08/06/2026
What do you actually do when the worst day of your career arrives?
On July 4th, 2025, Dr. Stephen Harper got the kind of message that changes everything: โItโs bad.โ The Guadalupe River had risen in the Texas Hill Country, and Dr. Harper โ an ER physician, EMS medical director for Kerrville Fire, and former Army brigade surgeon โ drove straight toward Camp Mystic to help.
In our newest episode, he takes us hour by hour through that day: helicopters from the Army, DPS, Coast Guard, and Star Flight lined up to unload scared, cold kids; tracking hundreds of patients with Pulsara; turning an ambulance bus into a warming shelter; and the moment he met a man who had just lost his wife. But the part that sticks with us is what he says about preparation: โYou donโt rise to the occasion โ you sink to your level of training.โ And his reminder that your resiliency as a responder starts today, not on the day disaster hits.
Whether youโre an EMT, paramedic, firefighter, or physician, this one will stay with you.
๐ฅ Watch: https://youtu.be/9r4neO7lPAA
๐ง Listen: https://pod.link/1810050200
๐ More: https://emtsacademy.com