Emt cheat sheet

Run with scissors

Run with scissors

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Does any one carry around a cheat book or sheet in their pocket? With info like coma scale, ped bp hr., burn percentages etc.

I was told it was good to have on hand. But i didnt want to look dumb by pulling it out.

What are your opinions on This?
 
I went with a different plan. I learned the information I needed to know to do my job well. Not long enough to pass a test, but actually learned it.

Keep in mind that, while the textbooks present these ideas as hard, inflexible numbers; we know in the real world we treat patients not devices and usually, close enough is good enough. For example, a five year old with a heart rate of 150 without further issues gets watched, not cardioverted or medicated just because the ricky rescue flash card says that's too high. And that 30% burn patient you called in as a 20% is going to get the same care and the same outcome.

If you can't remember 4/5/6 E/V/M, a flash card isn't going to make you a better emt; and if someone scores a 12 and you call them a 14, chances are excellent everybody is going to live....
 
You'll never look dumb pulling out reference material if you do it correctly. If anybody asks, say you're confirming something. This can actually instill confidence in your patients, and shows them that you know when to ask for help. That being said, you should have basic knowledge that the reference material supplements, not replaces.

My ID lanyard that I use for all of my jobs (ICU and ER nursing) has a Fahrenheit to Celsius reference card, as well as a reference card for the pressors that we use (mixing instructions, starting doses, titration protocols, etc). I also have a card on there for push-pressor doses (neo and epi). Easy to quickly look at for reference when needed. There's also some other stuff on there that's more operations related (for example, how to reprint lab labels, because apparently that and correctly buttoning the sleeves on hospital gowns are the most difficult things about nursing). When I'm doing ambulance ride time for paramedic school, I carry my protocol book (pocket sized) and my phone with me. Nothing else. I have made cheat sheets for other things in the past (weight conversions, etc).

Moral of the story is, yes I use cheat sheets for some things and have no problem with people using them, but if you're using them they should be as a reference, not as a complete guide.
 
I have some cheat sheets that are in the form of an ID card that are placed behind my actual company ID card (lab values and normal pedi vitals).

I carry a small pocket book which has hospital radio codes, door codes, nurse lounge codes, and some other general information on it.
 
Thank you for your input guys, i was thinking it would be a good tool to have for information prmation i dont use but rarely.

And hometownmwdic you come off as arrogant. No one is perfect, everyone needs a reminder every once in a while. Even if its little things. I wasnt asking about this because i dont know the material, i was juat thinking it was a good reference to have if i needed conformation or had a brain fart.
 
Run with scissors said:
I wasnt asking about this because i dont know the material
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hometownmedic5 said:
I learned the information I needed to know to do my job well. Not long enough to pass a test, but actually learned it.
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Ok man, you seem like a nice enough guy and you also seem very very new to the career field. Take this with a grain of salt from someone (mostly everyone on here) who has a little to a lot more experience than you can ever imagine or hope for. There is a difference between retaining the material and knowing just enough to pass tests. You're asking for a cheat sheet because you realize "oh crap, I just studied this for EMT school" and thats not cool in my book. To be frank and blunt you should be embarrassed that 1) you're on a forum asking for a magical cheat sheet so you can just skate by doing your job and 2) that you don't know what you don't know. That alone should light a fire under your *** and induce some self motivation to oh I don't know, maybe learn and retain what you don't know. When I say learn and retain I don't mean recite it like you're taking a test, this is no longer the classroom. I mean truly understand they when, why, and how you're doing what you're doing.
 
i agree with all of the above. the only "cheat sheet" i have is all of the stupid codes and thats taped to the ambulance. By codes i mean 10-4 or whatever other stupid numbers there are. Since i work for a sheriffs office EMS we have to use them. my advice would be to study the why's and the rest should come with common sense. I would avoid referencing your card/sheet in front of a patient, because if i was a patient and saw my paramedic/emt looking at a card then zipping over to do something, i would get anxious. Maybe a card to start, and reference it on the way to the call? However, as i mentioned through EMT-B school I learned why the body does it, then figuring out what to do is natural. I'm also in nursing school atm, same approach works well. I am also new to the field <6 months. I leave you with 2 quotes:
"Air goes in and out, blood goes round and round, any variation on this is bad."
"A good tape job will fix almost anything."
 
I honestly have to keep a cheat sheet in my phone for the codes for the ED doors. I also have a protocol app on my phone to remind me of drug dosages that I use infrequently. My iPCR lists all of the GCS criteria.

Use what you need to get through the day. After you've been in this a while you'll find that the stuff you thought you needed a cheat sheet for becomes old hat and you really need a cheat sheet for the stuff you learned in school and swore you'd never forget.
 
hometownmedic5 said:
I went with a different plan. I learned the information I needed to know to do my job well. Not long enough to pass a test, but actually learned it.
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I have a bunch of little things on hand. Hospital door codes (14), all the codings for our calls (99), I will keep the alphabet soup cards in my bag just to skim peds doses and such if need be, and a list of all our posts since the days we get really high in status we get sent to some post I rarely go to. Other than that, I don't really keep much else on hand. Protocols and a book just to skim things to either refresh while sitting or because we are dispatched to something I want to brush up on.
 
StCEMT said:
I have a bunch of little things on hand. Hospital door codes (14), all the codings for our calls (99),.
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I don't know a single hospital door code, that's a medic thing, and I have been stuck outside waiting to get let in after running back to the aircraft for something ha

I keep a chart for Ideal Body Weight and corresponding tidal volumes, our RSI drug dosages by weight, and a few other things. Most everything else is on my phone.

Anyone who claims they do not need cheat sheets is bound to make an error at some point in their career. No one is perfect when waking up at 3 am, having a crashing patient or after running the 8th call in a row. There is a difference between using it as a crutch to not learn the material and as a reference to double check yourself.
 
Chase said:
I don't know a single hospital door code, that's a medic thing, and I have been stuck outside waiting to get let in after running back to the aircraft for something ha

I keep a chart for Ideal Body Weight and corresponding tidal volumes, our RSI drug dosages by weight, and a few other things. Most everything else is on my phone.

Anyone who claims they do not need cheat sheets is bound to make an error at some point in their career. No one is perfect when waking up at 3 am, having a crashing patient or after running the 8th call in a row. There is a difference between using it as a crutch to not learn the material and as a reference to double check yourself.
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Can you send me the body weight/tidal volume chart? I don't have one small enough to carry.
 
NomadicMedic said:
Can you send me the body weight/tidal volume chart? I don't have one small enough to carry.
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Ya I will next time I work. It fits is my flight suit pocket but might be a little big for normal pockets.
 
Chase said:
I don't know a single hospital door code, that's a medic thing, and I have been stuck outside waiting to get let in after running back to the aircraft for something ha
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I can send them to you if you want. I don't know how many places you would often go to outside of Barnes, Mercy, etc., but I have all of them from St. Clare to Christian NE.
 
If you're having to refer to cheat sheets to make it through your day, you have a problem. You should know your skills inside and out, forward and back, but not everyone is familiar with everything.

Here's an example of something we have in every OR. Of course we know our stuff - but there are obscure and not-so-obscure events that happen on occasion that you personally might not have had the opportunity to deal with. I've been doing anesthesia more than 35 years - but I've never personally dealt with a case of malignant hyperthermia. We have a poster from MHAUS in every OR about how to treat MH, including their phone number to call for assistance in case management. It's not being a wimp - it's getting the best resources available to take care of your patient.

There is a lot of work being done with "crisis resource management" from aviation and nuclear power professions, taking those practices and applying them to other fields, including any number of medical specialties including EMS, anesthesia, and others. Airline pilots have made countless thousands of takeoffs and landings over their careers - but they use a checklist each and every time.



http://emergencymanual.stanford.edu/

REASONS FOR IMPLEMENTING AN EMERGENCY MANUAL
  1. In simulation studies, integrating emergency manuals results in better management during operating room critical events. NOTE: Familiarization and training in why and how to use EMs appears to be key for success.
  2. Pilots and nuclear power plant operators use similar cognitive aids for emergencies and rare events, with training on why & how to use them.
  3. During a critical event, relevant detailed literature is rarely accessible.
  4. Memory worsens with stress & distractions interrupt planned actions.
  5. Expertise requires significant repetitive practice, so none of us are experts in every emergency.
 
I'm not certain all of you read the original post. The op wasn't asking for obscure, rarely used but critical access information on a cheat sheet. They want a card that has vital sign norms and how to calculate a gcs.

We're not talking about trying to keep up with ever changing door codes or ops codes and signals here. The request was literally for a card to carry around to reference vital signs.

I sound arrogant? No sir. There's no arrogance attached to being able to remember 4/5/6.
 
I wasnt requesting anything, and i didnt want that info. I was asking about having a card with some references and rarely used skills references. Thats what i meant by ect.

Maybe i just came off wrong or something. Idk
 
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