In this episode of the Paratus Podcast, Dr. Ross Orpet and Will Berry explore why technical knowledge is only one part of becoming an EMS professional. 

They discuss the importance of embracing vulnerability, learning from mistakes, and creating a culture where honest conversations and constructive feedback lead to continuous growth.

The conversation also highlights the role of human factors, emotional resilience, deliberate practice, and critical thinking in helping paramedics perform under pressure. 

A powerful reminder that becoming your best isn't about being perfect—it's about being willing to learn, adapt, and improve every day.

Books recommended during this podcast episode:

• Sources of Power — Gary Klein
• The Confident Mind — Nate Zinsser
• The Alter Ego Effect — Todd Herman
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck* — Mark Manson

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored list. These are simply the books referenced during the episode for anyone interested in exploring the topics discussed further.

This Week's Paratus Podcast Guests: 

Will Berry is a flight paramedic based in North Carolina with 16 years of experience across rural, suburban, and urban EMS systems. He is the co-host of the Loud and Clear podcast and is passionate about EMS education, human performance, and applying lessons from other industries to improve patient care and clinical decision-making.

Dr. Ross Orpet is board-certified in both Emergency Medical Services and Emergency Medicine. After beginning his career as a paramedic with Denver Health, he went on to complete medical school, residency, and an EMS fellowship, and now practices emergency medicine in southwest Colorado while providing medical direction for multiple EMS agencies.

About Paratus Medical:
Binders. Word documents. Paper printouts.

Medical protocols contain critical knowledge that can save lives, yet they are often trapped in formats that are difficult to manage, track, and use in high-pressure situations. 

Frontline professionals are frequently expected to remember hundreds of pages of procedures when seconds matter most.

Paratus Medical develops digital tools that help organizations manage protocols more effectively while supporting frontline responders in emergency and critical care situations.

Our solutions are used across EMS, intensive care units, patient transport services, first responder organizations, maritime operations, and even space medicine through our partnership with the Canadian Space Agency.

Learn more 👉https://paratusmedical.com/ 

The Paratus Podcast:
Created in 2025, the Paratus Podcast features short, expert-driven conversations on preparedness, healthcare innovation, and real-world emergency response. Each episode delivers practical insights and stories from professionals working on the front lines. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

In this episode, Dr. Andrew Petrasek explores why preparation is one of the most important, and often underestimated, elements of emergency medicine. 

He introduces the concepts of Preparation Debt and Preparation Deficit, explaining how small gaps in readiness can accumulate into significant challenges during critical moments.

In this episode, we examine the three phases of preparation and the practical strategies that help individuals and teams build a high-performing culture under pressure.

Rather than focusing on blame or "could have, should have, would have" thinking, Dr. Petrasek explains how preparedness should be viewed as an iterative, cyclical process of continuous learning, adaptation, and improvement that strengthens organizations over time.

As President of Advanced Performance Healthcare Design, Dr. Petrasek also shares fascinating insights into aspects of healthcare we rarely consider, including how something as simple as hospital design—such as elevators that aren't built to accommodate stretchers—can have a profound impact on patient care and emergency response.

A valuable discussion on building systems, habits, and cultures that improve both team performance and patient outcomes.

You can read the article referenced in this episode here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0733862726000362 

This Week's Paratus Podcast Guest: Dr. Andrew Petrosoniak

Dr. Andrew Petrosoniak is an emergency physician and trauma team leader at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada. 

He is also the medical director of the simulation program at Unity Health Toronto as well as the assistant professor at the University of Toronto where his research work focuses on using simulation to improve systems and design,  optimizing the care of bleeding patients and understanding how rare, life-saving procedures can be best taught and practiced. 

He regularly publishes on and speaks at conferences on topics of resuscitation and simulation. 

He's also the president of Advanced Performance Healthcare Design, a design and consulting firm that uses immersive design to help design hospitals and uses simulation to optimize healthcare delivery across systems and teams. 

The Paratus Podcast:
Created in 2025, the Paratus Podcast features expert-driven conversations on preparedness, healthcare innovation, and real-world emergency response. Each episode delivers practical insights and stories from professionals working on the front lines. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

About Paratus Medical:
Binders. Word documents. Paper printouts.

Medical protocols contain critical knowledge that can save lives, yet they are often trapped in formats that are difficult to manage, track, and use in high-pressure situations. 

Frontline professionals are frequently expected to remember hundreds of pages of procedures when seconds matter most.

Paratus Medical develops digital tools that help organizations manage protocols more effectively while supporting frontline responders in emergency and critical care situations.

Our solutions are used across EMS, intensive care units, patient transport services, first responder organizations, maritime operations, and even space medicine through our partnership with the Canadian Space Agency.

Learn more 👉https://paratusmedical.com/

Healthcare professionals spend years learning procedures, protocols, and clinical decision-making in structured environments. Yet when those skills are put to the test in the emergency department, in remote settings, or during high-stakes incidents, reality rarely follows the script. 

Uncertainty, time pressure, incomplete information, and human factors all influence performance in ways that are difficult to replicate in training.

Drawing on his experiences, Dr. Singh explores practical methods and mental models he has personally developed and used to perform under pressure. He also draws parallels to how high-performance sports prepare athletes for unpredictability and explores what healthcare can learn from those approaches. 

The episode also examines healthcare's relationship with failure, from dealing with death and adverse outcomes to learning from mistakes without creating a culture of blame.

Whether you're a clinician, educator, first responder, or leader operating in high-pressure environments, this episode offers practical methods and insights for performing effectively when the stakes are highest and reality doesn't go according to plan.

This Week's Paratus Podcast Guest: Dr. Kavi Singh

Dr. Kavi Singh is an emergency physician and educator affiliated with McGill University. He is the director of Emergency Medicine Preparedness & Risk Management, serves as a medical advisor in Search & Rescue, and works with the Cree Health Board in Quebec. 

He created the “Emergency Medicine Performance Under Pressure” framework and has served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Wilderness Medicine. 

About Paratus Medical:
Binders. Word documents. Paper printouts. PDF aggregators

Medical protocols contain critical knowledge that can save lives, yet they are often trapped in formats that are difficult to manage, track, and use in high-pressure situations. 

Frontline professionals are frequently expected to remember hundreds of pages of procedures when seconds matter most.

Paratus Medical develops digital tools that help organizations manage protocols more effectively while supporting frontline responders in emergency and critical care situations.

Our solutions are used across EMS, intensive care units, patient transport services, first responder organizations, maritime operations, and even space medicine through our partnership with the Canadian Space Agency.

Learn more: https://paratusmedical.com/ 

The Paratus Podcast:
Created in 2025, the Paratus Podcast features short, expert-driven conversations on preparedness, healthcare innovation, and real-world emergency response. Each episode delivers practical insights and stories from professionals working on the front lines. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Paratus Podcast, Master Your Medics founder, Geoff Murphy reflects on his experience during the Fort McMurray wildfires, one of the largest evacuation efforts in Canadian history.

Geoff shares insights into the massive coordination required to protect lives, how triage and emergency response teams adapted to rapidly changing conditions, and the logistical challenges of moving patients and resources during a large-scale crisis. 

The conversation explores what preparedness truly means when plans are tested by uncertainty, complexity, and time pressure.

The discussion also examines how healthcare professionals can better prepare for high-stakes situations and the most effective approaches to educating and training the next generation of paramedics and emergency responders.

This Week's Paratus Podcast Guest: Geoff Murphy, Master Your Medics

Geoff Murphy is a passionate Flight Paramedic with over 15 years of experience.

Over the past 12 years, he has taught thousands of students and collaborated with educational institutions to enhance their programs. 

Founded in 2016, Master Your Medics has grown into a leading EMS education platform that has supported tens of thousands of EMT and Paramedic students. 

Through innovative learning tools and a focus on clinical reasoning and confidence, the organization aims to transform 100,000 EMTs and Paramedics and improve patient care through better preparedness.

About Paratus Medical:

Binders. Word documents. Paper printouts.

Medical protocols contain critical knowledge that can save lives, yet they are often trapped in formats that are difficult to manage, track, and use in high-pressure situations. 

Frontline professionals are frequently expected to remember hundreds of pages of procedures when seconds matter most.

Paratus Medical develops digital tools that help organizations manage protocols more effectively while supporting frontline responders in emergency and critical care situations.

Our solutions are used across EMS, intensive care units, patient transport services, first responder organizations, maritime operations, and even space medicine through our partnership with the Canadian Space Agency.

Learn more 👉https://paratusmedical.com/

The Paratus Podcast:

Created in 2025, the Paratus Podcast features short, expert-driven conversations on preparedness, healthcare innovation, and real-world emergency response. Each episode delivers practical insights and stories from professionals working on the front lines. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Passionné par l’amélioration des systèmes de santé, Dr. Dahine s’intéresse particulièrement à la façon dont les ressources sont utilisées en contexte de pression et d’urgence. Grâce à son expertise en soins intensifs, en gestion des soins de santé et en amélioration clinique, il apporte une réflexion humaine et concrète sur les enjeux liés au triage et à l’allocation des ressources.

Une discussion pertinente sur les défis du milieu de la santé, mais aussi sur les décisions difficiles qui doivent parfois être prises lorsque les ressources sont limitées.

Sans plus attendre, bonne écoute! 

• Why AI tools often fail in real-world practice
• The importance of context and tailored prompts
• How to mitigate risks like AI hallucinations and data leakage
• Strategies for adapting AI models in emergency environments
• The future of personalized, safety-validated AI in healthcare

Perfect for clinicians and organizations eager to implement ethical AI solutions without compromising patient safety. Gain insights into making remote medical practice safer and more human-centred.

In this episode, Dr. Shawna Pandya — emergency physician, research astronaut, and expert in extreme environment medicine — shares her crisis management lessons from rural Alberta ERs to space missions.

She breaks down decision-making under pressure, team communication, the life-saving power of checklists and simulations, and why emotional resilience matters just as much as technical skill. She also explores the striking parallels between rural emergency care and space medicine — two environments where resourcefulness and collaboration aren't optional.

A must-listen for healthcare professionals in remote settings, space medicine enthusiasts, and anyone who leads or operates in high-stakes environments.