Sorry Rid, but it could also be said for a medic that gives adreniline to a LQTS patient in arrest.
which I know is part of their procedures in codes here in NZ.
I can't say for the States, but I guess it would be one of the drugs used.
Not that RId needs me to answer for him, as he is quite smart, but since i am just hanging around...
In resuscitative medicine the guidlines for epi in an arrest is based on an unknown cause. Unfortunately many medics think these guidlines are the word of God and if there is a save, it was because of this. They lack in both critical thinking and medical knowledge.
In any arrest, if you put forth some effort in finding the cause, treating that cause is the best solution. If I suspected LQTS, as you have seen, mag is my candy of choice.
Epidemiology needs to be considered in all arrests of unknown origin, but no effort is paid to that in medic school or even at the hospital level sometimes.
Sometimes it's guess work for all skill levels....you do the best that you can at the time with the information you have at that time.
eg. Patient Medical History, Medic Alerts, etc.
People die every day because the medical profession doesn't have all the facts or answers.........even in hospitals.
But there can be good guesses and no effort at guessing. There is a lot of inconsistency and especially prehospital, even if you do make a guess, you may not have anything to tret with.
I would have thought if there were that many deaths caused by an EMT-B giving cardiac patients Nitro,
the powers that be, would have taken that drug off their Code of practice years ago?
This arguement is an endless loop. If you don't give the nitro you are doing nothing, if you give it, you might cause harm. Do you stand and watch somebody deteriorate or make an effort that might harm? We have debated for years, there are no answers.