Leaderboard

Being in the field puts prehospital providers in a difficult spot. Once you are done with class, your learning is up to you. Even if you are an active learner, when you work by yourself in the field, there is no one there to tell you when you are doing something wrong. As others have said, be very mindful of the company you keep. Talk with people who stay on top of what is going on in the field and are willing to accept changes to procedures and protocols. Stay as far away from the people who say, "Why are we changing? We always do it this way."

http://www.ems1.com/cardiac-care/articles/1118703-Coaches-save-Idaho-teen-whose-heart-stopped-on-field/

Ran a call the other night for one of our regulars who is under hospice care for his stage 4 Alzheimer's and big cardiac hx. we have been there quite frequently to give a lift assist , but this night his major problem was severe dehydration and vomiting which was causing an arrhythmia and triggering his AICD . I could have chosen to wait while we got in touch with the hospice folks : or we could provide him with the care he needed. IV started wide open and O2 along with anti emetic and we took him to the ER for further care. I don't really care if the hospice folks get their knickers in a knot, the Pt had an issue that we could help resolve and he didn't need to suffer because he was under hospice care. Just because they are under hospice care doesn't mean they don't get emergent care provided . Don't know what it will do to the billing issues , and frankly I don't really give a damn.

Choose who you learn from carefully, gobble up every educational opportunity that comes down the pike and throw you EMS centered books away. It's entirely possible to end up as a good medic, but understand your starting from a disadvantage.

Just a reminder that MDI's are for symptomatic relief of minor asthmatic symptoms and aren't really a life saving intervention... I mean, they're nice and all but if an asthmatic is really in trouble they're going to need a bit more than an albuterol puffer.

Ruff I like this statement. This AM I wasn't even thinking along the lines of On-Line MedCon. Perfect way to CYA and still get the job done. I will say if your in my area the Director will say NO let one of my Medics handle it. I was denied ASA for chest pain when we didn't have ALS available. Thankfully the wife remembered the Bayer commercials wink wink

There are many scenarios where the probablility of adding the rescuer to the body count is pretty high. There comes a time when we have to put our superhero ego aside and face the reality of the situation and our limitaions. There are lots of instances where rescue isn't advisable not just swift water. Almost all confined spaces with a man down end up being a recovery mission. Often times recovering the primary and one or two rescuers that attempted a rescue. There is a saying 'To choose between crying at my house or crying at yours .... It is cold but true.