dahlio

Taken from the MICU/ALS Regulations from N.J.A.C 8:41 8:41-7.5 Pronouncement of death (a) All pronouncements of death shall be made in accordance with rules promulgated by the State Board of Medical Examiners and with the physician's medical judgment. ( No paramedic shall act as an independent agent for the purpose of making pronouncements of death. © All patients who are presented to the mobile intensive care unit and who appear dead shall be monitored for electrocardiac activity and given an examination, and then the advanced life support provider shall contact the base physician and relay all findings. These findings shall include a telemetered electrocardiogram sent when requested by the base station physician unless the condition of the patient precludes the application of ECG leads. (d) No standing orders for the pronouncement of death shall be authorized. In the event of radio failure, no pronouncement shall be made. Sorry if this has no relevence at all, but it sounded good at the time. In NJ, they do have the ability to pronounce without obvious signs of death. So either they had radio failure, and were forced to keep at it, the paramedics tried just for show, or we don't have the most accurate explanation. (Not trying to bash anyone here, it was early in the morning ) Those are the three possible reasons that they could have kept working them.

Clean the wound, take vitals, transport, nothing else you could really do pre-hospital..ouch.

haha, not at all, thats all my squad carries as well. love the purple gloves

I tend to use purple gloves quite often.... What's wrong with writing on tape?

I know, personally, that we've passed a car accident or two, where there were injuries, but all we did was radio it in, because we had a patient in the back. Once you stop to check for injuries, you can not leave until someone with the same, or better training has come to relieve you. This is how we do it in my area, however, I do not know what the FDNY EMS's protocols are. Interesting article, however, thanks for bringing it in to discussion!

Never thought of that, I'm sure he will comply, since he wants to keep his firefighters health up. Thanks for the tip.

Since many on this forum are also fireman, I was curious as to what EMS can do to help fireman "rehab" after a working fire. Also, what do other units do when at a working fire, with fireman coming in and out from a "hot one" if you will. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Was she doing any cleaning, or other things that involve chemicals, which could possibly cause this eye injury? Did she use any eye drops or such?

Thanks for your opinions so far. In NJ, I believe all ALS is hospital based, and there are no vol. ALS service. I see what you mean about the scope of practice thing. It would suck to know I had the skill to do something, but couldn't use it in an instance it was needed. Thanks for the comments.

I hear the new AC Delco battery now has a connector to use the same pads as a Phillips Heartstart.... :roll:

I'm curious to know how many paramedics out there still volunteer with their local squad (running BLS)? Eventually, I'd like to become a medic, and would also like to continue to volunteer. Just very curious how easy that is to do/If you really have the time to do so. Thanks for all responses.

Hi, my name is Andrew, and I am a whacker. I carry a first aid kit in the back of my car, along with having a dual talon in my car. I have my pager on whenever I'm home, and have a habit of taking every second call there is. I too have the first three seasons of Emergency on DVD. I plan on becoming a medic within a couple years, and have signed up for my basic classes for September. (A&P, Eng, and all that fun stuff). I am hoping that I have reached my peak of being a whacker...but for the mean time, it's fair to call me a whacker.

DOCUMENT everything they refuse. They don't want to be put on a backboard and don't want a c-collar, document, and have them sign next to it. They don't want you to start an IV, document it and have them sign. At least, thats what I was taught..

Definitely agree. We have two Freightliners, and the Air Rides are always being repaired. Unless you need it for Critical Care Transport/Neonatal, where a big box is necessary for equipment, it's not worth it, in my humble opinion, of course.

ICS to me is a requirement that I will hopefully never use. It's so loose in our system, and we only need to take the online courses. Did people really think that we're not going to just get the answers from our buddy? It's crazy to think that everyone is going to know ICS, just because of an online course. If I were running it, I would require a real situation training scenario, and make a team to work it out. You don't learn it until it's applied, and that's where the system fails.

Will do, which is why the thread isn't up here.

Absolutely that was a mistake. I was new back then, and luckily wasn't making that kind of decision.

I think I'll start another thread on the pediatric imbolization methods, just to see once again what different people use.

In vol. agencys, you see it way to much. I've heard our paid crew however, cancel ALS many times, and they are good about doing that. The problem is that with volunteer agencys, they don't do EMS on a daily basis. It's a community service they provide, and a lot of new EMT's call the medics too much. I've been on calls were we didn't need medics, but had them anyway, and then I've been on calls, where we're about to cancel medics, but the're in the driveway. The medics check the patient out, and realize he's actually having a heart attack. There should definitly be some kind of CEU class for the EMT-B, called "When ALS is needed, and when it isn't." I think a lot of times when EMT's call medics, they are doubting their skills. I'm in a place where a hospital is a 15 minute ride.

Same goes for what I learned in Nj, one attempt.

That just might be a good enough reason to keep one around.

As great as it would be, I don't believe it is appropriate. Patient's privacy is just as important. I'd like to know what kind of c/c the child was having where the two medics got fired. If it was a simple broken leg from roller skating or what not, then there would be no reason to preform a detailed physical exam. On the otherhand, if the kid was unconcious, then it would be necessary to preform a detailed pys exam. It's hard to determine whether the medics were at fault or not from just the information you provided, but then again, that's not what this topic is about Yes, removing all their clothing, and taking a look at all parts of their body would rule out a lot of things, but once again, it's about patient privacy. Putting them in a hospital gown, or under a sheet would be keeping them easily exposed, and might take away some of their dignity. I don't believe clothing needs to be removed, unless it's sever trauma, a c/c in an area that is clothed, or is a Ob/Gyn call. Removing some clothes might be necessary, but removing all of it is not.

Interesting...I've never realized if we had two KED's in our ambulances. Usually when we have two patients, one is always out of the car already. Anyway, we were going through old equipment, and came across an old wooden short spine board, which is why I brought up the subject. Thanks for all your responses so far.

Just wanted to know some advantages, and disadvantages of using the KED and the Short Board. Which do you prefer and why? I know in the squad I run with, we don't even carry short spine boards, just the KED. Is one easier to put on a long board? All comments are appreciated. P.S. I apologize if this is a repeat discussion, but I did run a search on this topic, and couldn't find anything

There's always your forearm