JellyBean 040 with a man called Rusty

Sometimes Jellybeans are very bloody serious. I am a big supporter of paramedics. BIG. They do a difficult job in an unpredictable environment. Bad things can happen. Bad things do happen. Let me introduce Rusty; a brave paramedic that has something important to say. It is relevant to us all.

Expect the unexpected in this Brave Jellybean recorded at SMACC in Dublin. There are so many different types of bravery. Big and obvious or small and subtle. Different flavours. Different arenas.

This is one for the Paramedics, the EMS Providers and everyone else in critical care too.

Rusty and I talk about that curious and sometimes frightening experience that paramedics go through when they step into a scene. We talk about training for that experience and indeed training for multiple complex tasks. Next thing you know we are stealing stuff. All sorts of stuff. We are stealing from Ferrari and from Sir Bradley Wiggins. (Sort of.)

After a little kleptomania we demystify something called #EMSWolfpack on Twitter which turns out to be a lot fluffier than I suspected.

@ParamedRusty is a brave man. He is a paramedic. A team leader. A leader of women and men. A leader in Education. He is also a leader in another way. An example to us all. He is on a personal mission to force us to think more about a distressing elephant at your pre-hospital scene, in your ambulance or in your Resus Room. A nightmare scenario.

Rusty has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He got it because of his work, he is still working and he is willing to talk about it and share it with you.

If this podcast stirs up any difficult emotions or memories for you remember there are people that you can talk to about it. They may be inside your organisation, they may be outside your organisation, they may be on the other side of the world.

If this podcast helps even one person deal with their own challenges or dismantles any stigma about PTSD then Rusty will gladly take that.

And so will I.

There were moments when I felt that the theme for SMACC Dublin was damage. It just kept coming up. It just keeps coming up. It will keep coming up until we deal with it.

Take Care. Please.

Two other essential podcasts:

• St.Emlyns podcast called “Wellbeing” with @docib (Iain Beardsell)
• Be well and be a better critical care clinician with @LizCrowe2 (Liz Crowe). Not directly linked to PTSD but recommended.

Do you, or someone you know, need help with PTSD?

Here are a few starting points. A few wee links and stuff

• Australia: Beyond Blue, Sane.org
• UK: Mind.org
• USA: PTSD USA
• Canada: PTSD Association

(These are from the four nations that subscribe in largest numbers to this podcast. There may be others, there may be better. I wish that there were decent services in each and every country around the world but I know thats not the case.)

Rusty mentions the utterly brilliant Kate Granger right at the start. Check it out; Hello My Name is

Rusty also appears (with @Ashleyliebig, @_NMay, @EMManchester and yours truly) on what I suspect will be the next Podcast from St. Emlyn’s about Handover.

The talk by Scott Weingart at SMACC that we refer to was called “Kettlebells for your mind” and will be out in a month or two but in the interim he has put out an EmCrit Wee to tide you over;

The “MJ” that Rusty mentions in relation to a talk at SMACCForce about Sleep is @mjslabbert (a critical care doctor from South Africa) who appears in a Jellybean in the weeks to come. Look out for her in the future #FOAMed SMACC talks/podcasts. She rocks.