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Are you referencing the study that we are currently debating? Even if you are, one study is not sufficient evidence to draw a conclusion from. That data comes from one study that the author referenced that was done out of Ontario, Canada. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15306666 Also, that...

You mean like this: I have quoted the authors a few times who also make the argument that BLS has better outcomes. Having now read the full study and the supplements I am even more skeptical of the results. The authors took a lot of liberties and assumptions about why someone received BLS...

We do not have multiple studies proving certain things. Shoving a bunch of data into SPSS and mathing the **** out of the data does not prove much of anything. Regression analysis are not magic equations that create truths. Evidence based medicine needs to be based on good evidence and expert...

“This study demonstrates that in medicine costlier isn’t always better; simply transporting the patient to the hospital as soon as possible appears to have a high payoff", states Newman, one of the study's authors. This is a very bold conclusion to make from the study that was used. I think...

No, the study does not. On scene and response times were not taken into account as I understand the study. I also do not have access to the full text of the article, which is very frustrating. This study is crap for a number of reasons. Any retrospective data needs to be taken with a grain of...

Here in the good ol' US of A our EMS systems are so fractured with next to no oversight that some EMS providers can almost literally get away with murder. Taking action on a provider's certification varies by state and, in my experience, occurs very infrequently. It's not like filing a grievance...

It will be interesting to see where the next few years go for EMS. The IAFF and the IAFC have been lobbying very heavily for fire-based EMS as the only way to go for every community in the names of firefighter jobs and colossal department budgets. On the other hand the economy is still pretty...

When I went to paramedic school we had around 700 hours of clinicals. 500 hours were spent on the ambulance being lead on calls. Even that didn't feel like enough. EMT school for me had 36 hours of clinicals and I didn't have to really do much more than observe, take vitals, and assist where I...

Congratulations on getting certified. Getting stressed is the number one reason people tend to do poorly during interviews. I have conducted a fair number of interviews and have trained a fair number of people and feel like I am pretty good at telling when someone is stressed out and just...

This is not really the sort of discussion that needs to take place in a public forum of EMS professionals. People should be conducting themselves as a professional while in the community, with coworkers, hospital employees, and other agencies. Making inappropriate comments to coworkers...

According to their website they have 430 required clinical hours. My internship alone was more than the total number of clinical hours required by this program. Most of us really object to programs like this because our current education is already woefully short. The last thing we need is to...

I'll repeat what Chaz said and add some emphasis. College level A+P will do you more favors in EMS than any prep course ever will. You need at least BIO 106 to get into most paramedic schools that are worth anything in Colorado. However, completing BIO 201+202 will be infinitely more helpful and...

Sort of unfair statements to make about someone you don't know, don't you think? Not directed at anyone specifically but we all should be able to have a spirited debate and disagree about approaches to patient care while remaining respectful. IMO at least. Moving back to the topic at hand. My...

At what point do people take the pt's subjective experience into account? Pain, nausea, and discomfort are subjective experiences that may or may not have objective findings. At what point can anyone ethically say that someone is not in pain or that their pain is not sufficient enough to warrant...

I couldn't tell you the exact pathophys for each etiology of trismus since you are correct in that a number of conditions can cause it. As far as a head injury goes, from what I've read/been told, is that as the brain swells and begins to herniate it can place pressure on the trigeminal nerve...

Book smarts do mean a lot, applying them is a process of hands-on instruction and practice. No one is comfortable dealing with something new and many people struggle to give a good report when they are stressed. Getting the stink-eye from the nurse or medic is definitely going to make your...

I think it is truly a mix of everything above. I have seen paramedics justify things for any and all of the above reasons. Usually the excuse is "It's our protocols" or "it's not in our protocols", "leave that stuff for the hospital", "our job is to get them to the doctor". Complacency and...

Was their d-stick via finger stick? Or did they use their lab? How were the skin signs? Recent illness or injury? Any focal motor deficits? How was her speech? Any lingual trauma? What's her medical/surgical history? How long has she been altered like she is? Any change in behavior prior to...

There is no easy way to remember things, only the way that works for you. For me I remembered them with this little mnemonic: Inotrope - iron Think iron is strong so strength of contraction. Chronotrope - chronos, clock Think time, speed, rate of contraction. Dromotrope - drum I think of...

That's a sadly familiar story. I'm not sure what it is about EMS but we tend to have "teachers" and instructors that see a whip as the better tool for teaching. The FTO process sometimes is an exercise in successfully emulating the desires of your FTO rather than actually learning what you...