Were you ever told not to give Ketamine to your head injury patients, hypertensive patients, increased intracranial pressure (ICP) patients? I was taught that. “Early studies suggested that ketamine could increase intracranial pressure, decreasing cerebral perfusion pressure and thereby reducing oxygen supply to the damaged cerebral cortex.” (NIH, 2022). There have been 11 recent studies [...]
Have you ever wondered what do to with your career as an EMT or paramedic? The obvious choice is to work on an ambulance, either for a fire department, private company, or government run entity. But not everyone wants to work on an ambulance, not all ambulance jobs pay enough to support you, or maybe [...]
I understand that discussions about wearing masks for protection from COVID can evoke some strong emotions and differing opinions. However, I believe that using basic math we can come to the realization of what truly works and what does not work. Let’s first look at what is a virus and the sizes of viruses: A [...]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets forth regulations and standards to ensure workplace safety. As emergency responders we too must follow all these safety standards even though our jobs do contain some very high risks. This article is to help you and your agency provide an understandable outline to set up your own training [...]
In the realm of emergency medical services (EMS), there exists a group of unsung heroes who navigate the thin line between life and death on a daily basis - paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). Their job is not just a profession; it's a calling, a commitment to serving their communities in times of crisis. [...]
Thermal burns occur with alarming frequency. Nearly a half a million americans suffer burn injuries severe enough to require specialized burn care annually. Of those, approximately 3500 adults and children suffer fatal burns, this works out to just under 10 fatalities per day. Add that to the number of individuals who suffer smoke inhalation or [...]
Have you ever worked for a remote or rural department or company and have also worked for a busy city department? Do you feel like you gained different skills because of the amount of time you were with your patients, whether it’s a lot of time or a little? Working for a remote or rural [...]
When EMS professionals report to work, it’s no surprise that a lot of our patients are going to be sick. It’s nothing new for us, but this means that we are exposed to sick person after sick person, germ after germ. This can be physically overwhelming for us sometimes. We often work long hours, running [...]
The History of the Modern Pacemaker and Symptomatic Bradycardia The year was 1952 and Paul Zoll introduced the first transcutaneous cardiac pacemaker to treat symptomatic bradycardia. Six years later, the first successful implantation of a pacemaker was performed in Sweden on Arne Larsson by performing a thoracotomy and suturing 2 epicardial electrodes to the heart. [...]
It’s 3 am on a dark winding stretch of road a father, husband, son is driving home from work to rejoin his family after a long nightshift. His eyes begin to tire as his trunk slowly drifts off the road. The tones drop as you rub your eyes wishing for just a few more hours of [...]
