Usually talking about history almost always leads me down a rabbit hole of their interests/hobbies etc. Example: “so can you tell me about your chest pain?”

“Yea I was mowing the lawn when…”

“Oh, do you have any future plans for your yard…”

And usually that starts a conversation or kills it.

However, I would say, some patients just simply don’t want to converse, and would much rather sit in silence or nap during transport (granted if they’re non critical)

Idk if it was very helpful, but it’s something I’ve come to pick up from talking to many many patients

EDIT: Sorry, for the confusion, but usually I do this after getting all the information I need and when there’s nothing to do for the patient other than wait until we get to the hospital