In the spirit of Spring cleaning, I am giving this blog a new look. I have decided at least for the time being to strip the blog down to its basics. For a week or so I had a revolving carousel of books at the top banner head that I thought was very nifty, but […]

The woman heard a pop as (twisting) she tried to help her (stumbling) mother out of her wheelchair and into the church pew. The pop came from the woman’s knee and she crumpled in pain. She screamed again as we tried to pivot her on her good leg onto our stretcher. The entire congregation turned […]

The Boston Celtics are back in the championship hunt. As a kid, I was a huge Celtics fan. I watched them on our small black and white TV and then I’d go out in the driveway and dribble around and shoot against the hoop my father had nailed over the garage door. I pretended I […]

Australian crime writer and former paramedic, Katherine Howell has just published her second novel, The Darkest Hour Her previous novel Frantic was published last year. Her books involve a reoccurring police detective, Ella Marconi, and a female paramedic (who will change from book to book) caught up in a suspenseful situation. While primarily crime thrillers, […]

I was asked a question about using Lead III in the post below about 3rd degree Heart Block. While the strip says “III,” it is actually something called “S5,” which I neglected to label. “S5” is done by putting the left leg (red) lead in the fifth intercostal space just to the right of the […]

I had an interesting strip the other day. We were called to a physician’s office for an abnormal ECG. The EMD dispatch sent us “hot.” But the prearrival instructions indicated no immediate emergency. Patient was alert talking with good color, no pain and no shortness of breath. And as it usually turns out at a […]

The old man with Alzheimer’s who used to stand out by the road and watch the traffic go by isn’t there this morning as we pass. He hasn’t been out there for awhile. Ahead there’s a For Sale sign in the yard of the now vacant split-level ranch where for a time we used to […]

The President was in town the other day. The first I found out about it was seeing a string of police cars and sawhorses by the side of the road. My partner mentioned she’d heard he was coming to speak at one of the local schools. As soon as we passed (headed South into the […]

We all carry trauma shears. Of all the tools, a medic has to carry, I would say there are only three — a pen, a stethoscope and trauma shears that are essentials. I wear my stethoscope around my neck, my pen or pens in various shirt and or pants pockets, and I carry my trauma […]

I receieved an update on the condition of the EMT who lost her arm in a recent crash, as well as her partner, who also suffered serious injuries. JKosprey writes: “I am a regular partner of both EMTs involved in that horrible accident. Seems to me there wasn’t much that could have been done to […]