A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #48 Asking why? I’m a very secular human being. I don’t do synagogue or church unless my presence is required to celebrate a christening, confirmation, bar/bat mitzvah, marriage, or funeral. I don’t have routine conversations with God. Words I’ve spoken in church are […]
Hal Newman
146 posts
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #47 Take care of Mrs. Rosenberg Mrs. Rosenberg is still dead. I was there when she died. She was everybody’s grandmother. She called 911 after enduring crushing chest pain all night. She said she didn’t want to wake anyone up. It’s been fourteen […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #46 Make a real difference Okay, here’s the deal. If you’re looking to add EMS to your department’s portfolio of services simply as a means of padding sagging fire response statistics, building an argument for increased funding, and, as a distant afterthought, providing […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #45 Accept the role The Karma Police assign you For many of the emergency services communications specialists/dispatchers who worked with me over the years at CSL EMS, a lasting memory of our time together was the inevitability that I would call in on […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #44 Be gracious when recognized If you’ve been a paramedic as long as I have, you’ve rolled on thousands of calls and interacted with people in communities near and far and, in my case, in other countries. Often your calls have included lengthy […]
The reaction from readers to The Positive Paramedic Project has been overwhelming. I thought I should start collecting their notes and stories. The entire series “Hal, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you are doing with the Positive Paramedic Project. I have been teaching EMS […]
A nugget of EMS organizational wisdom every day. #43 Learn the art of caring. Have you ever been to Bethany, West Virginia? Probably not–it’s not a corner of the world that is found on many frequent flier lists. Bethany is in Brooke County, in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. […]
Musical accompaniment for this episode of The Positive Paramedic Project has been graciously provided by Philadelphia singer/songwriter Tony Mecca. Tony’s take on ‘Riders On The Storm‘ is a beautiful, haunting retelling of The Doors’ classic tune and fits this episode perfectly. Please check out Tony’s official website. Download Tony Mecca’s […]
A nugget of EMS organizational wisdom every day. #41 If you’re going to lie, go high. I never bought into carrying all that extraneous paramedic crapola around my waist. I was a big clumsy guy when I worked on the streets. Anything worn on my hip was subject to maximum […]
A nugget of EMS organizational wisdom every day. #40 Remember your roots I rolled on my first working fire during the winter of 1978. I remember it was a very cold morning. I don’t recall how I got to the scene in Ville St-Pierre. I remember standing on an interior […]