Personality Behind the Profile: The Salty Paramedic

Sgt. Paramedic Cody Spaulding started his social media brand, “The Salty Paramedic,” less than two years ago, but has amassed over 442,000 followers across two platforms.

After Spaulding’s daughter was born in December 2023, he had some downtime away from work. On a whim, he started the account when the name popped into his mind. He began posting memes and funny pictures, but quickly turned into a greater endeavor.

Now, Spaulding posts funny videos about a variety of topics when it comes to being in the EMS and fire service worlds. The skits are based on personal experiences, ideas he and his wife have and mistakes that made over the years.

“I was seeing these firefighter and EMS accounts that were reusing the same content," Spaulding told Firehouse.com. "They were clearly mimicking each other. That was my thing in the very beginning, if I see a video of somebody doing something in our in public service, I'm not going to copy it word for word. I want to be unique, so that's something I've always stood behind."

Spaulding started the Instagram account in January 2024, which now has more than 150,000 followers. He launched the Facebook account in August 2024, which has over 292,000 followers.

Spaulding’s journey

Spaulding has been enveloped in the fire service since he was young. At age 15, he joined an Explorer’s program. At 18, he began volunteering at his local department and would do so every summer while he was in college. After obtaining his degree in fire protection administration, Spaulding was hired full-time in Kentucky.

Early into his career, Spaulding was sent to an EMT class and would soon be asked to go to a paramedic school. After those experiences, he became a fan of the EMS side. Ten years later, Spaulding is still there and was promoted to sergeant two years ago.

Spaulding said over the last two years, there was a gradual increase to his follower count. He believes it was because of his ability to stay consistent. He began posting five to seven posts a day, but now attempts to post five videos per day.

From there, things started to snowball. Merch was created with his logo, from hats to stickers to cups. He hired a professional graphic designer to make the third variation of his logo, which he now uses. Spaulding hosts a podcast called “Just a Little Salt,” where any discussion is on the table.

"Even though I'm not really the type to listen to podcasts, I wanted to interview these unique people. The Journal of EMS reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to do a podcast with them. They had a guy for editing, and all I had to do was find the guests and interview them,” said Spaulding.

Spaulding is also the author of two books, “Don’t Lose Yourself” and “Don’t Lose Ourselves.” The first book is about Spaulding’s personal journey and mental health focus, which acts as a playbook that has worked for him to navigate the struggles of being in the fire service.

"I've been in the fire service for about 18 years and have seen a lot of people's personalities and the way they've handled things on the job. I felt like I had a good understanding and a good knowledge base to provide to people in a written form. One day, I just leaped," said Spaulding. "It took off a lot more than I ever imagined. I've had people around the world reach out to me, saying it's made a difference in their lives. All kinds of professions have said it's made some kind of impact on their life and their mental health."

His second book is a sequel that focuses on ways to explore relationships between first responders and their spouses. It was co-authored by his wife, Brooke Spaulding, providing a firsthand perspective on the matter.

"A second topic that I felt very strongly about was relationships and my wife," said Spaulding. "We don't have the perfect marriage, but we've been married about 12 years. My dad and mom have been married for more than 30 years, and he was a firefighter. I saw many relationships fail, and people couldn’t handle it because of the trauma we face on the job. I felt like I could offer insight into that."

These books have built up even more popularity for Spaulding, and it shows from his experience at FDIC in 2025. Spaulding brought a backpack full of his first book and stickers to hand out.

“I went there, and it was unreal. The number of people who came up to me that knew who I was, recognized me from videos, told me stories, it was a very surreal experience,” said Spaulding. “I talked to my wife that day, and I was like, I feel like my next endeavor is to try to speak here.”

Spaulding will be speaking at the conference in 2026.

With everything Spaulding has going on, he credited his wife for being his manager and giving him ideas to run with, but also stressed how important time management is. Time management must be key, especially considering Spaulding is planning on writing a third book, but this one will be a horror novel about being a paramedic. He also has goals of being on television and wanting to be in a movie.

He entered the entertainment industry with his brand, but he has also had the opportunity to do stand-up comedy. Bored Teachers reached out to him when they were making a stand-up comedy tour and invited him to Nashville to do a set.

“I think it went well. People laughed,” said Spaulding.  “It brought a newfound respect to stand-up comedians. There's one thing about being funny on the internet with videos that you can edit and redo, but it's another thing to be funny in that environment where you can't edit.”

Eyes should stay on Spaulding as he continues to impact the fire and EMS services positively through a number of mediums.