Hal Newman

My name is Hal Newman.

When I started TEMS (Team EMS/Equipe EMS), I was a paramedic and the director of an innovative municipal Emergency Medical Service in Cote Saint-Luc, Quebec. TEMS was to be my consulting venture in the world of emergency health services and community care. It didn’t work out that way.

The market quickly discovered I have a remarkable talent for crafting powerful stories that resonate deeply with their intended audiences. I went from writing proposals to create community care paramedic services to creating compelling presentations and content for clients ranging from small emergency management consultancies to multi-national corporations to state governments.

That I have this talent shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me well. I was born into a family where stories are very important. My mother is an artist, my late father an academic and a writer, my late grandmother an award-winning author of historical non-fiction, my sister a copywriter and speech writer…

As a paramedic, writing narratives was a key part of my day-to-day existence. I listened attentively to my clients and did my very best to tell their stories for them upon arrival at the ER. To be able to integrate all of our observations – clinical, environmental and personal – into a high-impact attention-capturing presentation helps fulfill our role as an advocate for our patients as they continue their journey along the continuum of care.

TEMS has evolved over the years to incorporate more service offerings however we have always remained true to our core values. Do the right thing.  Take on projects with meaning because life is short and fragile and shouldn’t be wasted on churning out crap. Connect the dots that need to be connected regardless of whether or not there’s something in it for us. Provide real value and always work in a collaborative manner even when that means forging unlikely partnerships.

We work with clients ranging from tiny to enormous. We’re good if yours is the corner office – or if you work out of the cab of your tractor. We’ve got boots for mud – and a taste for dirt roads.

We dress up well for meetings in midtown. We’re likely to arrive bearing the gift of cappuccino – and maple syrup.

Drop us a line. We’ll talk.

Be well. Practice big medicine.*

Hal

*Big Medicine = the right people working together at the right time will be Big Medicine. I’ve been saying ‘Be well. Practice big medicine’ for as long as I can remember. It is my own very personal version of ‘Sawu Bona’, the Zulu greeting which means ‘I see you’… I see all of you, I see your good works, I see the difference you are making in the world.

 

“Hal is a creative catalyst, natural change agent, and strategic thinker who can improve the performance of any team… His ability to connect with, listen to, and understand stakeholders with diverse and competing interests proved invaluable when identifying the root cause of the many and varied problems encountered. His keen understanding of the different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses that make a team successful led to the recommendation of many innovative and creative solutions.”

“Hal is a multi-faceted consultant with in-depth knowledge of many disciplines and a gift for identifying creative solutions. He has outstanding interpersonal and networking skills which he uses to achieve organizational goals. Hal is comfortable working in any environment, has a gift for learning about the people he meets, a wonderful sense of humor and a zest for life,which makes working with him a pleasure.”

“Hal is a people-person who is driven to finding solutions. He utilizes his extensive contacts within the industry to maximize collaborative possibilities, and his experience allows him to hone-in on the core issues at hand. And he is a nice guy to have on your team. Hal’s creative mind, flexible attitude, and ability to focus on the task at hand makes him invaluable as a coworker, a team leader and as a project manager.”

“Hal is a brilliant, engaging and optimistic thinker and organizer. I have had the opportunity to work with him on several occasions, all highly positive experiences. He is oriented on people and possibilities. He can range successfully from the global to the local, and from the strategic to the tactical. He brings with him an amazingly broad network of successful contacts he has cultivated over a lifetime of caring about and for people. Finally, he knows how to get things done and does so with his values intact.”