State-by-State NREMT Reciprocity: What EMTs Need to Know Before Moving
Right-sided heart failure can have serious consequences. Learn the causes, signs, physiology, and treatment options for right ventricular failure.
Recognizing Burnout Before It Costs You Your Career
Right-sided heart failure can have serious consequences. Learn the causes, signs, physiology, and treatment options for right ventricular failure.
Gestational Changes Demystified
Learn how pregnancy affects the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, including changes in blood volume, blood pressure, ventilation, airway anatomy, and clotting. Understanding these physiologic changes helps EMS providers anticipate complications and safely assess and treat pregnant patients.
Congenital Heart Defects Demystified
Congenital Heart Defects (CHD’s) are the most common type of birth defect and can
affect approximately 1% of all live births worldwide. In the United States, this adds up to about
40,000 newborns annually.
Pediatric Meningitis Demystified
Pediatric Meningitis, while relatively rare, can have devastating effects. Meningitis is defined as an inflammation of the meningeal layers that surround not only the brain but also the spinal cord. It typically affects children under the age of 5 due the fact that their immune systems are still not fully developed. Other groups that are [...]
The Endocrine System Demystified
Emergency Medical Providers are programmed to look for the most dangerous or life threatening disorders and treat them first. We are very good at identifying and intervening anytime there is an issue with either airway patency, ventilatory insufficiency or perfusion issues. While this approach serves the majority of our patients very well, this approach can lead [...]
What is Counterpulsation Therapy ????
Transporting a patient with an Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP) can be intimidating for EMS and critical care transport providers—but understanding how counterpulsation therapy works makes it far more manageable. This blog breaks down the core functions of IABP therapy, including how it increases coronary perfusion, reduces cardiac workload, and improves overall cardiac output. Learn how precise balloon inflation and deflation during the cardiac cycle enhances perfusion and decreases afterload, why helium is used, and what this means for safe patient transport. Perfect for paramedics and transport clinicians looking to build confidence in managing IABP patients in the field.
Airway Positioning Practices and Pitfalls
Airway management is often a skill that Paramedics and Critical Care Paramedics are thought to be experts on. It is a skill that we often practice, practice again and then practice again to become comfortable with. One pitfall of being an advanced provider is the fact that many advanced providers look for the shiny object in [...]
Tension pneumothorax to cut or to poke?
This is not an ago old question in medicine as the standard of care in any emergency department or trauma bay is to cut the chest and place a chest tube. However given the means by which EMS operates only recently have we been posed with a question, should we be doing finger thoracostomies (FT) or continue to use the needle decompression (NT) as a treatment for tension pneumothorax?
Let’s Talk About How DistanceCME Can Save Your Team Time and Money with Our Online Refresher Courses
In the world of emergency medical services, time is never on your side. Training requirements are constant, yet staffing shortages and budget concerns make it harder than ever to send your providers away for continuing education. That is where DistanceCME comes in. Our online refresher courses are designed to save your team both time and [...]