friday at the latest, as long as everything could work out the way that I planned it. Because I've already missed Firefighter Appreciation Day, law and for law enforcement appreciation week. It's already, and it is firefighter appreciation month. So happy firefighters to all the firefighters out there. Uh, but I almost missed the MS week. So I was this was what the plan was. Everything was gonna be everything that was pre-recorded. I was all ready to edit it and put it in the episode. So I was gonna transfer everything over to my laptop so I could edit it while I'm going to Chicago for a nephew's wedding. Congratulations, Eric and Kaylin. That's right, my nephew got married. Uh so congratulations to them. It was wonderful. It was a wonderful wedding too in Chicago. It was great downtown at the planetary at the planetarium. It was wonderful. Anyway, so I was gonna do that. I was gonna edit it while I was there, and I I was so excited because I had two couple hours, two or three hours to kill, um, on uh Saturday morning. So I thought, well, I'll go edit it. So I open up my laptop and I'm ready to edit, and then I realize I transferred the wrong music for one, which really just uh and then so I couldn't edit it the way I wanted to, and I didn't have the music on my laptop that I needed, so I had to wait till I had to till I got back from Chicago, which is why this is not coming on EMS week, which is really, really sad. Now the other thing is um it's also Memorial Day weekend, so and Memorial Day is not about the Indy 500 or the Coca-Cola 600 or barbecues and boating or whatever the whatever the start of summer is for you. Memorial Day is about remembering and memorializing the military uh men and women who lost their lives uh serving our country. So please take a moment, take say a prayer, just have a little d even if it's only 10 seconds, a little just a moment of silence to remember what Memorial Day is all about and give thanks for our fallen troops. Um so make sure you do that. But yes, it was was EMS Week, and oh the memories of barbecues, pizza, t-shirts, hats, lots and lots of cookies and cakes. Cause yeah, we want our first three sponders to be full of junk food. We've talked about this. Anyway, uh I always liked the shirts, and EMS Week always had perfect timing for t-shirts. Just as summer starts, and the need for something new to wear to the grocery store, or mow, or paint, or garden, or into your activity here. Uh one time my partner Gary and I, Gary uh Gary M, he's a great paramedic. Now he's an instructor. Uh we were we were partnered together and we were one of the last to be brought in for the big barbecue meal and to get our t-shirts. Okay. Well, they didn't have the size that I usually wore at the time, but with my speedy brain power, I had this thought. Hey, I'm losing weight by bicycling. I'll get the next size down. That's right, that was my thought. And I was losing weight too. I mean, pride ran deep within my vanity, vanity, vanity. Uh, so I got a large shirt, and I wore it proudly for about three weeks, and I look good.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah. Wait, wait a minute, let's do that better. Oh yeah. I can't do that. I'm too sexy for my shirt. Too sexy for my shirt. So sexy it hurts.
SPEAKER_04Uh yeah, uh all the middle-aged ladies looked at me like a popsicle.
SPEAKER_02Uh strutting across the parking lots, entering a room like I owned it, letting my fairly tight t-shirt do the talking.
unknownGosh.
SPEAKER_04If you only knew if you knew me, then you know I don't take this seriously. Uh I would have been shown on every month of the EMS calendar. That's right. January, February, March, April, May, uh, June and all those months that that follow after that, I know that much. Um then I went on the road for a few weeks to do shows. Well, that included junk food, sitting for long periods of time, sleeping, and maybe an after-show party to attend. Uh no time to work out. Well, that's a lie. Uh I could have worked out, but I was too lazy. Upon returning home, I decided to go to the store and pick up some groceries, wearing my large EMS shirt. I put it on and I looked in the mirror, and just happened that happened to be right there. And the word that came out of my mouth to my total shock was, whoa, why does my stomach look like it swallowed a dodgeball? And I mean one of those good red textured dodgeballs. I mean it would have my stomach would have arrived five minutes before I did. I look like I have my own very own plate holder. You know, you sit down to have dinner and you just put it right there in your stomach. Uh my wonderful yet delusional plan of a smaller shirt betrayed me. My self-image crashing in disgust. And then depression set in. Why did I let my laziness control my spare time out on the road? Why, God, why? Feel like st you know, I feel like the the in you know Stella But I knew what was ahead. I must get to my bike and ride, ride, ride. Salads were in my future, breads were a sworn enemy, sugar was Loki to my Thor. Try anything you can to block that vision out of your head. Uh I knew what must be done. Now I will not let this large shirt be wasted for nothing. I will wear this shirt in public. Oh yes. I will wear this shirt. I peddled, I peddled. The miles accumulated quickly. I shall not forsake my destiny. Time kept ticking. That day came to try the shirt. The anticipation, the courage, the nervousness of the moment. A prayer was said, my fingers was crossed. This was it. I slipped that shirt on. I didn't breathe for fear of watching it expand as my stomach did. Fifteen seconds of sheer terror. I opened my eyes to gaze at myself in that awful mirror. And I focused. The image that appeared was a relief. Ooh, okay. I looked presentable again. I'm sure it's the feeling Brendan Fraser feels when he finishes getting ready for the mummy movie reboot. Mummy movie reboot. Ooh, money mum mummy movie reboot. See that three times fast. Even my butt was rounder, but in a good way. Thank you very much. To the grocery store I went. The beefcake for all the middle-aged women again. Yes! Would you like a wear of this? Uh all this why? Because we were one of the last to be brought in for EMS week. For a shirt that was later thrown away due to an incident involving a golf outing and poison ivy, and I don't want to talk about it. The memories are still there. Uh but happy EMS week, everyone. When eating, moderation is the word, or get the next size up. Oh, that reminds me. I got I got I g I I caffeine much today, Brad? I don't think so. Now let me get this. Let me pull this up because I find this interesting. Oh yeah, and by the way, thank you for everyone following this podcast. You guys are amazing. Subscribe. Do all the fun things to, you know, really make this podcast grow. Now, I asked a question on Facebook, by the way. If you go to Facebook, you can follow Facebook and Instagram. I need to get a TikTok. Um and I asked, what'd y'all get for EMS week? Well, Christopher Christopher uh Hibbon said they got hooded they got hooded sweatshirts. They got hooded Where where are you at? You need a hooded sweatshirt, Christopher. Um he got hooded sweatshirts, and it's not showing me where he's at. Well, this is so wrong. Anyway, he got a ho they got hooded sweatshirts and catered meals Mexican, barbecue, and Italian. That's all good work for Christopher's agency. My gosh. Uh Cammy Hilde. Oh, she got a kiss from her kid. Well, that's nice. Ten months old. And kisses with his two and a quarter teeth. Uh, still more than what EMS Week 2020 got uh when all was forgotten. Well, it was COVID. Everything was forgotten at that time. Um let's see here. Oh, she doesn't even let her director, which turned into a friend, live that down. Mm-hmm. All right, let's see. Michelle Ebersall. Ebersall? I think that's right. Uh have got they got food, a challenge coin, a sling bag, and a journey, a journey, a journal from a local hospital. And let's see. Todd scoot over. Hey, Todd. Uh, I got a thank you from the State Health Department. That's great. Oh my goodness, that that's absolutely precious. But by all means, I hope you all had a great EMS week. I hope I hope you all got uh plenty of cool gifts and all that kind of thing. So yeah, I I hope you did. All right, we're gonna go on to this week's top 10. Okay, so this week's this week's this episode's top 10 is top 10 ways to show crews appreciation during EMS week. That's right. Top 10 ways to show the crew's appreciation during EMS week. Number 10. Provide breakfast in bed after the morning nap. Yes. Number 9. Supervisors must wash and check off the truck. Think that'll ever happen? The supervisors that I had, one might do it, the others, yeah. Uh number eight. A field day in which paramedics face EMTs and various events like mass trouser races, the long spine board carry, and I/O challenges. Ooh. That would actually be fun. A field day, like we used to have in school. But actual, like EMS type. Oh, that would be so much fun. Okay. Uh, what are we at here? Number seven. The ER staff must line the exit and applaud crews as they are leaving from dropping off patients. But there is an exception when they bring in frequent flyers. So, imagine walking out of the ER and everyone's going, yeah. But if you bring in a frequent flyer, no, you ain't getting it. Alright. Number six, transcriptionists are hired for this week to do patient reports. Oh gosh, wouldn't that be awesome? That would be cool. Like having a secretary. And they have to type all the patient. All you have to do is dictate. That would be awesome. Number five, a one-hour massage therapy at the station. Yeah. That'd be cool. Number four, a shout-out for each individual crew member on 911 Squirrel, the podcast for first responders. Gosh. Could you imagine? I'd be here a month. Oh, number three. This is actually pretty good. Number three, a wrestling or boxing MC to hype up the crews as they go to the truck for a call. How about that? In this corner, going to the driver's seat is EMT Brad Mac.
SPEAKER_00Wearing blue trunks.
SPEAKER_04Uh number two. This one, I wish we had this all the time. Number two, the ability to say no just once during EMS week with complete backing of the command staff. That would be awesome. Alright, the number one, the number one thing, the number how did I put this here? Uh the number one way to show crews appreciation during EMS week. Free oxygen, IV fluids, and thiamine for the morning after the EMS week party. And that's the top ten for this episode. That's actually not too bad. Those are actually pretty good. Uh I did not write those, somebody else did. And uh they did not want to be recognized. I don't know why. I I what are the what we're gonna go into this here in a minute because I have a bone to pick. But yes, this is the top 10, and pretty cool, huh? Alright, this is over. The sun shines its glory through the window. You stretched and feel refreshed. All you need now is the perfect coffee or drink to get the day started. At Sagebrush Sunrise Coffee, get one of our signature coffees, energy infusions, or cold refreshers. Come to 109 Fairfield Road in Bethpage, Tennessee to get your day started or keep it going with an afternoon drink. And nothing says love quite like an e-gift card. Sagebrush Sunrise Coffee, the perfect beverage for that perfect day. All right. Uh Sagebrush, that's right. Sagebrush Sunrise Coffee. If you're wondering, that is a real commercial. This is what we're going to do, folks. If you have a small business and you want us to uh advertise it here on 911 Squirrel, by all means, give us all the information, all that kind of stuff. And we will actually make a real commercial, audio commercial, obviously. Um and if you wanted to, you could take it and take it to your local radio station or whatever and and play it. But we're actually going to make a commercial for you, which is why we're doing this. So Sage Brush Sunrise Coffee here in Tennessee, in Bethpage, Tennessee. Uh, this is the first one, and we're gonna have one later, which I think is kind of cool too. So that's why we're doing it. But for right now, we're going to go on to our next segment.
SPEAKER_00This is the briefing. News from around the country that affects the policies, procedures, or employment of first responders. And now, the briefing.
SPEAKER_04Okay, there's gonna be one thing to brief on, and it's only because it's basically in my backyard. Um, and this one it goes back to something we were we talked about in other episodes, and especially when it comes to fire departments, for whatever reason. These government officials love to treat fire departments and EMS departments and emergency service usually in general like red-headed stepchildren. I don't get it, I don't understand it, and it just it it really freaking politicians. Anyway, in Nashville. This is happening in Nashville, and when I heard about this, I thought, are you kidding me? Okay, date line Nashville. Nashville mayor Freddie O'Connell is evaluating the city's annual budget to decide how taxpayers' dollars will be spent next year. O'Connell's thirty three point eight billion dollar proposed budget includes a half cent cut in the grocery tax. Okay, investment in affordable housing, and nearly $56 million for Metro Nashville Public Schools. Okay. Great. That's all fine, well and dandy. Um let's oh, here we go. Um programs like Nashville Strong Babies, which support new parents in Nashville. Uh another additional quarter million dollars to help support their doula services program. Uh da da da da Strong Babies. Let me see. Uh that goes to the Nashville Metro Public Health Department. Uh okay. And the final vote will be uh uh the uh June 30th. Now here's so all those are fine. Sure. But they want to cut the fire department. No, the fire department is also uh also has uh the EMS services in it. Uh they want to cut uh and I'm I'm trying to find this here. Let's see. Uh National Fire Department is facing budget cuts in this year's proposed city budget as the department responds to growing demand for emergency services. The department responded to over 160 incidents in 2025 and is on pace to surpass that number this year. Uh according to Nashville Fire Chief William Swine, quote, we're not just a fire department, we're an all-hazards department. There's nothing that goes on in this city where the National Fire Nashville National National Nashville Fire Department is not involved in. Unquote. Uh somebody needs to think about uh Steve Malin, who wrote this for channel for news channel four uh here in Nashville. Somebody needs to look at that editing. It's not National Fire Department, it's Nashville. The proposed latest proposed budget would cut the fire department's funding. The cut income is city but growth places additional strain on emergency services. According to Chief Swan, we've we've been growing as a city present significantly. Um a lot of additional structures that weren't there 20 years ago. Boy, you ain't current I moved here in '97, and Nashville is definitely not the same. Swan said the department has had had not had a new fire station since 2003. And Nashville's grown ridiculous. Gained nearly 300,000 estimated new residents since then. And they only had 39 fire stations. Shelby County, which is the Memphis area, has 90. Uh according to Chief Swan, we need more stations and need more personnel. They he says they need at least six. At approximate equipment, personnel, and fire station costs of $33 million a piece. And he says, quote, I don't know what price you put on your life. You know what? There is none. The department requested nearly $22 million this year to address needs. They received, get this, $3.4. The funding includes $600,000 for contract, $600,000 for contractual and CAD services, $1.7 million for facility maintenance, two administrative personnel for finance and HR, and $78,000 for care and treatment of five canines used for urban search and rescue. The continuing cost, according to Chief Swan, the rise is dramatic. We have no control of that. The more call volume, it's just going to cost more, obviously. And with uh gas prices the way they are, yeah, diesel costs more because they have diesel vehicles. Uh I know it's going to be a rough budget year, according to Chief Swan. It's going to be some decisions are going to have to be made, some tough decisions for us to be able to work and flow like we should. Um they lose 60 to 70 personnel per year. They have 58 recruits due to graduate in July and plans another 40 in September. Uh they operate 35 ambulance units daily. When staffing is insufficient, some of those units are closed. Uh they have, according to Chief Swan, they have 11 units that are overutilized. Yeah. Uh let's see here. They uh Chief Swan highlights programs funded in the previous budget that proved successful recent emergencies, including winter storm fern. Looking for anything else that's really uh they have a quote unquote the REACH program that is funded to run 24 hours a day, and they achieved a 67% diversion rate from emergency department transports. Good for them. Uh okay, so here we go. Now, earlier I mentioned what all they want to fund, but when it comes to the fire department, which is for everybody, no, we can't fund that. So here's what I tell I would love to see the rest of this budget that Mayor O'Connell has um proposed. I'd love to see it.
SPEAKER_05I'd love to see why they have decided to. I mean I'd love to see that. Love, love to see it.
SPEAKER_04And this is ridiculous. You want to cut the fire department budget, you don't wanna you don't want to increase the emergency response, you don't want to increase personnel, you don't want to increase any of that, but you want to give it to programs. I'm not saying they're not bad programs, I'm just saying, wait a minute. Those are a lot of programs that governments come up with are not quote unquote for everybody. And they are for whatever whatever, you know, and I'm not uh trust me, I'm I'm for affordable housing, I'm for public health, I'm for schools, but when you've got uh people uh fires and uh medical responses, traumatic injuries, and everything like that, and it doesn't matter w who they are, whatever citizen or whatever, and they need emergency response, and you're cutting budget for that. That's not protecting your citizens, it really isn't. You're talking about every citizen and tourist in Nashville. This is a tourist town, and you tax the crap out of them with hotel taxes and everything else. Now, why are we not protecting everybody? So if somebody can send me a whole budget of the Nashville uh city budget, I'd love to look at it. Because I bet you there's cuts they can make in other places, but when it comes to emergency services, you better damn well know you better I'm sorry, you better fund them. None of this, oh, we gotta cut so much amount. No. You're lagging behind in emergency services, so get off your ass and cover it. Put it in the budget. That's my thought anyway. This is ridiculous. So if any other city city uh city or county or state wants to start cutting budgets to emergency services, yeah, okay. You vote no. I I'm believe me, my the human instinct is going, sure. I hope you never have to have emergency service. That's my human instinct. Of course, that's not gonna happen because we're supposed to be professional and we're gonna go help them. But by then it's anyway. You're you're you're increasing response times, you're cutting equipment, you're cutting person you're you're you're losing personnel. You're not gonna get raises. I don't know. My thought if you have thoughts on this, email me 911 Squirrel at pod at 911 Squirrel Podcast at gmail.com. Now I'm pissed off. This it just boggles the mind. Everybody else wants increases and they get them, but the emergency service is the one thing that everybody relies on. No. All right. That's that's the kind of stuff that just makes me mad. So, yes, so there you go. If you have thoughts, email me, catch catch us on Facebook, Instagram, whatever you want. And yeah, let's see where this goes. Let's go on to something else a little bit more positive.
SPEAKER_01And now everyone's favorite component of the job, the in service, where we have a discussion on certain procedures to improve our performance and deliver better outcomes. Let this in service begin.
SPEAKER_04Oh, you caught me mid-drink. Excuse me. Uh, since this is EMS week, we are making this in service mostly about EMS. But I think I think we can all agree that the message can be sent to all first responders. Um we we thought about going over CPR, stroke assessments, maybe even heat-related illnesses since summer is right around the corner. Uh, all the subjects we could cover. I mean, gosh, because it's truly amazing the amount of scenarios any first responder may have to deal with. For example, I remember a shift in which my partner and I dealt with a motorcycle MVA into a fence. This is that this is one shift. A motorcycle MVA into a fence, a farming accident with a tractor PTO, a DOA by heart attack, and a couple of routine runs like a fall and two refusals. All right. Trauma and medical scenarios everywhere. That day felt like people were playing a roulette wheel, and wherever it landed is what we went on. You know, place your bets, place your bets. I got 100 on food poisoning, I got 50 on falling off a roof. You know, just name it, it might happen. Now the question is, do you feel comfortable with any scenario that might happen? Now think about that a minute. Think about that question a minute. I'm not talking about just normal, everyday heart attacks, strokes, you know, I'm even talking even then there's more to it. Because do you go over the possibilities of what may happen or what's going on on scene in your mind? Do you all those possibilities in your mind, do you go over them? All the contingencies. You should. Trauma calls are usually fairly easy to deal with. Most of the time, it's about stabilizing broken bones or controlling blood loss. Traumatic incidents have a heck of a time, uh, have have a heck of a lot more to evaluate. You know, you're whether you're internal bleeding, hot bellies, pneumothoraxes, uh, shock, things you see, and things sometimes you can't see until the symptoms start showing up. That's where the assessing the scene comes into play. What happened? Who and what was involved, what does the car look like, wearing a helmet, so forth and so on. Now, medical calls, they're a bit more thought-provoking, so to speak. I mean, chest pain, strokes, megacodes, especially, reading EKGs, meds, weights, all kinds of other things that you have to use your training for. Um, and if that isn't enough, add the pediatric element to it. Oh my gosh, where in God's green earth did we what did we do before Broslow tape? You know? Somebody we when we all get to heaven, we gotta go kiss Mr. Broslow. Uh, to make a long story short, so this narrator can keep what little voice he has, uh, this episode's end service is about keeping your head in the game. Always thinking about the what-ifs, the wherefores, the how-to's. Uh a great exam, a great model to look at is NASA. Could you imagine all you do is think all day about contingencies, if this happens or that happens, we should do the same thing. One little issue can make things a bit more complicated. So we should always think of the worst case scenario while we're in route. I mean, seriously, always and and even when you're not thinking of that, if you're if you're going like let's say you got a call, say you had a uh chest pain. Okay. After the call, you're doing your report, you know what happened, obviously, on the call. But it could you could also think, well, what would have happened if this? Or what would have happened, what would I would have done if that? And that's why that's always should always think of these things. Case in point, a few shifts, I was partnering with a very good medic named Eric. Now, it seemed like every time we partnered up, we always had a dead body. For whatever reason, every time we partnered up, it didn't matter if it was a Saturday or at night or whatever the case is. Me and Eric always seemed to go to a DOA. I mean, you could say we were the death squad. Eric and Brad were the getter. Oh my gosh, someone's dying today and they're gonna have them. All right. Uh, we had questions about car the karma we carried. Well, there was a 24-hour shift that went pretty smoothly, didn't even have a death, the entire shift. And one hour before shift change, we got a call for a fall, lift assist only. Okay, a fall, only need a lift assist. Somebody saw it. Cool. Well, easy enough, we thought. Upon arrival, we found the patient lying on the floor, no pulse, not breathing. Well, crap. We started coding and hightailed it to the ER where the guy was later pronounced. Uh, did we think of that scenario while on route? Well, no, not even once. You know why? Because we should and and we should have. We but we didn't. We heard fall, lift assist, we automatically assumed everything was fine, just help this guy up, get some information, and off we go. You know, and then we'll and then we'll be ready to to to change shifts and the new crew coming on, and we get to go home. That's that was our mindset. And that was terrible. It's a terrible mindset. And we're human beings, so I mean, we have an hour before we get off our shift, a 24-hour shift. And in at the agency that we worked at, it was a 24-hour 48, it was 2448 shifts, the way they the way they rolled. Okay. So, but we should have thought, we should have thought that it's anything's possible. And that's worst case scenario. The guy guy needed CPR. He was he was he was dead. He was he's he not only circled the drain, he was halfway down it. Now, we should have thought worst case scenario. And would we have saved him? Who knows? But if we would have thought that and went in to that house with that determination, with that idea in mind, percentages are percentages. But if we would have had that, maybe that one extra second, that that couple extra seconds, whatever it was, we possibly could have done something about his heart not pumping. So, you know, maybe uh I mean, it's just a any a 1% better chance of a better outcome, two percent, three percent, whatever it is, if you have that mindset when you go to a call, it doesn't matter if you're EMS fire, law enforcement, you have that mindset of like, okay, I'm going for this, but and then the next thing you know, holy crap, you know, all hell breaks loose, and now you're you now you're fighting from behind, you're not ahead of the curve. So that's that's what really that's the rule of thumb. Always think worst case scenario. Uh because if anything is possible on scene, then anything is possible in outcomes. And that, my friends, is the ever-popular in service. So that's my thought. And I'm just going off the 18 years of experience that I have. And if you think that way, then great. It might be it might behoove everyone. It really might. EVs and hybrids have become a new challenge to firefighting. Higher BTUs and more toxic gases are driving the fire service to change tactics and use new tools. Vehicle fires that were typically extinguished from above have turned into cooling to battery packs from below. Poseidon is the new type of undervehicle nozzle that can achieve this new tactic. When designing the Poseidon, we wanted to implement a multi-purpose device to ensure the space occupied in your bridge was well justified. This nozzle has been tested and utilized in over six different unique firefighting scenarios: battery cooling, gross decontamination, undervehicle log, optional internal combustion firefighting tactics, foam application, and rail car cooling. 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SPEAKER_04All right, we're gonna do a responder spotlight where we profile a first responder who serves as a first responder. I just said that one. Profile a first responder who serves as a first responder. That's really cute, Brad. Um and it's it's and if you have if you know of anybody that we should spotlight that is a mentor, needs recognition, or somebody you just want to embarrass because uh that's the way to get retribution for a practical joke they pulled on you, by all means let us know and we'll uh do a spotlight on them. But this week, we got a cool, we got a good uh spotlight for us. And oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot your last name. But it's all right. So you would you please welcome Bryan from Alabama to 911 Squirrel. How's it going? Well, it's whoops, it's going great. Oh, thank you, baby. And uh how are you doing, Bryan?
SPEAKER_06I'm doing fantastic.
SPEAKER_04What was your last name? I'm sorry, I don't feel like looking it up.
SPEAKER_06That's okay. Miller.
SPEAKER_04Miller, gosh, of all of all names to have as a last name. I should have known that. Well, Bryan, I know. Uh now you work uh in EMS down in Alabama, um, and you are an EMT and you are also in dispatch. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_06That's correct.
SPEAKER_04All right. And you've been there since November of 2025.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that's correct. I graduated EMT school in September.
SPEAKER_04Oh my gosh, you're so young. And how old are you?
SPEAKER_06I'm 24. Gosh, you suck.
SPEAKER_04Hey, you know, when you when you get my age, it's like, uh, young people. And and you you remember and you remember those days where you could eat anything and not gain a pound and all that, but no, not no more.
SPEAKER_06Well, anyway. I'm grateful to be enjoying those times now.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and yeah, enjoy it while you can because eventually I I remember when I was in the Air Force and and we were doing a parade and we're all in our nice dress uniforms, and the sergeant came up to me and he was tugging on my jacket, and he goes, It's it seems like it's a little big. I was like, This is what they gave me. And he goes, Well, wait a few years, you'll fill it out. And Dakgun it if he wasn't correct. Silly. I mean, it I try to blame it on the dryer, but nah, it doesn't work. Uh, well, let me so let me ask you a question. What was the that moment that you knew you wanted to be a first responder?
SPEAKER_06Well, I kind of like I grew up in it. My dad's been a firefighter for 20 years or more. Oh, nice. And so I always wanted to be a a cop, like law enforcement.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_06Um, ever since I was a kid. Um, that was one of the two things I wanted to do. And so I just always grew up watching cops and enjoying it and not knowing if I'd get to do it one day, but knowing I wanted to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And so that kind of led me down this path here.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Well, what got you into EMS?
SPEAKER_06Um, actually, so I went tested for my local police department one time and I failed the fitness test. So my idea was I saw this class come up for EMT school, and it was a short three-week program. And I was like, if I go through this, maybe this will look better off my resume when I reapply.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_06And so that's kind of what got me into it. And then I got into it and realized I actually kind of enjoyed it. The medicine and everything.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Cool. And so are you gonna go back to are you gonna try to get back on on the police department or are you just gonna stick with EMS?
SPEAKER_06Um, I'm kind of still up in the air about that. I kind of want to, but I'm also just not sure if that's where God's gonna lead me.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_06Um, but I uh is definitely a big factor in what led me to this, at least I can definitely say that.
SPEAKER_04Oh, cool. Excuse me. Well, I mean, it's uh what what was if you don't mind me asking, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but what was uh you failed your physical, is that what it was for law enforcement?
SPEAKER_06The PT test.
SPEAKER_04Oh, the PT test. Okay. And and here's the thing, and because I looked up at you, I looked at your Facebook page, and you're a bull rider, which makes me question your sanity. Um so was it was the bull riding, did that affect the PT? You know, all because I know you got trampled at some point. Did that affect that?
SPEAKER_06I mean it cut you off. No, no, you're fine. Go ahead. Honestly, not that much. Um, because I also have cerebral palsy. Oh. And I have had it since I was born, pretty much.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06So um that kind of hurt me more than anything, just balance and stability.
SPEAKER_04Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_06In Alabama, you have to do a balance beam as part of the observer course. Huh.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_06And that was the biggest challenge for me. I could get over a
SPEAKER_04foot wall but I couldn't get to the bounce being so you're you're so you're saying you're not going to be on the U.S. gymnastics team anytime soon absolutely not I'm about as limber as a two by four there goes Bryland how can you tell can't you can't you just see it just there's no there's no movement so wait a minute you got cerebopalsy and then you decided oh bull riding sounds like a good idea well if you remember I mentioned being a cop was one of my dreams as a kid uh bull riding was the other one oh so uh goodness when I when I was about 18 I went to a rodeo that I go to I've been to before and God just kind of put it on my heart that like I'm gonna do it I'm gonna finally go after the dream and I'm gonna do it and when I was thinking about doing it you know one of the big things he put on my heart was uh you know what more can I do to show people that through Christ we can do anything than to take on a sport like that that requires me to use the parts of my body that are most effective.
SPEAKER_06Wow because it's from my lower body down pretty much so I was I've always lived by Philippians 413 that says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So that was my driving factor for that and what led me down that path.
SPEAKER_04Wow bull riding and being a cop and cerebrals now back to the cerebral palsy though is that I mean obviously the balance issues but has that really um do you take meds for that I'm assuming or I currently do not.
SPEAKER_06Oh good good good um I have in the past and they have other things but I've also had some procedures and surgeries in my life that have helped correct things.
SPEAKER_04Oh okay okay cool I'm I'm not I I'm not that well versed on cerebral policy. I mean I know the basics but as far as living with it is a totally different story and so you would know more than I would that's why I asked the question That's totally okay and it's definitely different for everybody.
SPEAKER_06I have a much more what I would consider milder case.
SPEAKER_04Oh that's good I mean not that you have it but at least a milder case to where it doesn't affect I mean it doesn't affect your normal everyday life besides just the balance does it right yeah um balance um basically I have less muscle in my legs than normal people.
SPEAKER_06Okay like I guess the best way I can describe it is I work out on a regular basis and I'm six foot but I only weigh about 140 pounds. Goodness gracious so I still have a lot more muscle than I used to but they're underdeveloped and the bones are kind of structured differently. Oh okay but I I actually consider it a good thing that I've had it because I feel like it played a huge part of making me who I am and and God has used me in so many ways that I I can't describe it fully No that's that's the best thing about about God's plan. I mean you don't even know what's going on and he's he's got something going on for you so absolutely and you know talking about rodeo the best way I can describe that is that was the best time of my life and I have never been felt like I made such an impact on people as when God had me doing that.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome.
SPEAKER_06Have you have you won many or um no so when I rodeoed I didn't enter like everybody else I would have people bring one that I could get on for me just to tell my story and for the experience until I could get to where I could get on the big ones and start entering. I just never got to that point but um I mean I did technically win one because I was the only person to to cover for eight seconds the whole time at once and that's awesome. Yeah it was a really cool experience Well that's great and now you're and and now you're working in EMS so what did you what did you get for EMS week this week I think they gave us a nice little cooler and a little tumbler a cooler and a tumbler no shirts no what's that no shirts no no big dinner or anything like that we got the shirts we for uh telecommunicator week.
SPEAKER_04Oh okay because that was a couple weeks ago right and I missed it oh did you yeah I've missed that and f it like this month is also firefighter appreciation month which I just found out about yesterday morning or this morning in fact and but there was a there was also a law enforcement week I missed and there was a um uh a firefighter appreciation day that I missed it's like are you kidding me oh wow and I look for this stuff I never I I never knew they really existed that much until I got into it but it's also like I never knew what day was what because you know you see on Facebook everybody's like this is national whatever day so you never know if it's something that somebody shared from three months ago or if it's now it's it's national uh dog groomers week I don't know yeah shave your dog okay oh my gosh oh well as um now have you uh have you being an EMS are you uh strictly just in dispatch or have you been on the truck um I have been on the truck in the past um as of recent I am more strictly dispatch okay but uh I have I do have some experience on the truck and how how how do how was that for you?
SPEAKER_06Um it was awesome I really enjoy it um I face some challenges with lifting and things because even though I do stay in good shape stability is an issue for me. Right so that did face some challenges but the time that I did get to spend on the truck or have spent was awesome. I really enjoy I'm a huge people person so I love talking to people face to face and being able to be there people on their worst days you know that that means a ton to me.
SPEAKER_04Cool that's that's the best that's the best I can get my thoughts together. That's the best way to be as uh EMT or medic or really anything in emergency services is when you can talk to people and have and and build a rapport with them. It's it just adds uh it's it's it's so much easier to be uh as a first responder when you're able to at least make them feel comfortable to where they can talk to you. It's absolutely great.
SPEAKER_06Absolutely I a hundred percent agree like I can remember one specifically we ran an IFT and I did nothing for that person except for talk to him for like an hour and at the end of that he was like man this was fun this was the best time I've had in a while or something like that and I was like that was the most fulfilling thing to me like that mean that stuff to me means more than any kind of doing crazy call or nothing like that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah yeah those are the those are the rewarding moments yeah those those are the most rewarding moments when you you can make somebody's day um just that much brighter you know right yes so that's great well a couple more qu quick questions and then we're gonna let you go um so as whether it's been on the truck or in dispatch what is one of the funniest moments you've had in your short career in EMS oh wow that's a that's a hard one why has there been so many there's just so many like calls and things especially in dispatch it's hard to remember them oh there's been so many I guess I could tell the story from ENT school that taught us a lesson that we never forgot.
SPEAKER_06Sure so um I was like I said I did a three week school with a company called Go Rescue out of Birmingham great company and um me and a friend of mine we were we had a we were the two of us and some other people were on a team and we were assigned to check off our bags every morning. But we would usually have different people do that.
SPEAKER_04So some days it'd be me and my buddy some days it'd be two other people or whatever and one morning we forgot like me and my buddy actually said we would do it like we told ourselves yeah we're gonna go do it and we did not and in our scenario we did our uh we we went looking for the tourniquet and our instructor had it in his pocket and so our subject bled out from that moment forward we said we're always gonna check our bags I've never forgotten that and it was such a kind of a small thing but it was such a like nope we messed up well you just that is one of the most valuable lessons because I I've even said this on this podcast you know you when you go to check off the truck or check off your bags or you know all your equipment and stuff all you need to do is if you just do a quick little oh I'm sure everything's in there that you know the crew told us we this is what they use blah blah blah and off you know off you go and you just kind of just check it off. And then the next thing you know you need something and it's not there it's like oh crap right so that's you that's a big lesson you just learned. Yes and even though it was just a scenario the idea of not having the tourniquet I knew I needed like was a gut-wrenching feeling my my brain processed it almost like it was real and I was like oh this sucks well at least it wasn't during state boards oh yeah fail yeah oh my gosh yeah those are those lessons man though if when they bite you in the butt it's like oh man and you just it just drives you crazy but that's great that's funny well this has been quite a pleasure um and y you've got uh so many years ahead of you in emergency services so yeah keep that positive attitude and and you'll you'll experience basically all kinds of things over your career and it'll it'll be it'll be rewarding there'll be days where you're just like ugh something you know it something'll happen it just makes makes the day just horrible and it doesn't even have to be a on a call it could be something else uh but you'll you know I I like I can tell you I had I took a kid uh that was like five years old um her and her mom got into a wreck and mom was a D UI drove the car off into a ditch with her kid inside oh that really made me mad but yeah uh no nobody was hurt or whatever but we still took we had to take the kid because the mom was arrested and we all went to the hospital and she was just you know try you all I did was just talk to the kid just like normal like we're talking and and just having a good time explaining this and that because she was looking at the monitor and all everything. And when we got when we we were ready to leave and to drop her off uh she didn't want me to go. She was like can't you stay and I'm like no and that just that yeah it just it just tore my heart out you know but those but it's also rewarding to know that you've made that person feel comfortable enough to where they didn't have to worry about anything.
SPEAKER_06Yes absolutely I I can relate to that on calls and stuff sometimes and those are the rewarding moments and the same same thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah those are the rewarding moments so you'll have much more of those in in the coming years and stuff and uh man it it was great talking to you and uh we're gonna stay on the line for a little bit and but we are gonna let you go from this interview and everybody Bryan Miller ladies and gentlemen absolutely thank you this was a pleasure oh thank you greetings and welcome to another edition of the Glen Squirrel Theater where true stories are told in a theatrical style this episode three's title Done in the film noir genre is proof that our director needs to get out of Mom's basement and find himself a girl sit back and enjoy this wonderful saga entitled The First Car Excitement that's the word I would use to describe the feeling I had that morning as I drive toward my first shift on an ambulance as an EMT everything I thought I needed for my first 24 hour shift was in my car bedding uniforms my food for the day and of course my first cup of coffee yeah I was ready I arrived a bit early about 20 minutes early you could say you also could say that I had green EMT syndrome I had a wry smile on my face trying to exude a sense of cool and calm acting like I belong there.
SPEAKER_04On the inside there was a bit of nervousness in my stomach which made me question my choice of a medium rare steak the night before but let's face it the syndrome was real I was greeted by the offgoing crew with quaint introductions and instructions on what locker and bunk to a typical first ten minutes for the new guy. Jamie was my new partner a veteran paramedic of 12 years with a pleasant demeanor yet twitchy as hell. You'd think he was in the witness protection program looking over his shoulder for a guy named Guido who finally found him it wasn't true of course but I still checked the truck for loose wires brake fluid leaks and anything attached that looked suspicious. We did our morning chores talked about how calls and other EMS stuff should go while working together he asked questions I asked questions. A partnership was being formed we decided to begin this EMS bond by having breakfast at Ashley and Trixie's diner. Oh that Trixie she's a pistol a side of bacon with my lard please upon returning to the station I felt a mid morning nap seemed appropriate. The biscuits, scrambled eggs and my friend bacon all agreed that a nap was the best way for digestion duh one couch, my pillow and the glow of 42 inches of LED TV were the perfect combination to provide the after breakfast slumber then the radio and tones overhead played their war chant if those tones were a person we would punch them in the face for being a bullet that all was forgotten when the voice of God said unresponsive CPR in progress let the adrenaline flow we raced to the truck screamed down the road and arrived on scene the firefighters pulled up behind us and we all entered the house with sheer determination lying on the floor was an older gentleman face down laying on a heat register pale is a color he was weird no pulse no breath sounds as Miracle Max so eloquently put it he's only mostly dead which makes him slightly alive a firefighter we called sugar shane started CPR Jamie got the monitor started attached the pads and was charging the AED clear was the command followed by the jewels of electricity that flexed the slightly alive man in a violent way like something just bit him in the butt. No change though let's load and go here I am the new EMT in the back of the truck on a code on my very first call are you kidding me couldn't start with a broken bone or general sickness let's throw me to the wolves classwork training and clinicals are all helpful but now it's me and Jamie. Time for it to pay off and it did got my IV in on the first stick sort of Jamie innovated we were kicking butt. Another shock sure why not how about some Epi no I did not open the Epi like they do in the movies that would just be stupid another round of it please put it on my tab hey look a rhythm it was short lived so I took over CPR Sugar Shane stood behind me looking like he just ran a marathon. He's got up his cardio. Another shock third round of epi nothing when we got to the hospital Jamie and Shane wheeled the patient in while I was on top doing CPR. Not a normal sight for the lay person. We moved him over to the ER bed and the staff got to work. My job at this point get our stuff and get out of the way I became the base of the totem pole in an instant. I didn't mind though it was time for the nurses and doctors to join the party. As I was cleaning the cot I overheard this statement we got Sinus if I wasn't an EMT I'd think they just inserted something up his nose but I digress it was a good moment the patient is now mostly alive. Cool we finished up with the ER, got our signatures and information then headed back to our station. Another one saved we had our little truck debrief and got lunched seemed like we did well it felt good knowing I did the job I was trained for. I knew I was ready. At that point the EMT Green syndrome reared its ugly headie got a call from the ER not for a patient update but for something far more sinister. Apparently the new EMT left the monitor on the counter in the ER I got my first nickname Turnaround Tim it took four months for that little tidbit to be forgotten but one thing for sure I saved a life and and a new nickname meant I was part of the team I'm somebody now that was so touching I love getting these this is my favorite part of the the favorite thing to do is getting these stories and then taking them um so you know gotta you gotta write them to where you know to make 'em fit whatever genre or whatever you need to do. But to rewrite 'em to make 'em fit uh whate just like I just said and then put the music to them and then you act 'em out and it's all you know yeah you know it's my favorite Uh this uh ends this episode. Dun dun dun boy, it's a long episode, too, unfortunately. I try to keep these things up for under an hour, and this one's going over by a few. Just because we had Bryan on. We talked uh I went a little bit further when I got when I went off into a rant with the Nashville City Council. Let's see, the monologue went a little further than I want, you know, the opening monologue. The top ten lists, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I hope you actually all learned something and had some fun. And yeah, if when it comes, I'm still oh, it still makes me mad. When it comes to the National Fire Department, please uh support them. But also, if somebody has a copy of that proposed budget, send it to me. I'll look through it. I will look through it and I'll be like, really? I'm sure there's gonna be a ton of stuff that anybody would go, really, we're spending money on this, really, we're spending money on that. They just anyway. I could go on and on when it comes to that kind of stuff. But I'm not going on. So anyway, I hope you all had fun. I hope you all enjoyed. This has been a lot of fun. Uh, I hope you all had a great EMS week. I hope the firefighters have a great fire department, uh, firefighters appreciation month, and so forth and so on. But remember, as always, you all are part of a the biggest team, the biggest support network in the world. First responders for life. So, make sure y'all help each other out. Uh, if you need somebody to talk to, just find somebody. And if you are that person somebody wants to talk to, you just sit there and listen. Thank you all very, very, very much. Follow us uh uh subscribe to the the podcast on whatever podcast streaming service you have, whether it be iHeart, Apple, Spotify, you name it, subscribe to us. Um follow us on Facebook, Instagram. Probably need to get a TikTok before too long. Uh, we're also gonna be working on getting our website up, and we're going to be doing some merchandise, which is even better.
unknownOh yeah.
SPEAKER_04We're gonna be doing some merchandise, some t-shirts, some hats, some whatever we can think of and afford to get the first run of. And we're also gonna start an exclusive squirrel squad here soon. So when we get all that going, so be ready to join that. Thank you all very much for joining us on the episode number six of 911 Squirrel, the podcast for first responders. God bless you and y'all stay safe. Thank you very much.