Lorihodges.com
(4) Lori Hodges, MA, CCP, PMP | LinkedIn
Lori Hodges, is the author of Shaking in the Forest, Finding Light in the Darkness. She is a former paramedic and firefighter in Colorado and currently works as an emergency manager, recently working on hurricane Milton in Florida.
She talks about trusting your paramedic intuition on scenes and gives a vivid example of how trusting herself on a scene, despite others adamant that there were no other victims on scene, found another ejection victim of a motor vehicle accident
We talk about some of the unexplainable experiences we have as paramedics and how many of us have these similar stories
Lori talks about a feeling she would get the morning of a shift where she would know that a patient would die before it would actually happen and how the feeling would resolve after running the call
I always try to take the patient more seriously when the EMS crews have been concerned enough to put on the defibrillation pads
An important rule in EMS is no running and no yelling. We must be the calm. Lori talks about how this is even more important as an emergency manager. As leaders, we are watched and people take their cues from us. They will tend to mirror our behavior
We have to detach to make sure we take everything in and not get stuck doing one specific task
It is hard to be the one that stands back and doesn’t do the skills as a new paramedic, but it helps you take in the whole picture
Lori dealt with addiction and it’s affects while working at a detox center. She also dealt with it personally in her relationship with her father. She had to learn to set up boundaries with him
Our partners and fellow EMS coworkers are fighting their own battles, remember to have grace for people. Sometimes how they come across is not how they intend
EMS challenges us to see the beauty after the chaos. The good in the bad. You must be intentional about seeing the good or the job will burn you out
It is very easy to only concentrate on the bad, but you will miss the good sides of humanity if you aren’t looking for it
Lori talks about a dying cancer patient and how she remembers the transport because of the meaningful conversation she had with the patient about her life not because of a high-level skill or clinical judgment
We need to change the way we measure success in EMT from high level skills and high acuity calls to impactful moments
When I was an EMT I feel like I was able to better focus on the meaningful moments with patients since I wasn’t focused on differentials or skills
Lori talks about seeing the beauty in disaster, we must look for the good
I describe it as horrible beauty
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Everything you hear today from myself and my guests is opinion only and doesn’t represent any organizations or companies that any of us are affiliated with. The stories you hear have been modified to protect patient privacy and any resemblance to real individuals is coincidental. This is for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice nor used to diagnose any medical or healthcare conditions.
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