Recent content by TKO

Here in BC, Canada (again with this start, huh?) we use the scoop or "clamshell" almost exclusively. Coming from Saskatchewan, I trained on LSBs and rarely used the scoop either. But here we use the LSB for rapid extrications mainly. We can use the KED as well, but few EMS personnel here...

Wait! I thought if we were to leave the ball and chain of Oxygen behind we would finally be free to exist within dihydrogen monoxidase environments and sing songs of life "Under da dihydrogen monoxidase", and you want to break our addiction to it as well? Well sir, I say without some vices...

I got hooked on O2 in school. Even to this day I can't make it more than a few minutes without a few puffs of second hand O2. Cx = Conscious

I have on car both tympanic and oral thermometers, and because it is the cold north of Canada, we can perform a rectal temp on pts with suspected severe hypothermia. Luckily, I have never had the displeasure.

Perhaps I should have suggested that Amy Winehouse would know for sure, and then they would have caught the reference. But good comedy requires a solid pop-cultural reference, as any two-bit wise *** can pick on Lindsay Lohan. Comparatively, Chevy Chase vs either of those two, and Chevy is...

No need for correction if you are right, and you may be, I should have been more aware that legal definitions aren't as relevant here as medical definitions (my bad!). I don't have my Mosby's textbook around so I can't cite anything. I just remember the discussion back in school regarding...

yeah, it is really no advantage to a conscious person over a couple of salty crackers and a few cups of water or a large gatorade. But if you were to place a saline lock before going out and tipping at windmills and then starting a bag before going to bed, then there would be more noticable...

I remember a lot of students who would take home expired saline and some other supplies to practice, and while it is officially discouraged on one hand it is also admirable on the other. Who bothers with IV anyway? Why waste the time just to look cool? Drink a glass of water instead, for...

No. I can't. But ask it and you get an answer nearly everytime that verifies it. It may be d/t diabetes or thyroid, but most often you'll find that the pt has had a bypass or something else. Either way, it will give you a hint of some medical Hx, especially if the pt is unable to answer your...

if your elderly male pt has no leg hair, ask him about his cardiac history. if your pt has a yellow rim around the iris, ask him about his high cholesterol.

Fascinating! Anyone have any other information? What about pain control prior to manual stabilization, ie: sandbag or bandaging? Isn't the point to reduce movement of the affected chestwall valid? Any other BTLS/PHTLS revisions that have come about in the last 3 or so years?

Call Poison Control and they will advise you appropriately.

Here's another suggestion, grab your partner and a few others and practice it for yourself. Check normally and then by palp, then move the cuff down to the forearm and check palp and auscultate. Give a minute or two between efforts. Then post your observed results here.

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. I should have been more specific for some that the questions that I ask in obtaining a Hx isn't problematic, it is the method in which some or many of us ask them, and that is where I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on better methods of...

Up north here, I can perform 3 pokes and my IV qualified partner can perform another 3 PRN. With diabetics (especially IDDMs) we generally try to avoid the hand since they are highly prone to infection and have microvascular issues (it's all about Quality of Life and how much they'll love you...