Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis that has been around for a very long time but is becoming increasingly more common for emergency medical services personnel to encounter. Quality of care and correct care comes down to having a basic understanding of ASD.  Autism spectrum disorder is a disability that causes delays in communication, social [...]

Stroke Assessment and you!

Updating the stroke assessment   Direct percutaneous puncture of the cervical carotid artery remained the primary technique unto the 1960s to visualize intracranial blood vessels until Seldinger’s technique was introduced in 1953. This was a diagnostic procedure after the stroke or TIA (Varon, Varon, & Nyman, 2007) I was employed as a Radiologic Technologist (X-ray tech) in [...]

Are you pulling my leg????

Are you pulling my leg? -femur fractures The Thomas splint was first introduced by Hugh Owen Thomas in 1875, in his book titled, Diseases of the hip, knee and ankle joints with their deformities, treated by a new and efficient method.   Across the western front, the splint was adopted and by 1917, it had become standard issue [...]

No, I never had heart surgery, but…

  No longer will you ask your patient what kind of heart surgery they had upon seeing that sternotomy scar from an incision made before they saw through the length of your sternum and then reconnect it with wires after they’re done.  If you haven’t already, you will have the patient that denies any heart problems [...]

The trauma triad of death

The trauma triad of death is made up of hypothermia, coagulopathy, and acidosis.  And when it comes to hemorrhagic shock that will occur unless we intervene as quickly as possible.  If possible, we want to interrupt the development of the triad be addressing the individual parts as quickly as possible.    Hypothermia occurs in cases of [...]

The curious case of Phineas P. Gage

The life you save may not be the patient you’re treating.   A head trauma patient may not be as lucky as Phineas P Gage.  If you’re not familiar with his story, briefly he had a pointed iron rod 1 ¼ inches in diameter and 3 feet 7 inches log enter under his left eye and [...]

Congenital Heart Defects

Anytime I am teaching a class, talking about congenital heart defects, I always talk about a unique patient that I had many years ago. I was once dispatched to transport a two year old girl who was having cardiac issues.  When I arrived on scene, I found an unresponsive little girl, whose mother was doing CPR.  [...]

Tough Decisions part 3

Reminder, the scenario and questions that were asked of a group of paramedic students: You are called to the home of a 24-year-old female who is 36 weeks pregnant and in labor. You are met at the door and advised that she has had no prenatal care.  You are also told that the patient has been [...]

Tough Decisions part 2

Part 2 of 3 Paramedic Discussion: Reminder, the scenario and questions that were asked of a group of paramedic students: You are called to the home of a 24-year-old female who is 36 weeks pregnant and in labor. You are met at the door and advised that she has had no prenatal care.  You are also [...]