Street Sense: Medical Author Chat with Kate Dernocoeur

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Author and former paramedic and EMS Educator Kate Dernocoeur is the guest on this episode of the Medical Author Chat. Kate wrote the classic EMS textbook “Streetsense: Communication, Safety, and Control“. Kate was a paramedic on “the ground floor of the industry.” When her career began medics were trained by doctors and nurses who focused on the medical training paramedics needed. Because the prehospital environment was unknown to those educators an entire body of knowledge was missing from EMS Education – Street Sense. Kate wrote about things like:

1. communicating with people in distress
2. safety in homes
3. working with crowds
4. recognizing and recovering from stress

The first edition of “Street Sense” was published in 1986. The third edition was published in the mid 1990s. With each edition Kate incorporated content that reflected societal changes. Now much of what we consider “street sense” is a regular feature of EMS textbooks and education programs because medics have been in the field for 45 years.

Kate was a frequent EMS conference speaker and writer for the industry trade magazines. She and I talked about her career. We also discussed what she would add if she wrote a new edition of “Street Sense”. Her comments on this were very insightful and shows me that she still has her finger on the pulse of EMS. This part of the conversation led Kate to telling me about a presentation she saw by Kimberly Dozier and the concept of “Post Traumatic Growth.”

Kate finished the episode with some wise words for aspiring authors including:

1. Know the tools and mechanics of writing

2. Everyone has a good story to tell

3. Develop your reputation as a writer

4. When you have an idea you believe in – Go For It!

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