Ever use PASG/MAST Pants?

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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This is also one of those things I was taught in school, saw on the national restiry and employment exam, but haven't heard of being used in the field. Has anyone used PASG (Pneumatic Anti-Schock Garments) for shock? To stabalize a fracture?
 
I've never used it for stabilization. I have used it at two MVA's though. The first PT's bp was under 70 per palp, the MAST brought it up temperarily but the PT crashed minutes later and died. Later we found out from the ER that the PT had massive internal bleeding so the MAST didn't do much good. At the other MVA the PT had a deep laceration that included their femoral artery. We used bulky dressing, then put on the MAST and the PT's vitals remained steady for the 20 minutes to the hospital.
 
They're rarely used around here...in fact, we don't even carry them. I believe California is going to dump them from the protocol in the new regulations they're developing.
 
yeah, we use them to stabilize hip and bilateral femur fractures
I've only used them once though....
 
ki4mus said:
yeah, we use them to stabilize hip and bilateral femur fractures
I've only used them once though....
Click to expand...
The thread was one of the first posted on EMTLife, more than three years ago :)
 
I personally have never used them,I know we don't carry them on our rigs although I have seen the helicopter service use them on an mva where the patient had severe crush injuries,unfortunantly he died on arrival at the trauma center.
 
PASG is no longer recommended for use in shock therapy. Studies have demonstrated that it has not been found to change outcome. Again, it does raise the B/P, something we have else we found out, one does not want to do. I have had heated scientific debates, disputing the use of PASG. Yes, I have used several hundred of times with results of unresponsiveness to conscious and alert. Then one has to use them very cautiously and not as directed initially. Like any other piece of medical equipment, one has to use appropriate and accordingly.

The Houston study protocols are almost impossible to follow as most of the procedures in following studies.


R/r 911
 
I'm pretty sure DC no longer requires ambulances to carry them.

No one that i know of in my company has ever used them, nor do we have protocols for using them. We actually removed them from our rigs a week or two ago. From everything i've read they are useless for treating shock. And the fact that people never use them, would mean that they are going to end up wasting time messing with a piece of equipment they aren't proficient in.

I do like calling them "mast pants," the phrase "Trouser Pants" tickles me
 
Two memorable exeriences with MAST.

1st, shortly after they first became available, a young Roughneck of the oil rigs got too close to one and it lopped off his leg. He was pretty much bled out, but we applied the MAST(rousers) and by the time we got him to the hospital, we had a pressure. The attending Orthopod took one look at the trousers, said "What the hell is this?" and then proceeded to rip the velcro seams open so he could see the injury. Naturally, that was the end of the kid.

2nd was a young Gang-Banger got knifed in the back. He was bleeding out from a nicked pulmonary vein. We got to him, applied the MAST which appeared to help just enough to get him into surgery and, after a week in a coma, he came to and walked out of the ICU (AMA of course).
 
Those Houston studies were extremely flawed. I think if you have someone bleeding out into the belly with NO chest injury then they may be lifesaving... but I agree with everyone else... limited use. (MAST? -those are those dusty thingss in the bottom of the bench)
 
They have been removed from our rigs also. The interesting thing about the use of them was, as firetender said, ER's just never could grasp the concept of removal. We were all taught that IV's were required, and that the pressures were to be let off slowly, But no, they were always ripped open.

I believe the ALS intercepts are a better way to go today.
 
I came on duty on the cusp of the MAST debate. They were still on our rigs but seldom used. We still carry them but have only used them once in the past 10 years and it was to stabilize a pelvic fracture at the request of the ALS support team.
 
I wore MAST pants to a wedding once. I was doing laundry! What did you expect me to wear!
 
so any new developments with the mast pants since 5 years ago? I see it is still on the NREMT curriculum and tests...
 
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