Something really nice happened today. I was in the supply closet, putting away our latest shipment, when my partner came in and said someone was here to see me. I walked out through the bay and into the main area and there was a man and a woman in maybe their late forties. The woman…
Tag: STEMI
"Funky Troubling Looking" — Right Bundle Branch Block and MI
As I mentioned in a recent post, we have a process for instituting a STEMI alert to, in consultation with an ED doctor, activate the cath lab prehospitally based on clinical assessment and a 12-Lead ECG. The coordinator at the hospital that I transport most of my patients to told me so far EMS is…
STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction)
Dispatch: 8:07 Chest PainEnroute: 8:08On Scene: 8:14At Patient: 8:15 66-year-old female with 3 out of 10 chest pain X 2 hours. Periodic chest pain for last week. Skin warm and dry. No prior heart hx. Initial 3-lead strip: 8:16 Vitals, 02 by cannula. 324 ASA PO. Patient shirt removed, put in hospital gown Initial 12-Lead:…
Multi-Leads
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…
Cath Lab
A lot of EMS is bullshit. People using 911 for runny noses, sprained wrists, and stomach aches from eating too much greasy chicken. Then there are the legitimate calls like strokes and traumas, but too often in those calls there is really not much we can do to fix them. They are dead from getting…