Comments by those in the field
who have taken the Verbal First Aid training
based on the book
The Worst Is Over: What To Say When Every Moment Counts

Dear Dr. Prager,

Your CME lecture on 4-19-04 at Glendale Memorial Hospital was the very
best one we’ve had in a long time. Right after the talk, many colleagues stopped me to thank me for organizing your lecture. Your teaching is already making us better doctors. I am personally using your technique on a daily basis with my patients.
With Respect,
        S Mike Neskovic, MD, AAFP, AQGM
        Board Certified Family physician and Geriatrician
        Glendale Memorial Hospital, one of the 100 Best Heart Hospitals in USA
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First responders need to take this course whether or not it relates to their continuing education material.
              Dr. Nehrbauer, Department of Emergency Medicine, Westchester Medical Center
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I want to thank you for the extremely valuable ‘Therapeutic Suggestions Strategies for First Responders” training that I took from you...Your step-by-step approach of how to deal with trauma victims — gaining initial rapport, reducing pain, controlling bleeding, lowering blood pressure, and assisting burn victims — should be mandatory training for all rescue workers.
        Officer John Nisbet
        Training Officer, Los Angeles Police Department

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Thank you very much for your presentation “Utilizing the Language of Hypnosis with Children.”  The resident physicians in pediatrics and the child life specialists in attendance were uniformly enthusiastic about the possibilities for improving our care for children that you presented to us. We left your talk eager to try out some of the “magic spells” and techniques you shared with us.
        Debra Lotstein, M.D. Resident Physician in Medicine and Pediatrics
        Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
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I’ve used it in the field and it’s helped a lot – especially with breathing problems               
        Captain Mike Anzovino, Sleepy Hollow Fire Department Ambulance Corp.
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The training has given our officers the skill and confidence to make a difference.               
        Lt. J. Costanzo, Tuckahoe Police Department
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Thank you so much for your inservice on “Verbal First Aid…. The staff really enjoyed it and…some of us have already started practicing these techniques on our patients with good results!
        Lisa Hasnosi, RN, Department of Psychiatry,  NYU Medical Center
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Your presentations were a huge success.  I have received phone calls, e-mails, and cards from people thanking me for inviting them and telling me how much they benefited from attending the workshops. To me, Verbal First Aid includes a common sense approach to wording things in a way that promotes health and healing.  It's simple, but amazingly it is something that isn't talked about in health professional trainings.  Until your workshop, no one taught us how to speak in a way that makes a difference in a patient's recovery.  I know that these simple and practical changes will make a difference in the care I provide.                                                                              
        Chaplain Ginny Bonner, Tucson Heart Hospital, Tucson, AZ