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My bad! I forgot to put the link to Dr. Bledsoe's article. Here it is: http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/columns/Bledsoe/bledsoe_top_10_ems_studies.html

Don't forget your "Golden Hour" of trauma. Trauma cases need to be in the trauma center stat. If there was enough energy to possibly fracture the person's neck, that's a trauma case due to (at least) mechanism of injury. Therefore(IMO), if a KED is indicated (high energy impact; spine...

LOL. I'm occasionally known as Mista Ambalance Man

20+ years and I've yet to deliver a baby in the field. I did get to deliver one last month though during my L&D rotation in medic school.

Other than that, just remember A-B-C. Do the big things right and in the right order and the little things should take care of themselves.

Emergency Medical Technician - Basic - at work Paramedic Student - in school Paramedic Intern (ie "who are you?") - in clinical rotations Training officer - volunteer squad

This morning one of our ambulances was totaled in a MVC. It was out on a detail when an 82 yo male in a Durango crossed the double yellow line. The good news is that there were no fatalities but one EMT is out of commission for a while. While this accident was unavoidable for the ambulance...

Just based on your vital signs and patient history you should probably call ALS. Add to that the chest pain and distance to hospital and it absolutely becomes an ALS call. Without a 12-lead, you have no idea what's going on with this patient. I would transport this patient BLS only if I was...

Family member who "is an RN" (translation: may be an RN. May also be someone who flunked out of medical asst. school 20 years ago and worked in a Dr's office for a week) trying to tell you what to do over the phone (and what she's telling you is against EMS standing orders). Even worse...

I took my EMT-A class back in 1987. That would have made me 25.

The First Aid Council is FINALLY (within the past 5 years or so) trying to improve the professionalism in the volunteer ranks. Some squads are fighting change. Some are embracing it and exceeding the requirements. Either way, I believe that that the days of volunteer EMS in this state are...

The NJ State First Aid Council (NJSFAC) predates EMT's and it predates the NJ Dept of Health Office of EMS (OEMS). At the time the OEMS was formed the state and the council agreed to a power sharing agreement. Contrary to popular belief, the vollies are regulated. The state regulates all paid...

Two days ago I was attempting a BP on a patient in PD custody who supposedly had a seizure. I wasn't sure about the seizure but it appeared he had incontinence so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. While taking the BP, the patient took a classic incarceritis swoon and went down from the...

I agree with most of Rid's contentions and I agree that something should be done. Here in NJ, it's starting at the Paramedic level. Two out of the 4 paramedic programs in the state only offer the curriculum as an associate degree program. They won't admit a certificate-only student unless...

Hi Wayne, Sorry I didn't reply right away but I just saw the notification that you sent a message. School is going ok for the first 2 weeks. The interesting stuff just started and the hospital rotations start in about 3 weeks. Can't wait. Wish you the best. Nabil

There have been many good posts with good advice on this thread but VentMedic's sums it up pretty well. The pre-hospital environment is in some ways easier than the hospital because your contact with the dead and dying patients is for a relatively short time. It is in some ways harder because...

Just like the memory of Pearl Harbor is kept alive by the veterans and the military, the memories of events like 9/11 and Oklahoma City are and will be kept alive by us, the members of the public safety professions. We out here in the east never forgot Oklahoma City just as, I'm sure, FF's...

That's good to know. They'll probably figure that out over here soon, too. As a related factoid, a few of the smarter heroin addicts looked at the beautiful saline locks in their arms in the ER and decided that's much better than trying to find a vein on their own. They attempt to elope from...

I work across the river from Ground Zero. There were at least 5 memorial services in Jersey City alone today. Unfortunately only 1 of NYC's 3 main newspapers thought it was important enough to put on the front page. I understand that we need to move on and I, for the most part, have. But...

Mycrofft, Thanks for the link. It was very informative. The authors of the article are from my area so it seems to be localized to the New Jersey area at this time. They're also right that we really don't see much of it in the winter. The article confirms jon's post that its actually a...