Chris Carlson, PhD's Page

Back in the day – I had the opportunity to do a fellowship that took me to the Ames Research Center of NASA. There, tucked in a small corner office, off of a typically bureaucratic hall was the cluttered office of an aging gentle man, who toiled in near obscurity, surrounded by small mementos of his life – autographed pictures of he and President Johnson, personalized memorabilia from Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and memorial tokens of Gus Grissom – who was a personal friend, lost in the trag… Continue

I’ve been in EMS now for 32 years (it doesn’t seem possible) – and for 30 of those years there has been an argument about the efficacy of one-paramedic vs. two-paramedic systems. I’ve had the ability to witness this debacle from all four corners of the continent and even weighed in on the discussion in systems on foreign shores.

I’ve also had the blessing of being able to work in and with other industries and work environments which allows me, perhaps, to provide a little different perspective… Continue

The Lord of the Fries

It is a critical axiom in solving problems that we 1). Make sure we are asking the right questions, and 2). Make sure we are measuring the right things.

My favorite learning moment in this regard is a business case study involving not the Cleveland Clinic, but Burger King Restaurants. In the 1980’s Burger King was getting their competitive clock cleaned by other fast food operators and one of the primary drivers of dis-satisfaction with their product was their fren… Continue