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Whole blood, dual shocks and why the AHA still doesn’t get us

Real talk: EMS needs to stop playing second fiddle in the house of medicine

This week on the Inside EMS podcast, Dr. Peter Antevy returns for another round in the hot seat, and he’s not holding back. In this jam-packed episode, he and host Chris Cebollero tackle trending topics in prehospital care — from the expanding role of whole blood and plasma, to the frustrating gaps in the AHA’s 2025 guidelines.

You’ll hear real-world success stories (like the cardiac arrest survivor who’s back on the tennis court), why dual sequential defibrillation (DSD) should already be your go-to, and the cost-benefit realities of starting a whole blood program. Dr. Antevy also dives into the science behind glycocalyx damage and how plasma could change how we treat sepsis, TBI and burns in the field.

Whether you’re a medic, medical director or just passionate about pushing EMS forward, this episode delivers practical insight, bold opinions and a whole lot of inspiration.

Quotable takeaways from Dr. Antevy

  • “The medical establishment does not understand the value of what EMS brings to the table. They don’t understand the complexity.”
  • “When we said, ‘We’ll do the whole blood,’ what did the surgeons do? They went up in arms: ‘What do you mean you’re giving whole blood? Bring them to us. We’ll give the whole blood.’ No, no, no. We are part of the chain of survival, too.”
  • “EMS is a subspecialty in the house of medicine. We all need to rise up to make the hospital folks and the academics aware that EMS is important for trauma, for stroke, for pediatrics, for cardiac. We are the ones who can help bring up those outcomes and that’s why I love this field.”

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Catch a new episode of the Inside EMS podcast every Friday on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS Feed. Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Contact the Inside EMS team at theshow@ems1.com to share ideas, suggestions and feedback, or let us know if you’d like to join us as a guest.

The Inside EMS podcast is a regular expert discussion of hot topics, clinical issues, operational and leadership lessons for EMTs, paramedics and chiefs