Recent content by SpecialK

Why? GTN doesn't treat STEMI. There's your answer.

In the rest of the world you'll just find it's called "Ambulance". To us "EMS" has always been a strange American term.

What if we move her out of the sun and look again in 10 minutes, what do we see? Does she have any history of h hypertension? Wait 15 minutes and repeat get blood pressure?

Currently ambulance personnel receive a flat rate (which is not very high) regardless of whether working days, nights, weekdays or weekends. The only difference is the stat days which have to be paid at time and a half because the law says so. My friend who works for ASNSW can, on some...

I am curious to see who else gets paid what in terms of loadings and penalties? The current situation is essentially we get nothing apart from stat days. Most were abruptly removed decades ago with the first renegotiation post labour market deregulation and the few that remain are only for...

I've only ever been in Mercedes ambulances; both the walk-throughs and newer vans. They are very nice.

Oh deary me this patient is crook AF. He is having a nasty inferior STEMI which is likely to have taken out his right ventricle. The pressure gradient through the RV is very small (from memory it's about 10 mmHg at most) and because it can now no longer pump effectively that is causing his...

That is a neat idea, it is in effect what the hospitals do; staff are supplied their clinical dress by a centralised process. For Ambulance I suppose that could work; provided of course staff all started and finished in a central location. In a city or large urban area that could work very...

Sounds like you are using suxamethonium. This is good for elective anaesthesia requiring neuromuscular blockade but personally I think it's a poor choice for pre-hospital use. Why not use rocuronium (or another long-acting neuromuscular blocker) and a combination of midazolam and fentanyl?

Most ambulance services I know of use green (except one or two in Australia). I don't know of any cops who wear green, the ones I've seen all wear blue. If you want to not look like police constable I suggest green. You will also clearly see the shirts say "AMBULANCE" on the front which is...

Agreed. If the fastest way to get a specific skill which the patient needs is by helicopter then use the helicopter, if it's by backup coming on road then use that. Of course remembering to factor in the time to get to the helicopter, get airborne (assuming crew are immediately with the...

Wouldn't black be too ridic stinking hot in the summer? If you have "AMBULANCE" in big letters it's not very hard to see the difference between police and ambulance personnel. It would be nice if the shirts had "AMBULANCE" in big letters on the back.

Suctioning is over-rated and overused. Most patients you can turn on their side and they will actively keep blood or fluid out of their own airway by spitting it into a vomit bag. If there's a lot or the pt has a decreased level of consciousness then a bit of suctioning the mouth is usually...

For decades the uniform was a business shirt and pants. The colours of the patches and epaulettes changed but the basic design stayed the same. About five years ago this changed from a white shirt/black trousers to green shirt and green cargo pants. Practice level was taken off patches on...

I didn't think you had Ambulance Technician anymore? When I talked to the LAS about going to London they said you had replaced them with an Assistant person?