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 [...]
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 [...]
Have you ever had to work multiple jobs, just to make ends meet? Or do you have to work pretty much every day, just to pay the bills? In EMS, this is a common theme. EMTs and paramedics generally do not make that much money in America. For a profession that requires you to work long [...]
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals are the unsung heroes of our communities, providing crucial lifesaving care during some of life's most critical moments. From paramedics to emergency medical technicians (EMTs), these dedicated individuals work tirelessly to ensure that patients receive the best care possible, often in high-stress and life-threatening situations. However, despite the vital role they [...]
The term “Special Healthcare Needs” means different things to different people. Collectively, patients with special healthcare needs encompasses the geriatric, bariatric, pediatric, sensory impaired, technologically dependent patients, behaviorally challenged patients and many others. Every group has special challenges, risk factors and needs as well as the fact that our approach to them as health care providers [...]
Morphine, Dilaudid, Fentanyl… these are medications that we have been giving our patients for years, to treat their pain. Chest pain, give an opioid. Broken bone, give an opioid. Abdominal pain, give an opioid. Back pain, give an opioid. For many years, these were our only pain medication options in an ambulance. That is finally starting [...]
In the medical profession, it is not unthinkable that we might have to triage people during a mass casualty incident, or MCI. From multi-vehicle car crashes, mass shootings, terroristic attacks, and even weather-related incidents, such as tornados, earthquakes, or hurricanes. Within just a matter of moments, we can easily become overwhelmed by patients, all begging for [...]
