Search results

I would be worried about a bleed. She could have had a lucid interval while you were able to talk to her. That said, the story sounds a bit weird. Judging on the side of caution, take her to a hospital that can not only scan her head, but also have a neurosurgeon available to do something about...

Over the years, I've spoken to a couple of lawyers that work in medical malpractice, and none of them felt very strongly about paramedics (or nurses) having their own liability insurance.

Have you considered Oregon or Washington? Close to California as well and many of their counties have very progressive scopes of practice.

Great post, ERDoc. I've spoken to quite a few lawyers who deal with medical malpractice. What they all emphasize is that the healthcare providers who are most likely to get sued are the ones who come across as uncaring, arrogant, or rude. Although certainly there are people ere who are just...

Sounds like your partner was really old school. Treating PVC's with anti-dysrhythmics is no longer recommended, though I don't doubt you'll find some old ER docs that will do it. However, it is a clear contraindication to treat bigeminy with lidocaine when the underlying rhythm is 30. This is...

This has me thinking about how flawed EMS education and training are. It should not be so punitive like in this case where this new EMT is being told that he is going to be failed if he can't do a good assessment. (And I'm sure his preceptor is a master of clinical assessment, LOL!) We follow...

Huh? Your partner treated a bigeminy with an underlying sinus bradycardia in the 30s with lidocaine? That's a big contraindication, for obvious reasons.

This is really a great scenario, Tigger! It's quite complicated, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what to do. First of all, one strip shows bigeminy, but the other does not. Was he continually in bigeminy? This is important as it would determine how I would treat him. I would also make...

Personally, I use sternal rubs. That said, a known downside of sternal rubs is that you have to do the sternal rub for a significant of time before some people will respond.

It's hard to give you advice because if you have a family then the most important things about your job are that it pays enough to support your family and that it does not keep you away from them for too long. As you will be working for a private ambulance company as an EMT, you will only make a...

We can start by giving him a vomit bag.

Since he's peri-arrest, this would be a good indication for a rapid bolus as well as a vasopressor. On the plus side, you have already stopped the source of their bleeding. If he survives to the ER, then he has a good chance of living. The ER should be waiting with blood products and a rapid...

I can't account for why you would have two such wildly different BP's. Obviously my first thought is that one set was wrong. But who knows. I don't believe that a thoracic aortic dissection should cause such a wide difference in BP's. Anyhow, most such patients will have equal BP's (it depends...

Considering that he was at Coachella, the diagnosis would be pretty easy: drugs of some kind. I was thinking ketamine, but whatever, DRUGS. However, wouldn't this case be interesting if you ran on this guy at his home and there was no one there to provide any good history?

Just breathe through your mouth.

How much trouble you are in will have a lot to do with how you documented the incident. If you did not document the fall, yet there is video of it, then that could count against you. It would be much worse yet if you documented that the patient was moved by gurney.

To the OP...if you have a BS and did well in EMT school, you should do well in medic schools. The key thing is that, prior to going to medic school, you take an anatomy course, a physiology course, and do some of your own studying on medical topics. I believe that having a few years of...

Coming to this late... Meningitis/encephalitis CVA Status seizure Drugs/toxic ingestion But I'm sure it's going to be some other zebra.

Why not just have the Farmer take himself to the ED? If he controlled the bleeding himself, why even call 911? In a rural area, it is hard enough to find MD's, PA's, and NP's to staff clinics. It does not seem efficient or cost effective to take one out of a clinic where they can see many...

I have never heard of nurse unions wanting to take over EMS. The thought of that is actually pretty funny