MONTEREY, Calif. — Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic buzzword for EMS. It’s here, reshaping dispatch, billing, documentation and clinical support. But will it revolutionize our systems or replace the humans within them? That provocative question framed one of the liveliest sessions at the California Ambulance Association Annual Conference in Monterey: “Six experts — one weird AI showdown.”
| DOWNLOAD: What paramedics want in 2025
With moderator Danielle Thomas at the helm, six subject matter experts — Brendan Cameron (ABC), Christian Carrasquillo (Fast Medical AI), Dave O’Rielly (Traumasoft), Nidhish Dhru (Huly), Jonathan Feit (Beyond Lucid Technologies) and Mike Taigman (FirstWatch) took the stage.
The twist? No sales pitches, no product demos; just 2 minutes on the clock once “buzzed in” to make their case. The result was a high-energy exchange that was as entertaining as it was thought provoking.
Beyond the buzzer battles and sharp debate, a clear takeaway emerged early: EMS organizations must take a proactive approach to AI. Every agency needs either:
- Internal expertise,
- The ability to hire talent. or
- Access to a trusted consultant who can evaluate solutions for their unique needs
Without those guardrails, the risk is simple: some organizations will be left behind. Jonathan Feit underscored this point by referencing the creation of a federal-level Chief AI Officer role. Risk and compliance managers may not yet have the specialized expertise to evaluate AI adoption, and while the tools may eventually reduce reliance on consultants, there will always be a need for skilled human oversight. As one panelist put it, the job shouldn’t fall to “the best video game player who happens to be a medic.”
Memorable quotes
- “If you don’t change with the time, the time will change you.” — Nidhish Dhru
- “The concern isn’t AI deciding we’re competitors. The concern is bad actors using AI to get into our data.” — Mike Taigman
- “You won’t lose your job to AI. You’ll lose it to someone who knows how to use AI.” — Brendan Cameron
- “People are already ingesting things because ‘ChatGPT said so.’ That’s job security.”— Jonathan Feit
- “AI is unlikely to be worse than our current EMS documentation. In fact, it may be better from day one.” — Mike Taigman
- “Anything you do manually today — scanning, attaching, pushing paper — that job is gone. Not today, maybe tomorrow, but gone.” — Nidhish Dhru
- “Tell the truth and nothing but the truth. That’s how you make AI work for EMS narratives.”— Jonathan Feit
- “HIPAA violations from AI aren’t an ‘if.’ They’re a ‘when’ — and it’s probably already happened.”— Christian Carrasquillo
- “We all want the slam dunk with AI, but in EMS, we haven’t even learned to dribble, pass or make the layup with the tech we already have.” — Brendan Cameron
- “There are parts of our profession that have a zero margin of error. There is no option. You can’t kill them again.” — Jonathan Feit
Fear and the ‘job’ question
The first buzzers made clear the dominant anxiety: will AI take away jobs? Some panelists didn’t shy away offering that manual, repetitive tasks like billing, scanning and data entry are already vulnerable. Dhru offered a blunt warning:
“Anything you do manually today scanning, attaching, pushing paper — that job is gone. Not today, maybe tomorrow, but gone.”
Others countered that EMS is chronically understaffed, and AI will simply reallocate resources toward the things humans aren’t doing well or don’t have time to do. Cameron pointed out that the real risk isn’t AI itself but being left behind:
“You won’t lose your job to AI. You’ll lose it to someone who knows how to use AI.”
1 year, 3 years, 5 years
When pressed for timelines, most agreed little will change in the next year. By 3 years, administrative processes and CQI may be significantly augmented. By 5, panelists predicted broader systemic shifts, though no one forecasted full blown “superintelligence” in EMS. Feit took a contrarian angle, noting that AI misuse might actually increase EMS workload:
“People are already ingesting things because ‘ChatGPT said so.’ That’s job security.”
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Cybersecurity and the “zero margin for error”
While job fears dominated early, the debate shifted toward accuracy and risk. Could AI escape human control? Taigman dismissed that notion, saying the more immediate threat is malicious use by cybercriminals. Feit added a sobering reminder:
“There are parts of our profession that have a zero margin for error. There is no option. You can’t kill them again.”
Billing mistakes can be fixed; end-of-life wishes or critical medical orders cannot. The panel agreed that accuracy standards must be context specific, and in high-stakes clinical settings, human oversight is non-negotiable.
6 EMS AI applications
The lightning round brought focus to practical uses for AI in EMS:
- Clinical support for differential diagnosis
- Revenue capture through smarter billing
- Data quality checks to highlight gaps
- Process automation to strip out repetitive tasks
- Organizational AI councils to guide adoption responsibly
- Patient-specific insights, surfacing advance directives or autism alerts in real time
Here the conversation turned pragmatic: EMS agencies should not wait for vendors to tell them what’s possible. Instead, they should train QA/QI staff and designate AI leadership to ensure adoption is safe, compliant and beneficial.
HIPAA, compliance and liability
Compliance loomed large. Carrasquillo sounded the alarm that many providers are already copying patient data into free AI tools without realizing it lingers in external servers:
“HIPAA violations from AI aren’t an ‘if.’ They’re a ‘when’ and it’s probably already happened.”
Others warned that the legal system hasn’t caught up. Liability questions whether errors fall on the vendor, the medic or the agency remain unresolved.
Concerns about AI in EMS: What keeps them up at night
As the final buzzers sounded, the experts revealed their deepest concerns about AI:
- A power shift to big tech companies holding the keys to data and superintelligence
- A dilution of accountability, as people begin to shrug off responsibility —“it was the AI”
- Unvetted adoption of AI in EMS, with agencies already using models to guide staffing without expertise
- The hype cycle, where EMS leaders chase shiny tools before mastering existing technology
Humor, heat and hard truths
For all its sharp edges, the panel didn’t lack humor. Feit joked that while AI might not replace EMS roles, it could increase call volume thanks to bad home remedies. Taigman cracked that even flawed AI narratives are “unlikely to be worse” than current EMS documentation. And one panelist quipped that if AI ever did “end all suffering,” at least insurance claims would be paid on time.
But beneath the laughs was a serious message: EMS must prepare now. Policies, training, validation and compliance can’t wait for AI to mature. Technology is already here, and it’s evolving faster than our rules, laws and comfort zones.
Final takeaways: AI in EMS
Six Experts – One Weird AI Showdown lived up to its billing: rapid, raw and relevant. With buzzers blaring and 2-minute bursts of insight, the panel delivered a clear takeaway: AI won’t replace EMS providers overnight, but it will transform the way we work. The question is whether the industry will steer that transformation or be steered by it.
