If you want to be a good paramedic you need to be able to effectively and accurately read a 12-lead. If you want to be a great paramedic you have to be able to interpret 12-leads. What does that mean, it means more than just identifying the standard ST elevated myocardial infraction (STEMI). With that in [...]
What do you do when your family is not supportive of your EMS work schedule? We work long hours, never knowing for sure what time we will get off. We work holidays, birthdays, and many other important days and nights. We can’t just call in sick or demand to get off work on time, just because [...]
If you have ever worked on an ambulance, you know that ambulance abuse happens. People call for an ambulance like they’re calling for a taxi. You pull up on scene, six vehicles sitting in the driveway, an entire family standing there, and the patient already has their bags packed, and they’re ready to hop in the [...]
Very few things strike as much fear in most EMS providers more than the critically ill or injured pediatric transport. Some of the forces that instill fear in most EMS providers is the lack of available appropriately sized pediatric equipment, the general lack of familiarity with what would be deemed “normal” vital sign parameters, the [...]
Now days, it seems like everyone has Narcan… EMS, fire, law enforcement, jail and prisons, random business owners, even the general public, everyone has Narcan. There seems to be a shared mindset, that there are no side effects or consequences to giving Narcan. If someone is having an opioid overdose, Narcan might help reverse the effects [...]
Have you ever started a new job, and had to go through a training evaluation phase? That is a pretty common thing in EMS. Maybe you, yourself, are a training officer for your company. Companies and departments need to be certain that you are competent as an EMT or a paramedic. They need to ensure [...]
Have you ever responded to a patient who was in cardiac arrest? How long did it take you to get to the patient? Right now, the average 911 ambulance response is about 7 minutes. It might take you even longer, 10, 15, even 30 or more minutes to get to your patient depending on where [...]
How much weight can you lift? How much can you safely lift without hurting yourself? As EMTs and paramedics, we are expected to lift an enormous amount of weight several times a day. Now days, most of us have a Stryker gurney… the normal size, power Stryker gurneyweighs about 125 pounds, and the manual one weighs [...]
Recent wartime experience has demonstrated that tourniquets can save lives. Yet many common military and civilian injuries, particularly armpit and groin injuries and pelvic fractures, remain difficult to treat in the field. Patients with these injuries are at high risk for bleeding to death. Since 2012, special operations forces worldwide have been using an advanced tourniquet [...]
Many providers in EMS often strive to and eventually attain their certification to transport patients via rotorcraft and/or fixed wing modes of transport. While these modes of transport are often looked at as the apex of one’s EMS career, non pressurized flight comes with not only emotional and intellectual stressors due to the inherent acuity of [...]
