10/20/2026
From the Classroom to the Street — Training That Makes a Difference
Meet Dr. Bridgette Svancarek (“Dr. B”), Medical Director for the Northeast Ambulance & Fire Protection District. Dr. B is also an Emergency Medicine physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where she provides emergency care and helps train Emergency Medicine residents.
Each month, Dr. B provides continuing EMS education to Northeast Firefighter/Paramedics. A recent training focused on STEMI (heart attack) recognition and STEMI equivalents, emphasizing the importance of recognizing subtle signs of serious cardiac emergencies.
Shortly after that training, Northeast crews responded to a patient experiencing a cardiac emergency. Our Firefighter/Paramedics were able to apply what they had recently learned, correctly recognize the patient’s condition, and provide appropriate treatment. The patient went on to make a full recovery.
Dr. B later used this real-world case while teaching Emergency Medicine residents at Barnes-Jewish Hospital—with the patient himself there to share his experience and successful recovery.
Here, Dr. Svancarek, Private Malik Neal, Captain Steve Walton, and the patient share the story from training, to treatment, to recovery.
This is why we train. Learn it. Recognize it. Apply it. Make a difference.
The patient, who is also a first responder, provided permission to both Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Northeast Ambulance & Fire Protection District to share his story and use his name, photographs, and likeness.
