Cognitive Bias in EMS

Dialysis Patients in EMS

In this episode of The Erik and Matt Show (EMS) with Erik Axene and Matt Ball, an emergency physician and a firefighter/paramedic break down how to recognize and manage dialysis emergencies in the field, starting from what healthy kidneys actually do so the failures finally make sense. They connect the volume-overloaded dialysis patient to the congestive heart failure patient, walk through why missing a single session can trigger a cascade of problems, and explain why you cannot lower a patient's potassium in the back of the truck, only buy them time with calcium and albuterol until definitive care.

Cognitive Bias in EMS

In this episode of The Erik and Matt Show (EMS), Erik and Matt unpack the 12 cognitive biases that quietly drive missed diagnoses and bad calls in prehospital medicine. They cover anchoring, confirmation bias, premature closure, availability bias, framing, overconfidence, diagnostic momentum, action bias, search satisfaction, the Dunning-Kruger effect, authority bias, and sunk cost. Each bias is paired with a real field story, including Erik's anxiety patient who turned out to be in florid DKA, the SVT call that was actually WPW, the prolonged extrication where the patient was secretly having a STEMI and a fractured spleen, and Erik's now famous case of lecturing his medics about not anchoring while completely missing a necrotic appendix in the back of the ambulance.

EMS Stroke Assessment and Management

When seconds decide whether someone walks out of the hospital or never speaks again, your EMS stroke assessment has to be fast, accurate, and repeatable. In this episode of The Erik and Matt Show (EMS) with Erik Axene and Matt Ball, an emergency physician and a firefighter/paramedic break down how to recognize a stroke in the field, why "last known well" is the single most important question you can ask the family, and how to spot a Large Vessel Occlusion before you ever leave the driveway. Erik and Matt walk through Cincinnati, LAMS, and FAST, then dig into the subtle presentations that get missed: Bell's palsy mimics, posterior strokes, dizziness, and the wake-up stroke.

Embarrassing Stories: Laughing Through the Lessons

Get ready to laugh in this lighthearted episode of the Erik & Matt Show (EMS) as Dr. Erik Axene and Matt Ball open up and share some of their most embarrassing stories from their careers. From humorous mishaps to awkward moments, they prove that sometimes you just need to laugh at yourself. Join us for a fun and relatable episode that reminds us all of the human side of EMS work. Discover more EMS resources, training programs, and expert insights on our website: https://axenece.com.

GI Bleeds in EMS

In this episode of The Erik and Matt Show (EMS), Erik and Matt tackle one of the most common and potentially deadly emergencies in prehospital medicine: gastrointestinal bleeding. They break down the differences between upper and lower GI bleeds, what coffee ground emesis, bright red hematemesis, melena, and hematochezia each tell you about the source and severity of the bleed, and how to make critical treatment decisions in the back of the ambulance. They also cover why TXA is no longer indicated for GI bleeds, when blood transfusion is appropriate using the shock index, and how simple interventions like leg elevation can buy you time when you do not carry blood on your unit.