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In this special episode of Inside EMS, Host Chris Cebollero welcomes the dynamic hosts of the , Aaron Zamzow and Janelle Foskett. In Better Every Shift, Zamzow, a Madison (Wisconsin) firefighter; and Foskett, editor-in-chief of FireRescue1, spotlight the passion and perseverance of firefighters and EMS providers, as they dig into what drives responders to improve themselves, their crew, the service as a whole. to get better every day, every call, every shift.
In this episode, they discuss:
- Getting out of your comfort zone
- The issues no one wants to talk about in the fire service (e.g., recruitment and sleep)
- Leadership and stress management
- Managing up
- The need for leadership training
- How a staffing crisis leads to a leadership crisis, that leads to a stress crisis 鈥� and the ramifications on health and wellness
Foskett also shares insights from the FireRescue1 into firefighter stress. Foskett notes among respondents, 46% reported considering leaving their fire department 鈥� mostly due to staffing 鈥� and a staggering 42% of firefighters are considering leaving the fire service due to their stress levels.
Memorable quotes
鈥淚n order to be a better whatever 鈥� paramedic, firefighter, EMT, podcaster 鈥� you need to get out of your comfort zone.鈥� 鈥� Aaron Zamzow
鈥淲e鈥檙e really starving for leadership, but in the same breath, we鈥檙e looking in the maybe the wrong places, whereas we should be starting in the mirror and then looking out.鈥� 鈥� Aaron Zamzow
鈥淧eople are craving leadership and when there is a lack of leadership, that doesn鈥檛 mean all is lost; you have options, you have solutions, and you can take ownership of that and be proactive.鈥� 鈥� Janelle Foskett
鈥淭here are some of those fire houses, they don鈥檛 turn a wheel in a 24 hour period; there are other ones that don鈥檛 get to see their beds in a 24 hour period. It鈥檚 one of the things that we now have to start to think about. We鈥檙e still running models for EMS and fire that we were running 40 years ago.鈥� 鈥� Chris Cebollero
Learn more
- Follow Better Every Shift on , , or wherever you listen to your podcasts
- Download the for more insights into staffing and stress relief
- Download the 鈥淲hat paramedics want in 2023 report鈥� for insights into mitigating stress, staffing challenges and leadership shortfalls
