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:E34 - "Preventing sleep-related infant deaths in Michigan with EMS – A discussion with the State of Michigan Infant Safe Sleep Program." Recorded May 3, 2021
According to the CDC SUID Case Registry Project, every year approximately 150 sleep-related infant deaths occur in Michigan. That’s about three deceased infants a week. The causes typically include a person or an object in the baby’s sleep space that leads to suffocation. Common objects associated with these events include pillows, blankets and stuffed toys. Sadly, preventable sleep-related causes are the number one contributor of infant deaths in Michigan, as it is in many areas around the United States.
In this episode we welcome Dr. Samantha Mishra DO, MPH back to the show. Sam is the EMS for Children Coordinator for the State of Michigan. Today, my buddy Sam has brought along representatives from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Infant Safe Sleep Program. Their mission is to prevent sleep-related infant deaths. Our guests include Colleen Nelson, LMSW, the Michigan Infant safe sleep program coordinator, as well as Patti Kelly, LMSW, MPH, the sleep program consultant. Part of their job is to know the incidence, occurrences and circumstances of infant deaths in the entire State of Michigan. They are most familiar with our State-wide data, so it makes sense to bring them into the fold to help guide us towards understanding the problem in our back yard. Understanding the problem and appreciating what we can do to solve it is vitally important.
The State of Michigan EMS office and the Infant Safe Sleep Program have been working very hard to bring the DOSE Program to Michigan. In this episode, our guests will help us appreciate what is at stake for newborns sleeping in unsafe situations. Then, they’ll describe what the State of Michigan Infant Safe Sleep Program is doing to team up with EMS to reduce the number of preventable sleep-related infant deaths every year.
For more information check out DOSEprogram.com, as well as Michigan.gov/SafeSleep to learn more.
Please keep emailing your questions, comments, feedback and episode ideas to the EMS on AIR Podcast team by email at QI@OCMCA.org. Visit EMSonAIR.com for the latest information, podcast episodes and other details. and follow us on Instagram @EMSOnAIR.
Contact the episode host or guests:
Geoff Lassers, AAS, Paramedic I/C
Creator, host and producer, EMS on AIR Podcast
Firefighter/Paramedic, West Bloomfield Fire Department
EMS System Manager, Oakland County Medical Control Authority
Director of Education, American CME
Qi@ocmca.org
Samantha Mishra DO, MPH
EMS for Children Coordinator – State of Michigan
MDHHS
Bureau of EMS, Trauma, and Preparedness
MishraS@michigan.gov
Colleen Nelson, LMSW
Infant Safe Sleep Program Coordinator – MDHHS
nelsonc7@michigan.gov
Patti Kelly, MPH, LMSW
Infant Safe Sleep Program Consultant
Kellyp2@michigan.gov