AHA 2015 Guidelines: A Preview
On October 15, the new American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and ECG will be published. Then we will get the answers to the big questions many of us have wondered about? 1. Has epinephrine in cardiac arrest seen its last days? 2. Should paramedics continue to intubate cardiac arrest patients? 3. Will traditional CPR […]
Chemical Reactions
You’ve heard the expression – that person is “off their meds.’ It is not just used about our patients, but often about our co-workers and friends. I think back in the cave days people were either crazy or they were sane. Now it is much more complicated. Science even postulates that we may not have […]
Musings on EJs
EJs (External Jugular veins IVs) have become a lost art form around these parts. A paramedic can’t get an IV, the medic reaches right for the EZ-IO and drills a hundred dollar needle into someone’s tibia like they are drilling a screw into a wall to hang a picture. Sometimes the medic reaches right for […]
Lights and Sirens
This past week I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of a new paramedic memoir. Kevin Grange’s Lights and Sirens is an authentic, compelling narrative of Grange’s journey through UCLA paramedic school and field internship on Los Angeles’s dangerous streets as he trains to save the lives of victims of heart attack, stroke […]
Thoughts on Ebola
Working at the hospital and on the ambulance, it has been heavy duty Ebola lately. Memos, flyers, posters, policies, and lots of questions. I have written power points, given talks and had many conversations on Ebola. Every day I read the CDC site for updates, which are numerous. I have even, along with two of […]
Connecticut Limits Long Boards
On February 21, 2013 I wrote the post In Praise of CEMSMAC, to celebrate the courage of Connecticut’s top EMS doctors to back the draft document on spinal boards proposed by the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), and to use that document as a guideline to developing statewide guidelines limiting the use of long […]
Peter Canning
AHA 2015 Guidelines: A Preview
Sorry it should be Nasogastric tube and not nasal cannula.
2015-01-27 11:26:39
AHA 2015 Guidelines: A Preview
What is the full question for ''3. Will traditional CPR be abandoned for cardiocerebral Resuscitation (CCR)?'' and what is the ''Treatment Recommendation''? Everyone looks at supraglotic airways with dispise because it is stated that it cannot handle airway pressures above 40 mmHg and it is a high risk for gastric aspiration; this is wrong, as…
2015-01-27 06:38:36
New NEMJ Study on Door-to-Balloon and Mortality in STEMI
Jon, That is a very good question, and yes, we should be doing that. I don't have the guidelines in front of me, but I believe that the American College of Cardiology recommends PCI for STEMI patients within 4 to 6 hours of onset of chest pain. I believe that the method of treatment decision…
2015-01-27 05:31:04
Practice (Revisited)
Pedi codes are tough. I have transported a number cold and stiff just because everyone was freaking out. I guess it all depends on your feel for the situation. I know in the ED they will work pedis long after everyone knows they are dead. Still, if I can avoid working someone who is already…
2015-01-25 16:09:51
AHA 2015 Guidelines: A Preview
As a paramedic and a RN working in the ED, I can say we do not pull EMS airways unless they are in improper placement. Why fix something that is not broken. EMS does need repetition to keep skills. If needed the airway can be changed under less stressful situations. Why not secure an airway…
2015-01-24 17:15:15
