Kris Kaull: Think like a detective

Effective clues to great communication and patient history taking

November 17, 2022 12:52 PM •

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This episode of EMS One-Stop with Rob Lawrence is brought to you by Lexipol, the experts in policy, training, wellness support and grants assistance for first responders and government leaders. To learn more, visit lexipol.com.

Fresh back from Montana’s Big Sky EMS Symposium, in this episode of EMS One-Stop, Host Rob Lawrence chats with Kris Kaull on his history-taking session. They discuss Kaull’s 10 top hacks to improve your history taking, including:

Thinking like a detective
Thinking outside the box
Understanding medical medicine
Being a good listener

Kaull has driven innovation and positive change in EMS for over 25 years. After beginning his career as a firefighter and EMT, he started paramedic.com and co-founded EMS1. He is currently the chief marketing officer at Pulsara, a healthcare and mobile tech startup. He has worked as a firefighter captain, paramedic and ambulance service director, and continues his practice as a critical care flight paramedic covering southwest rural MT and Yellowstone National Park.

Kaull has shared his presentation and notes here.

Rob Lawrence

Rob Lawrence has been a leader in civilian and military EMS for over a quarter of a century. He is currently the director of strategic implementation for PRO EMS and its educational arm, Prodigy EMS, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and part-time executive director of the California Ambulance Association.

He previously served as the chief operating officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority (Virginia), which won both state and national EMS Agency of the Year awards during his 10-year tenure. Additionally, he served as COO for Paramedics Plus in Alameda County, California.

Prior to emigrating to the U.S. in 2008, Rob served as the COO for the East of England Ambulance Service in Suffolk County, England, and as the executive director of operations and service development for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust. Rob is a former Army officer and graduate of the UK’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served worldwide in a 20-year military career encompassing many prehospital and evacuation leadership roles.

Rob is a board member of the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) as well as chair of the American Ambulance Association’s State Association Forum. He writes and podcasts for EMS1 and is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board. Connect with him on Twitter.