A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #59 The things we carry [with a nod of respect to Tim O’Brien]. This episode of The Positive Paramedic Project could have also been sub-titled ‘Knowing the deal doesn’t make it any easier’ and that’s where I’ll start our story. “I received the […]
Hal Newman
146 posts
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #58 Growing hope This episode of The Positive Paramedic Project takes place in the village of Hatley in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Hatley isn’t a village so much as it is an intersection of two roads, a town commons, and a collection […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #57 First you master cursing I was born and raised in Quebec. I attended an English elementary school right up to Grade 6 and then put in one year in a French immersion program before completing high school in English. I graduated – […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #56 Break down barriers to care One of my proudest moments as the head coach of CSL EMS came in the midst of a cold February day in 1997. One of our crews was quietly working their way through the floors of a […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #55 Blow out your metaphysical envelope In December 1997, Dianne and I were staying at the lighthouse keeper’s cabin on Cape Borda on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. It was the first real vacation I had since taking the reigns of the all-volunteer Cote […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #54 Put your soul into it It’s late on a Friday just at the time when afternoon slips out of its workclothes and pulls on something a bit more comfortable for evening. We’re walking down College Street in Bethany, West Virginia. We walk […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #53 Always have your partner’s back A long time ago, in another life it seems, François and I rolled on a call for a patient who was 75-percent intoxicated and 25-percent angry and insisted he needed to be seen in an Emergency Room. We […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #51 The sanctity of porcelain When I left Montreal to move to Baltimore to pursue graduate studies in Emergency Health Services, my EMS colleagues organized a going-away bbq dinner. They wished me well as I headed south to a place where calls for […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #50 Kick at the darkness…* Welcome to the 50th episode of The Positive Paramedic Project. I started The Positive Paramedic Project after receiving yet another letter, e-note, or phone call rejecting my application for an EMS posting. I am sorry I can’t remember […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #49 Bake birthday cakes On average, when someone suffers sudden cardiac arrest, irreparable brain damage occurs within four to six minutes. On average, in a big city, the time between recognition of a life-threatening event and the arrival of a trained and equipped […]