If there a time where you're too busy doing patient care, that

[patzyboi]

you cant do a secondary assessment? Or cant take your set of vitals every 5 minutes.

Like if youre in the rig and youre doing rescue breathing, you cant do anything else but that. So how would you write that on the PCR, and do you just tell the nurse that?

 

[DesertMedic66]

It gets documented in the Narrative of the PCR. The nurses should know that if its a critical call you may not have more then one set of vitals.

However we did have a nurse ask us once for vitals during a call in of a patient in full arrest.

 

[NYMedic828]

You need to weigh what is more important.

For starters, I know very few people who can take an accurate bp in the back of an ambulance with any substantial movement. Its even harder to hear lung sounds and heart sounds forget about it. Especially if your ambulance runs on diesel.

As far as weighing whats more important, do you think taking a BP you can't realistically do anything about or providing ventilation in an apneic/hypoxic patient is more important? You can tell a lot as far as your patients condition by looking at them and assessing other factors that don't necessarily produce a numerical value.

EMS provider programs like to teach the basic vital signs as being the most important thing possible with nothing else because its easier to teach someone a set of numbers is important than to teach them to do a full proper assessment.

Focus on what is important and get them to the hospital. Big deal if your PCR only has one set of vitals ever 15 minutes.

 

[PaddyWagon]

It gets documented in the Narrative of the PCR. The nurses should know that if its a critical call you may not have more then one set of vitals.

However we did have a nurse ask us once for vitals during a call in of a patient in full arrest.

We actually covered this in class. The pcr had pulse 0, respiration 0, skin gray for vitals:rofl:

 

[NYMedic828]

We actually covered this in class. The pcr had pulse 0, respiration 0, skin gray for vitals:rofl:

Rule #1 - Forget everything you learned in "class."

 

[Shishkabob]

You do what you do.


Last year I transported a patient who I was pacing, bagging, had a fentanyl drip running, Epi drip running, Dopamine drip running, all after I RSId him... for an hour... with just me in the back doing it all.


Comes with the territory, and those are the calls you'll learn to love.

 

[medicdan]

Part of the art and science of prehospital care is prioritization-- for your assessments and treatments, radio reports, documentation and signatures. With experience, and a good FTO, you develop a sense of what needs to be performed when, and what interventions can wait.

Since you're in the class mindset, just imagine being stuck in your primary/initial assessment, identifying and correcting abnormalities in the ABCs. You need to address your immediate life threats before moving on to additional assessments and interventions.

 

[VCEMT]

We have fire ride-in on critical calls. Not to take charge, to assist me only. I also, set the monitor to take a BP at whatever interval I want. My primary is done when I make patient contact, my secondary is done in the back.