She frequented a neighborhood park near the hospital. I’d see her times smoking a cigarette while she sat on the playground swings. Many nights, she slept on cardboard by the fence, sometimes she tied a tarp from the fence down to the grass to provide shelter on rainy nights. She was tall and gawky with […]

Involve the family. When I started it was common practice to shoo the family out of the room. Not just on the scene, but in the ED. I no longer do that. I make certain to explain to a family member or members what we are doing and how things are progressing. If they choose […]

Don’t be held prisoner to the clock. Stay and work the patient as long as believe you have a shot. There is nothing magic about twenty minutes. I have on several occisions shortly after the 20-minute limit was talked about, gone into another room or out to the ambulance to call medical control for permission […]

If two identical twins are standing next to each other at a family reunion, and one chokes on a sandwich leading to cardiac arrest, and the second suffers a simultaneous VF arrest, and two medics arrive exactly 5 minutes later, and both patients are intubated at the same time, will their ETC02 numbers be the […]

ETCO2 measures cardiac output. The better the CPR, the higher the cardiac output.  The higher the cardiac output, the higher the ETCO2. While the American Heart Association  recommends you switch compressors every two minutes during a cardiac arrest to prevent compressor fatigue.  A fatigued compressor can’t maintain consistent CPR.  The compressor tires, the cardiac output […]