17. ER Doctor: My Brain Failed in a Life-or-Death Moment

When every decision carries the weight of life and death, how does the human brain cope?

In this powerful episode of Decisions That Count, Dr. Shawn Watson and Michelle O’Brien sit down with emergency physician and healthcare innovator Jean-Francois Couture to explore the cognitive, emotional, and psychological toll of decision-making under extreme pressure.

Drawing from his years in emergency medicine and his near-miss experiences, Jean-Francois offers a rare and vulnerable look inside the high-stakes world of critical care.

We dive deep into:

- The realities of cognitive overload and decision fatigue in emergency medicine

- The emotional aftermath of near-miss medical errors- How task-switching and rapid

-fire decisions impact clinical judgment

- The role of protocols, systems, and technology in reducing errors

- The origin story of Paratus Medical and how it's helping clinicians globally

- The intersection of AI, healthcare innovation, and clinician support tools

🎯 Key Topics: decision fatigue, cognitive overload, emergency medicine, healthcare technology, medical entrepreneurship, clinical decision-making, resilience, medical protocols, AI in medicine, human connection, healthcare innovation, stress management, burnout, entrepreneurship stress, Paratus Medical

🔥Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

09:59 Cognitive Overload in Emergency Medicine

19:55 Emotional Impact of Critical Care Decisions

28:49 Building Tools for Clinicians

29:46 From Medicine to Entrepreneurship: A New Journey

30:14 Logistical Steps in Emergency Care

31:42 The Future of Medical Assistance

33:00 AI in Diagnosis and Treatment

36:28 Offloading Decision Fatigue

38:31 The Human Element in Medicine

40:00 Patient Empowerment through Information

42:02 The Impact of Technology on Healthcare

44:21 Global Applications of Medical Tools

💡 About the Podcast: Decisions That Count is where neuroscience meets real-world decision-making. Dr. Shawn Watson and Michelle O’Brien explore how decision fatigue affects everything from elite performance and business leadership to gaming, academics, and mindful living.

Featuring experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, and practitioners sharing actionable strategies to optimize cognitive function, improve focus, and build mental resilience.

👇 Let’s Continue the Conversation What resonated most with you? Have you experienced decision fatigue in your role? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let us know how you manage high-pressure choices.

💬 Drop your questions in the comments — we’ll get Jean-Francois to answer them!

🔗 About Our Guest, Jean-Francios:Jean-Francois Couture is an emergency physician from Montreal, Canada. He trained at McGill University where he finished residency in 2013. In addition to working full-time in the emergency department throughout his career, he worked in a community intensive care unit for 8 years, where he was chief from 2018 to 2021. At both hospitals where he has worked, he was responsible for quality improvement and practice evaluation projects. After completing the Resuscitation Leadership Academy fellowship in 2016, he started working on an emergency medical response project which is now called Paratus Medical.

🔗 Connect on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-francois-couture-b95a97289/

🧠 Hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Shawn Watson and marketer-mum-marathoner Michelle, Decisions That Count explores how science-backed insights can help you overcome decision fatigue and unlock peak performance.

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💡 If you found this episode helpful, like, comment, and subscribe. Share it with someone who could use a reset on how they make decisions. Let’s build better brains together—one choice at a time.

Your decisions shape your life. Make every decision count.