One bullet
I'm thinking that you are looking at a bullet entry wound with two exits. The first wound on the neck is the entry. The small wound next in line is probably where a small fragment of the bullet, it's jacket, or some other material broke through the skin as the major portion of the...
Dubins Book and Lecture
I'll have to check out Dubins book and see if he has a lecture coming up in the upper Midwest.
I'll second Taigman's Advanced Cardiology, I read it first as a student and didn't get some of it, but I went back after a few years and really enjoyed re-reading it...
Who here is involved in planning and executing MCI and HazMat drills? We are planning one for later this summer and I'm looking for new ideas. We are a rural region with several communities with populations under 5,000 and a half-dozen first response and rescue squads involved, as well as...
Not a book, but great 12-lead info
Look for a seminar by Tim Phalen. He does some of the best 12-lead training I have ever seen. It's from an EMS/ER perspective and all very clearly explained. He goes past the Name-That-Rhythm method and delves deeply into "so what does this mean for your...
Obesity and Job Performance
I'm overweight myself at 260 pounds 6'0". While discrimination against race, gender, religion, disability, age, etc. is rather well protected, discrimination against the obese is rather common and unfortunately more accepted. It is much like discrimination against...
Confusing
The confusion is less in states that accept National Registry standards. You can still have services that are Fire Service, Hospital, or Community based, professional or volunteer, or Privately Owned, but if you are a registry state you must meet the registry requirements for the...
I found a site that has some good reference pictures and moulage information for anyone involved in MCI, HazMat, or other training where you use trauma simulations. Here is a link to their forum, which is free but is only open to EMS personnel and requires you to register...
Uniform Teaching Academy
I don't believe that EMS education can, or should be taught, exactly the same everywhere. Yes, we need a standardized curriculum, but there has to be accomodations for different teaching and learning styles as well as the ability to adapt the flexible content to...
I like the internship idea
I like the idea of a year or two of internship before getting your paramedic license. We don't have that here and the amount of supervised field training after passing the National Registry test (not all states are Registry states, some have their own testing...
Knowledge is the foundation of critical thinking
Learn all the A&P, biochemistry, pharmacology, etc. that you can. You can really tell the medics who come from programs that teach you to pass the test and those who come from programs that strive to graduate competent medical professionals...
With Great Respect, No Sir
Are there things we can learn from the military, definately Yes.
Should we seek to become like the military, definately No.
There is no argument that war and other military functions have contributed greatly to our EMS system, from the first use of modern triage...
Ends of a spectrum
Strange, the edit I did on my last post showed up as a separate post even though they both read as my seventh posting. :huh:
Back to the topic at hand:
I absolutely agree that you have to have some level of professional detachment to survive in a profession such as...
Different viewpoint
Rid,
You and I apparently get something different out of the starfish story. Rather than unrealistic expectations, I view it as we do what we can for the ones that we can. The fact that we can't save them all is irrelevant. Far from having unrealistic views, I've been in...
Different viewpoint
Rid,
You and I apparently get something different out of the starfish story. Rather than unrealistic expectations, I view it as we do what we can for the ones that we can. The fact that we can't save them all is irrelevant. I've been in this business for more than 20...
Kid calls are tough
A few years back we had a run of three pediatric codes within a month, two were within 24 hours of each other. Not long after that we had another critical pediatric case that died within 48 hours in critical care. It was incredibly hard on the crew and I believe it...
The greatest disservice
The greatest disservice an instructor can do to his/her students is to teach them to pass tests without training them to function in the real world. I've seen too many students who can recite the book ver batum and perform every task on the skill sheets backwards and...
Durable moulage
R/r 911, you mentioned spending a couple of hours on a moulage that would be destroyed right away. This used to be a problem for me too. I still do a lot of wax buildups, creme makeup wheels, and other traditional moulage, especially for one-shot deals that I expect to be...
Good Point
I agree that moulage can be overused. It's fun to watch a student's eyes get wide when the lift a shirt to find a big evisceration or impaled object, but I find subtle moulage valuable in finding out just how well students are applying their skills. For example, if you are practicing...