EMS on AIR Podcast
EMS on AIR is an education and entertainment podcast designed to keep healthcare providers safe, informed, and prepared. The EMS on AIR Podcast was originally launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to communicate efficiently and directly with EMS personnel. Now, we’ve started branching out to all things healthcare but still tailored with the national EMS audience in mind. This podcast has begun to transform into a bridge between subject matter experts, the most recent data, and the EMS providers who make a difference every day in the field.
The EMS on AIR Podcast is hosted by Geoff Lassers and Dr. Robert Dunne.
Geoff Lassers began his career as a first responder in 2002. Since then, he has earned a depth of experience as a professional firefighter, paramedic, EMS instructor, and in the hospital as an ED tech. Geoff has been a professional firefighter/paramedic and EMS instructor with the West Bloomfield Fire Department since 2004. In 2020, the EMS on AIR Podcast was launched to provide up-to-date information to the local, state, and national EMS community regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as express best practices. Since then, the EMS on AIR Podcast has expanded to all topics related to prehospital care.
Robert Dunne, M.D., FACEP, FAEMS, is an Emergency Medicine and EMS physician located in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Dunne is currently the EMS Medical Director of the Detroit Fire Department, as well as a professor of Emergency Medicine at Wayne State University, and directs the School of Medicine’s pre-hospital programming, including Emergency Medical Services, Preparedness, EMS Research and more. He is also program director of the Emergency Medical Services fellowship. Additionally, Dr. Dunne is the elected medical director of the Detroit East Medical Control Authority, the local version of the state-designated entity that supervises all pre-hospital care in Detroit and eastern Wayne County.
EMS on AIR Podcast
S2:E10 - “The Value of Community Service - An interview with Hatzalah of Michigan.” Recorded August 8, 2020
Hatzalah of Michigan is a volunteer EMS agency that augments existing EMS response in the cities of Oak Park, Southfield, and Huntington Woods, Michigan with community-based state-certified volunteer EMS providers. Their volunteers are local, dedicated community members, who drop everything and hurry to assist those in need. Nobody can argue that when something goes wrong, seconds can make the difference between life and death. These guys take that statement VERY seriously. It isn’t uncommon for them to have a dispatch to on scene time of 90 seconds. Most 911 calls are longer than 90 seconds. That’s crazy fast.
In this episode we discuss who Hatzalah of Michigan is, what they do, and why they do it. Then, we’ll discuss the impact their agency and community experienced, and/or still may be experiencing, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we finish with a talk about Hatzalah of Michigan joining the OCMCA Stroke systems of Care Special Study.
Hatzalah is a Hebrew word that means rescue. Hatzalah is the common title of volunteer EMS organizations serving mostly Jewish communities around the world. There’s way more of these organizations then you might think, and they do some pretty amazing things. Most local branches operate independently of each other, but they all typically use the common name Hatzalah.
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Please keep emailing your questions, comments, feedback and episode ideas to the EMS on AIR Podcast team by email at QI@OCMCA.org.