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USAF, don't you have a friend located in that area who might be able to help out? :P -Medicus

How do you know? Do you have an MRI in your ambulance? How about a mobile x-ray? Ultrasound? By the way, there is an entire cemetery at Mons that disagrees with you.

That's exactly it though- teching in the ED. You're doing it under an MD's orders who has assessed the patient and given the orders. Also, it doesn't necessarily mean much that you don't "ever recall seeing a simple femoral head fracture with vascular comprimise"- you specifically would never...

Why do you think that a long bone or hip fracture is not a medical emergency? I just got out of the OR about 3 hours ago, but last time I checked, the femoral artery and vein run right through there (subtrochanteric hip fracture). Avascular necrosis is also a concern, particularly in femoral...

For completeness, I just want to point out that AAAs are extremely common and you have all transported many patients with AAAs without even knowing it. The vast majority of patients are asymptomatic and will not require surgery. When they start to become symptomatic, that is when you need to...

Not surprising that this is coming from the state where no one knows how to pump their own gas. There is no way that is the complete story, and if it is, I would like to see documentation to support that. A patient who can tolerate a (presumably) longer transport across state lines to another...

Thoughts: First- form a DDx: Is this an exacerbation of his COPD or is this a manifestation of worsening CHF? If so, what's causing them? Does he have worsening CHF because he's in A. fib with decreased ventricular filling which leads to a decreased cardiac output and thus has fluid backing...

I couldn't agree more with you. If you're dedicated to it and passionate about it, you retain the information quickly. Best of luck and welcome aboard. -Medicus

:blink: What a terrifying thought! That post really did startle me. I guess the reason, I am not against EMTs starting IVs is that I forget everyone else doesn't really have the same working knowledge. I'm still cringing from your post. I'm going to have nightmares tonight. Thanks a lot.

Always depends on the environment. I didn't know what PB stood for (I assumed it meant pay-based). From an operations standpoint, it makes more sense to me to have one medic on an ambulance and one basic so you could run two ALS units instead of just a BLS and ALS.

I would just like to point out that the LD50 dose kills 50% of the population...

I don't appreciate slander.

Who? Sorry, I don't understand the reference.

Medicus is Latin for physician. I took five years of it. Vesalius, for example, was a medicus. Glad to know they changed the word play for NREMT-P, that really changes what it is. Your comments are indicative of a well-developed inferiority complex. You feel threatened by the OP and felt...

I still do that. My background was EMS through high school and undergrad and med school. On the USMLE, the answer is always CK-MB (though I would agree with you, if it's a recent onset, troponin I is probably better). The world of the MD is the same as the world of EMS- there's what you put down...

I can particularly see its value from more of a support standpoint. Lets say you have a code, the EMT with the ability to start an IV can do so, freeing the medic up to do the higher level tasks such as analyzing the situation and deciding on an appropriate course of action. When he has done so...

They're generally ordered together and it really depends on how long ago you suspect the MI occurred. CK-MB returns to normal within two or three days so it can be used to diagnose reinfarction (troponin I hangs around for a week or week and a half and can't be used for it). You can actually use...

Biomedical engineering students, by any chance? That was my undergraduate degree. Purdue has an excellent program, congratulations.

Agreed. We were taught in medical school something to the effect of 80% of diagnoses can be made by physical assessment and a good history and 20% would require a diagnostic aide. It works particularly well in an austere environment which is one of the reasons I have always admired EMS. That...

I'd agree with what has already been said, you should be fine with what you have for now. You are an EMT which means you probably listen in an environment with a lot of background noise making it difficult to pick up some of the finer sounds a more expensive scope might find. Enjoy your time on...