New Zoll "E" series monitors?

[Tiffers]

Hello all! I went to a training the other day at our hospital showing us the new changes in the defibrillation equipment that we will be all using soon, and they had the new and fool-proof Zoll monitors "E" series... have any of you used them out in the feild yet?
P.S. I really enjoyed the 2nd wave screen that "filters" out the compressions to show you the underlying rhythms!! And of course the monitor telling you to "go faster" on compressions?
http://www.zoll.com/product.aspx?id=390 Is the website for the new monitors

 

[Hastings]

Hello all! I went to a training the other day at our hospital showing us the new changes in the defibrillation equipment that we will be all using soon, and they had the new and fool-proof Zoll monitors "E" series... have any of you used them out in the feild yet?
P.S. I really enjoyed the 2nd wave screen that "filters" out the compressions to show you the underlying rhythms!! And of course the monitor telling you to "go faster" on compressions?
http://www.zoll.com/product.aspx?id=390 Is the website for the new monitors

If you're an EMT, seeing the underlying rhythm is of no use to you. And most of the other wannabe-EKG features are also unnecessary.

If you're a paramedic, your defibrillation equipment (EKG) probably already has the capacity to view an underlying rhythm, since I don't know of one made in the last several years that doesn't.

I can't even tell if that's an AED wannabe-EKG, or an EKG that lacks several features.

 

[Tiffers]

I know that as I stand now as a BLS provider, it's not useful to know anything about it's ALS features. However, I am choosing between nursing school and paramedic school for the spring(so it's useful to recognize rhythms and pick up some ALS insight in the process).

The Zoll monitors that our ED and ambulances use are soooo outdated that the 2nd wave form is a complete new concept to us all--which makes it somewhat exciting for the new exposure

The AED pad that was shown to us, has the 3-lead built into the pad, and there is a hard electrode that sits on top of the pad(which just sits midline to the nipples on the sternum)that allows you to grip onto it during compressions and saves the heel of your hands from pooping out So essentially, we have one pad that does it all for us instead of two pads plus a 3 lead.

 

[Hastings]

I know that as I stand now as a BLS provider, it's not useful to know anything about it's ALS features. However, I am choosing between nursing school and paramedic school for the spring(so it's useful to recognize rhythms and pick up some ALS insight in the process).

The Zoll monitors that our ED and ambulances use are soooo outdated that the 2nd wave form is a complete new concept to us all--which makes it somewhat exciting for the new exposure

The AED pad that was shown to us, has the 3-lead built into the pad, and there is a hard electrode that sits on top of the pad(which just sits midline to the nipples on the sternum)that allows you to grip onto it during compressions and saves the heel of your hands from pooping out So essentially, we have one pad that does it all for us instead of two pads plus a 3 lead.

If you want to get Rhythm insight, start asking the medics for strips, look on the internet, or borrow some flash cards from a medic student. The time for a Basic to be staring at a monitor trying to interpret a Rhythm is not during a cardiac emergency.

We have enough trouble with paramedics obsessing over the monitor. I think having AEDs that show a patient's Rhythm is the worst idea to come out of EMS lately.

 

[BossyCow]

We have enough trouble with paramedics obsessing over the monitor. I think having AEDs that show a patient's Rhythm is the worst idea to come out of EMS lately.

I thought the point was not for BLS to be able to watch or 'obsess over the pretty lights on the machine, but to be able to print out a strip showing what was going on at the time the pt was first seen by EMS. This becomes a part of the pt record and gives the ER a better picture of the patient's condition.

 

[Hastings]

I thought the point was not for BLS to be able to watch or 'obsess over the pretty lights on the machine, but to be able to print out a strip showing what was going on at the time the pt was first seen by EMS. This becomes a part of the pt record and gives the ER a better picture of the patient's condition.

First of all, that's not the reason the Basic above was excited about the ability to view the rhythm. It IS so Basics can stare at the pretty waves.

Second, "Documentation is made easy when combined with data transfer options that take the “paper” away."

Third, as a paramedic (and some may disagree), I don't really care what rhythm the patient was in when the Basics began. I only care how long the patient was down and what they're in now. If a basic handed me a rhythm from an AED, I'd toss it aside and continue hooking the EKG up. The real EKG. Honestly, the hospital in this area wouldn't even take a peek at a strip from an AED either.

 

[mikeylikesit]

I still like to know where the patient started at to better help determine exactly what the heart may be doing to best determine my coarse of action.

 

[Hastings]

I still like to know where the patient started at to better help determine exactly what the heart may be doing to best determine my coarse of action.

Your treatment would change according to what rhythm the patient was in when the Basics got there?

 

[mikeylikesit]

Your treatment would change according to what rhythm the patient was in when the Basics got there?

maybe, it would let me know a little bit about why the patient is slowly or rapidly declineing. ER's take medics EKG strips for the patient care reports.

 

[Hastings]

maybe, it would let me know a little bit about why the patient is slowly or rapidly declineing. ER's take medics EKG strips for the patient care reports.

Yes, because they are:

1. From an EKG.
2. From a health care professional at the appropriate level.

Also, if your treatment changes in an arrest due to what rhythm an AED says the patient WAS in, then you're doing something wrong.

 

[mikeylikesit]

Yes, because they are:

1. From an EKG.
2. From a health care professional at the appropriate level.

Also, if your treatment changes in an arrest due to what rhythm an AED says the patient WAS in, then you're doing something wrong.

Doesn't always have to be an arrest for some Basic...most basics to hook up an AED.

 

[BossyCow]

Ooops.. my bad... I misread. Our EKG is our Defib so we are required to run a strip for both ALS and the ER. Medics providing ALS support always want to see a copy of our EKG while theirs is being hooked up.

 

[Jon]

Ok... To go back to the OP:

The Zoll E-series is a complementary model to their M series. The E-series has been marketed to EMS, and it is supposed to be a little ruggedized. The E series seems to be flater, but with a bigger footprint than the LP12, Zoll M-series, or MRx... kinda like a LP10 crossed with an M-series.... does that make sense?

Anyway... I've not really played with one, so I can't help you too much.

 

[Tiffers]

Thanks for the info, it does make sense. The new series didn't "distract" me away from doing proper compressions at all, in fact, I liked that it "tells" you verbal feedback if your CPR isn't adequate enough--very much a no-brainer for anyone(especially people who are new BLS providers and haven't used a monitor in the feild at all or done CPR on a human yet!). It also seems more user-friendly than our Zoll's that are older than dirt

I work in a level II trauma center in the ER for the last two years and am only now venturing out to help out per diem on the ambulances. So every "code" that we receive into our ER, the one ER tech that's on shift(which would be me)is doing the compressions. :wacko: I've gotten it down to a science where once the medics bring in the code and transfer the pt to our bed, I'm hooking them up to a 12-lead, print it out for our Doc and then help taking over the compressions. (It's also not difficult to look up at the monitor once in awhile to see progress on HR and what-not.. it's not like your hand-positions are moving any).

We also use the AED strip from the Zoll and compare it to the EKG--which both do become part of the hospital record. I've heard from many different MD's that seeing how the initial rhythm v-tach or v-fib caused the event does help diagnose which drugs to push first or what other methods of treatment we should concentrate on B) (If per chance the patient DOES survive, our cardiology department specifically requests strips from the monitors as well as the EKG done in the ER). So, having both pre-hospital AED strips and ER's EKGs are both important.

No one else has had the hands-on experiance using these monitors yet? Just the "M" series and other proto-types?