Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Sugar highs and lows: Rapid recognition

Firemedically
by Mike McEvoy

Sugar highs and lows: Rapid recognition

By Mike McEvoy

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

High Altitude Illnesses - EMSWorld.com

EMS Recap: High Altitude Illnesses

BY ROBERT E. SIPPEL, MS, MAED, NREMT-P, LP

High-altitude illness is the general term encompassing the syndromes affecting people traveling to higher elevations.

Spring is here and you’re off with your friends to Colorado for as much skiing as you can get in the next nine days. Departing Houston Intercontinental at 8 a.m., arriving in Denver at 11 a.m. and heading for the lodge, you arrive at the summit of Winter Park by 1 p.m. You and your entourage have gone from near sea level to over 12,000 feet in five hours, skied half the day, eaten a hearty dinner, had a couple beers and hit the rack to dream about the next full day of alpine adventuring.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Diabetic emergencies: Ketoacidosis

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) results from severe insulin deficiency and leads to the disordered metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats

By DeWayne Miller

Our flight crew was dispatched to a small local hospital for a 58 year old male with an altered level of consciousness and elevated blood sugar.

His son had found him unresponsive on the couch and called EMS for help.

While en route to the local hospital a bedside glucose was checked reporting "high." His respiratory rate was 36 and his heart rate was in the 150s. He was slow to respond, but woke to verbal commands and was orientated to person only.

At the hospital, another bedside glucose returned "high" and he received 10 units of insulin IV. A foley catheter was inserted draining 1400 ml of urine immediately.

The flight crew arrived to find our patient’s LOC without change. Pupils were equal at 3 mm, and sluggish in response to light. Mucous membranes were dry. He had a respiratory rate of 36 breaths per minute and shallow. His lung sounds were clear and equal bilateral. An incision at his right shoulder from a surgery one week ago appeared well healed with no redness or signs of infection.

...More at the link above.

Stroke: Time is brain in delivering EMS care

The sooner treatment is started, the smaller the area of permanent damage will be

by DeWayne Miller

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and one of the leading causes of long-term disability. Stroke refers to the acute neurological impairment that follows an interruption in blood supply to a specific region of the brain¹.

It is beneficial to classify strokes as either hemorrhagic or ischemic. Ischemic strokes account for 87 percent of all strokes, and treatment that can dramatically improve outcome is available for a certain subset of carefully screened patients.

Time is brain. For every minute stroke is left untreated, an estimated 1.9 million neurons are destroyed². Each hour in which treatment fails to occur, the brain loses as many neurons as it does in almost 3.6 years of normal aging.

Research data indicate that 29 percent to 65 percent of patients with signs or symptoms of acute stroke access their initial medical care via local EMS.

Also, EMS is strongly associated with decreased time to initial physician examination, initial computed tomography (CT) imaging, and initial neurological evaluation³.

All of these are important when determining which treatment modality would provide the greatest benefit for the patient. The sooner treatment is started, the smaller the area of permanent damage will be and the better the quality of life the patient will have.

...more at the link above

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Friday, March 16, 2012

Cold and hurt: Motor vehicle accidents in the winter

Cold and hurt: Motor vehicle accidents in the winter

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Friday, March 2, 2012

Support for competitive ambulance contract grows in Calif.

By Duana W. Gang
The Press Enterprise

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — A growing number of local officials are urging Riverside County supervisors to competitively bid the county's contract for ambulance services.

Radio Ramblings: The Art of Hospital Radio Reporting

Rural Ramblings
by Jules Scadden

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Medical tattoos offer important health information

Some patients choosing to have DNR, other messages permanently imprinted

Sunday, February 26, 2012

EMS Revisited: Customer Care Part 9 - EMSWorld.com

Medic 21 responds to a call for a fall victim. Dispatch updates with the information that an elderly man has fallen down a flight of stairs and is unconscious. Porter First Aid responds also with three volunteer EMTs.

When Medic 21 arrives, First Aid already has the patient in their ambulance. Terri, one of the EMTs, reports that the patient fell down a flight of stairs, was unconscious, then was carried upstairs and put to bed by his daughter, a nurse at Porter Community Hospital. She says the patient is confused but conscious.

Epinephrine: Drug Whys

Side effects of epinephrine include increased heart rate, palpitations, sweating, nausea, vomiting, nervousness, tremors and dizziness

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

You suck at Photoshop…the best damn video tutorial series :: Coachella Trading Company

You suck at Photoshop…the best damn video tutorial series :: Coachella Trading Company

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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Scald injuries in the pediatric patient

By Kenny Navarro

Burns affect approximately one million Americans each year (LaBorde, 2004), half of whom receive medical treatment (American Burn Association, 2007). Unfortunately, about 3,500 of these patients die as the result of their injuries (American Burn Association, 2007). Many of the hospitalized patients who survive are severely disfigured or disabled. By providing proper care, pre-hospital personnel can reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with burn injuries.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Managing Unstable Musculoskeletal Injuries - EMSWorld.com

Musculoskeletal injuries are one of the most common injuries EMS providers manage. Nearly 85% of all patients suffering blunt force trauma experience some sort of musculoskeletal injury.

Mass Casualty Incident Management Part I - EMSWorld.com

Mass Casualty Incident Management - EMSWorld.com

Mass casualty incidents can shake even the most seasoned first responder. Weather emergencies can arrive fast and furious like a tornado, or slow and low like a flood. Mass gathering sports events will give you time to plan ahead, while a multi-car crash on the highway will not. Mass casualty incidents may require a fire department response for hazardous materials, or a law enforcement response for an active crime scene.

Suicide - EMSWorld.com

"These are the worst calls you can go on."

That's how Steve Berry, BA, NREMT-P, described responding to a suicide during the Wisconsin EMS Association's "Working Together: Emergency Services Midwest Conference and Exposition," held January 25–28.

Mass Casualty Incident Management Part II - EMSWorld.com

Mass Casualty Incident Management - EMSWorld.com

When we refer to “declaring” or “calling” an MCI, using MCI response or entering MCI mode, we’re talking about the same thing. These terms refer to the first due crew recognizing that the number of patients exceeds the threshold of immediate resources. In calling an MCI, the first due crew acknowledges the need for scene management over immediate hands-on patient care and broadcasts this as the “mode” of the incident so that incoming units can coordinate their response.

Combative Patients - EMSWorld.com

Have you ever had to deal with a combative patient?

Maybe the person is just verbally abusive or they try to push you out of the way out of frustration. Maybe they go so far as to take a swing at you in anger. Or maybe you're confronted with a 6'4" tall man, weighing 300 pounds and high on PCP and methamphetamines. Can you handle him?

Gastrointestinal Bleeding - EMSWorld.com

Every year, more than 300,000 patients are hospitalized with gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding¹ and countless more are managed in emergency departments. More than 150 out of every 100,000 people experience some sort of GI bleeding annually. Nearly 70% of GI bleeds occur in the upper GI tract and more than 50% of all GI bleeds are caused by peptic ulcer disease. Presently, the mortality from GI bleeding is around 10%, and this rises with age as patients begin to have multiple contributing underlying conditions like hypertension, diabetes and cardiac disease. For individuals younger than age 50, however, the most common cause of GI bleeding is hemorrhoids, which, while uncomfortable, is more of a nuisance than anything else.²

Power Lines on Car Challenge Calif. Rescuers - EMSWorld.com

"Three transformers from the pole came down and energized the vehicle and first responders couldn't continue the rescue until after the electricity was turned off in the area, Base said."

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Scald injuries in the pediatric patient

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Apgar Scoring of Newborns - EMSWorld.com

Hypothermia Acidosis Coagulopathy - EMSWorld.com

Understand the Trauma Triad of Death

BY PAUL MURPHY, MSHA, MA, CHRIS COLWELL, MD, FACEP, GILBERT PINEDA, MD, FACEP

Know its components to help protect patients.

"Someone's been shot": An EMS case study

AP News : 11th victim found days after deadly crash on I-75

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Calif. rescue team saves 3 hikers, 2 dogs

Calif. rescue team saves 3 hikers, 2 dogs

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

HSEEP Home

HSEEP Home

The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) is a capabilities and performance-based exercise program that provides a standardized methodology and terminology for exercise design, development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning.

The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) constitutes a national standard for all exercises. Through exercises, the National Exercise Program supports organizations to achieve objective assessments of their capabilities so that strengths and areas for improvement are identified, corrected, and shared as appropriate prior to a real incident. To learn more about the HSEEP program, click on the About HSEEP tab above.

The HSEEP is maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Preparedness Directorate, Department of Homeland Security.

HSEEP Cycle - Strategy Planning (Program Management), Design and Development (Project Management), Conduct (Project Management), Evaluation (Project Management), and Improvement Planning (Program Management)

HSEEP Cycle - Strategy Planning (Program Management), Design and Development (Project Management), Conduct (Project Management), Evaluation (Project Management), and Improvement Planning (Program Management)

Friday, January 27, 2012

NTSB faults pilots in 2 air medical crashes

NTSB faults pilots in 2 air medical crashes

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