A lady I know has had a tough month. Her son was struck by a car while walking in a snowstorm, broke several ribs, collapsed a lung and hit his head so hard he was knocked unconscious and ended up with a severe concussion. He was brought to the nearest hospital, stabilized and transported to […]

This blog is all about Rescuing Providence,  or more accurately rescuing the people who live, work and play here. But it is also my place. I come here when I need to sort things out, write a little and think a lot. I’m glad I had the opportunity  to do what I did for as […]

The fire started in the kitchen, he told me, his mother and aunt had been drinking, and forgot about the pan of oil on the stovetop. It ignited, then before they could put it out the stove caught fire. It was an oil stove, he said, before they had natural gas. He was in the […]

Engine company members need to understand that an attack on them by a combative patient is not personal. The patient likely is seeing threats in the form of shapes and sounds and is reacting on an instinctual level. Treating the situation as a problem to be solved rather than a fight to win helps reduce […]

An old friend, Dr. Francis Sullivan, one of the finest ER Doctors anywhere stopped by my house yesterday, we got to gabbing about the old days, the new 30 minute on scene CPR protocol in RI and our kids. When we talked about what I missed most about my time in charge of an ALS […]

Just to prove I’m an idiot I decided to obsess about my blood pressure. First, I checked it in the rescue in the middle of a twenty-four hour shift. 148/90. Then, I did it at the hospital. 144/92. Then I did it again, and again and again, switching from the rescue to the hospital, always […]

Sometimes firefighters are in the news because they made a lot of money. If people only knew the toll it takes. From my new article at Fire Engineering.   . . .A person needs to set boundaries and adhere to them. I didn’t. We are our own worst enemy, thinking we are invincible yet proving […]

Feeling powerless and out of control, the world and everybody in it having their way, days followed by nights, then days and nights and days again. So many people; all of them lost in their own thoughts and dreams, trying to get by, trying to get ahead, trying  to make a name for themselves, and […]

  “My name is BJ Schneider and I’ll be your host of the Podcast. I’ve been in public service for over 25 years as both a paramedic and a police officer. I took what I learned in those careers and began writing. Along with my occasional co-host Sam Bradley and regular support from fellow podcaster […]