EMS One-Stop

What is a life worth to an elected official?

This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.
“Honorable but broken” is an emotionally compelling documentary from seasoned network news producers Bryony Gilbey and Rich Diefenbach that highlights the realities of working in EMS. The documentary calls attention to the inexcusable underfunding of our first responders and the subsequent collapse of the system. 
The story told by Gilbey and Diefenbach truly sums up the precipitous state of EMS. In this edition of EMS One-Stop, Rob Lawrence welcomes Bryony Gilbey and returning guest Matt Zavadsky to discuss the documentary, its planned development into a full-length production, exciting sponsorship news and commentary on the issues raised by NAEMT board members that appeared in the film.
The discussion and documentary advocate for funding and political change to the current status quo, but as Gilbey asks, “what is life worth to an elected official?”

AMR closure: a bellwether of things to come?

This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.
On Sept. 12, 2022, American Medical Response announced it is to close its Los Angeles County non-emergency operations over the next 180 days. One of the key reasons is one faced by all ambulance operators at this time – insufficient levels of Medicare reimbursement. Against this backdrop, GMR (AMR’s international EMS division) predicts that its Los Angeles division is on course for an operational deficit of over $3.5 million.
In this episode of the Inside EMS podcast, Brian Henricksen, California-based regional director for GMR, joins host Rob Lawrence for a frank discussion on the issues in LA and they discuss the fact that this may be the bellwether of things to come across the nation.
Rob is also the executive director of the California Ambulance Association and the economics of ambulance service operations in the state are close to his heart. California has not increased its Medi-Cal reimbursement for private ambulance operators since the late 1990s. The current Medi-Cal base rate for private ambulance services sits just above $100, which is far below the cost of providing transport. The State’s Medi-Cal reimbursement rate is one of the lowest in the country, but it also has the highest operational costs for ambulance transports.

Why ‘no comment’ is the wrong comment

This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.
In this episode of the Inside EMS podcast, Host Rob Lawrence is joined by Alexia Jobson of REMSA Health and Mark Tenia of the Richmond Ambulance Authority.
Rob, Mark and Alexia are taking communications on the road this conference season in a number of pre-conference sessions.
The team discusses:
How to communicate your organization’s message
How to make friends of the reporters in your local media market
How to pitch a story
How to prepare for when things go wrong 
Rob, Alexia and Mark also discuss the downside of offering “no comment” to a reporter, as well as tips for dealing with live and pre-recorded interviews. Finally, Rob discusses the free training available at the Emergency Management Institute at Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Read next: 5 best practices for media appearances by EMS chiefs and field personnel

Relationship building for leaders

This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.
In a continuation of the Inside EMS podcast, Host Rob Lawrence picks up the EMS leadership discussion with Robbie MacCue, FP-C, MBA and Lisa Giruzzi of the EMS Leadership Academy.  
Robbie, Lisa and Rob discuss a systems approach to leadership, emotional intelligence, encouraging freedom of thought, relationship building, effective listening and – above all – the ability to communicate at all levels.
Robbie and Lisa will be launching the 4th Annual Leadership Summit on September 20-24th, virtual and free at www.emsleadershipsummit.com.

A roadmap to raising paramedic pay

This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.
Durham County, North Carolina, commissioners recently passed a pay increase for paramedics. The increase, which went into effect in August, took the starting hourly rate for paramedics from $20.84 to $28.25. Officials said the current staff will receive this rate and a multiplier based on their years of service to determine their final salary. 
One of the catalysts for this change occurred when Durham EMS Chief Paramedic, Mark Lockhart, read an article by Lexipol Editorial Director, Greg Friese, MS, NRP, “Pay paramedics a thriving wage to end the retention crisis,” and was inspired by the approach Greg suggested. “The thriving wage initiative was born,” Lockhart noted.
Across the board (EMT, AEMT, paramedics and supervisors), the average increase is 16.8%. For paramedics, the average salary increase was 25%. “We’re still facing recruitment challenges, but our retention significantly improved,” Lockhart wrote EMS1.
In this week’s podcast, Host Rob Lawrence welcomes both Mark Lockhart and Greg Friese to discuss the process that Durham EMS went through to achieve their increase as well as the pay situation across the EMS profession at the moment.

Motivational leadership

This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.
In this episode of EMS One-Stop, Host Rob Lawrence speaks with Melissa Harris, owner of AmbuServe Ambulance and Shoreline Ambulance operating in the greater Los Angeles area, while recording at the California Ambulance Association Stars of Life event in Sacramento, California.
Melissa describes how she began her EMS life and now owns and operates two ambulance companies, and pays homage to her staff. She also discusses the challenges that keep EMS leaders up at night, and current legislative challenges and associated calls to action.
Rob then speaks with AmbuServe Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Jim Karras, who interviews his three CAA Star of Life recipients, Ethan Garmon, Wesley Graves and Caitlyn Humphrey. They discuss the highs and lows of delivering service in the pandemic, and offer advice for new medics.
The full interview with Ethan, Wesley and Caitlynn is available on Ambuserve’s Real EMS podcast.

ATCEMS Chief Rob Luckritz: 100 days in

This episode of EMS One-Stop With Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.
Just over three months ago, Rob Luckritz assumed his new appointment as the Chief of Austin Travis County EMS, Texas. He got the job after a very public selection process where he not only competed against internal, time-served candidates, but also a list of very qualified external candidates. Thanks to the transparency of the process, the public, both in Austin, and far and wide, were able to follow the process every step of the way.
In this episode of EMS One-Stop, Host Rob Lawrence catches up with Rob Luckritz to discuss his first 100 days in office. Luckritz describes his reception so far, what he has found and his future plans for ATCEMS. He also offers advice for young EMS leaders aspiring to get a senior job at an organization such as ATCEMS and how to prepare for an EMS leadership career.
Luckritz also takes part in a quick-fire round, highlighting his thoughts on our current EMS challenges from recruiting to available ambulances and everything in between.