EMT Tricks of the trade

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Wow... a "Medic doing a heart squeeze" in the field after chest staples bust open.... that sounds like a good script for the new NBC show called Trauma! that's kinda like a Paramedic doing a C-section in the field.

Seriously, most of that list from NRNCEMT is bogus (sorry dude). From my experience with kids (3 of my own) and pulse oximetry... its either one finger is too small and two are too big for an adult sensor.... best bet is to have your service invest in the adhesive pediatric sensors.

A tip my airway instructor told us involves nebulizer treatments.... and that is to tape the flexible tube to the T-piece so that the mist blows back into the patients face to try and maximize medication inhalation. Anyone else do this?
 
nomofica said:
That's true, but not everyone has IVs available. I don't see many personal jump bags with full IVs.
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I think the post about using an IV set and an N/C was referring to on-car situations. As for personal jumpbags, ask your service for a recently expired 250ml NS bag and a dropset, as you're not using it for intravenous purposes, saline is fine when expired <1yr to be used for irrigation. Again, i wouldn't recommend using this while on the job as you should use non-expired meds only with pt's. The N/C does work very well in my experience for eye irrigations though.


Also a note for all newby's: get in the habit of folding over the end of the tape after you tear off a piece. This will save you on that call down the road when you're doing an IV and have blood on your fingers and feel inclined to use your teeth to get the tape started. Something so small can save so much frustration.
 
drdique said:
Also a note for all newby's: get in the habit of folding over the end of the tape after you tear off a piece. This will save you on that call down the road when you're doing an IV and have blood on your fingers and feel inclined to use your teeth to get the tape started. Something so small can save so much frustration.
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The Joy of working with a service that keeps a complete stock of Tegaderms!!!!!
 
Try this one:

I know several people who like to stick their pens in their mouths....don't.

If you touched the pt with your glove and now you put the pen in your mouth, it like you just licked your glove.....you might as well forget the PPE.
 
DR_KSIDE said:
Try this one:

I know several people who like to stick their pens in their mouths....don't.

If you touched the pt with your glove and now you put the pen in your mouth, it like you just licked your glove.....you might as well forget the PPE.
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My gloves are banana flavored, ergo, so are my pens.
 
DR_KSIDE said:
Try this one:

I know several people who like to stick their pens in their mouths....don't.

If you touched the pt with your glove and now you put the pen in your mouth, it like you just licked your glove.....you might as well forget the PPE.
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Unless you keep seperate pens and don't write your reports with your gloves on, which you shouldn't.

I'm a pathological pen chewer.
 
Sasha said:
I'm a pathological pen chewer.
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In middle school a girl was chewing on her pen one day.

It broke.

Ink all throughout her mouth.




Lets take bets on when it happens to Sasha.:P
 
also whenever possible don't ever touch a chart/ paperwork with gloves on... and I try to keep 2 pens on me 1 for PTs to sign with and one that I use myself. Can't give much more advise on "tricks" as I have been tainted by working in a combat environment... teeth are your friends, gloves are great if you have time, etc.
 
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Welllllllll

Yeah the thing is here in california all reports are really done by computer and there is only one pen which is the electronic pen that pt's sign with that pen is also the pen that you are expected to do your report with so...
 
not touching paperwork?

Is that not part of the process of dealing with a pt, i'd go throught a box of gloves a pt if i was to do a change over between writting and touching a Pt.
 
said whenever possible... especially at hospitals nurse don't tend to like it when your hands are all over the chart with gloves on...
 
EMTelite said:
Yeah the thing is here in california all reports are really done by computer and there is only one pen which is the electronic pen that pt's sign with that pen is also the pen that you are expected to do your report with so...
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Sorry, elite, you're wrong. In Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, sure, there's ePCR for 911. For IFT only companies, last I looked they were still on paper, as is the vast majority of LA County.
 
EMTelite said:
there is only one pen which is the electronic pen that pt's sign with that pen is also the pen that you are expected to do your report with so...
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The computers around here can use any pen.
 
How about the many uses of duct tape?

Patient, biomedical and automotive treatments.
 
I will back one of NRNCEMT's tips.

You CAN see lead II through the "paddles/pads".
I had a monitor cable fail on an SVT patient a few months ago. After 2 minutes of troubleshooting my medic and I hit the "f-it" point and pulled out the pads. Worked fine, and so did 12 of Adenosine.
 
Mentholatum Lip balm or Vick's Vaporub

Apply liberally under your nose for really stinky ones. Add a couple stonr mints in your mouth and it helps a lot.
Also good for chapped lips.
 
Sapphyre said:
Sorry, elite, you're wrong. In Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, sure, there's ePCR for 911. For IFT only companies, last I looked they were still on paper, as is the vast majority of LA County.
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Well as far as I have seen because I am yet as of now not on a rig hopefully soon I will be but I have gone on rideouts and have not seen one person use paper in Riverside they have all done everything on the computer my medic never touched a piece of paper.

But yes I was refering to 911 companies maybe I should have been more specific in choosing my words. I am really not sure about IFT companies as for me I have been doing everything with AMR riverside running ALS calls.
 
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HotelCo said:
The computers around here can use any pen.
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And as far as what my FTO said to me... the computers that we use can only be accessed by this one pen because if is electronically attached to this computer and acts as a button on the end of it.
 
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