Sick vs Not Sick
A Field Judgment Guide for EMS
Most patients don’t look sick until they are.
This free field guide is built for the moment before the crash — when vitals are still normal, protocols are quiet, and something just doesn’t feel right.
Sick vs Not Sick is not about diagnoses, checklists, or thresholds. It’s about judgment. The kind that experienced medics use to recognize trouble early, long before the monitor agrees.
Inside, you’ll find practical frameworks for:
Making better first impressions in the first 60 seconds
Recognizing when vitals are lying to you
Spotting red-flag clusters instead of chasing single signs
Thinking in trajectories, not snapshots
Trusting instinct without guessing
Avoiding the false reassurance traps that fool good providers
This guide is written to be used the way EMS is practiced — in short sections, under fatigue, between calls, and on a phone. It includes real-world micro drills that force early decisions and sharpen how you see patients who don’t look obviously sick yet.
If you’ve ever said:
“They didn’t look that bad at first”
“The vitals were fine”
“Something felt off, but I couldn’t explain it”
This guide is for you.
Download it free. Carry it into your next shift. Use it to see what others miss.
