snakemedic

I have to agree with Dust, I like Ais thought process. A little off topic but I heard it said once "now that we are getting away from Dr's teaching us, we have to dumb 'it' down to the lowest common denominator". (it referring to education) Now that being said, I disagree, I think medics should be able to use their best judgement and make a decision based on their education...however, you need to accept the fact you may be wrong which happens in the ER enough. There is too much teaching of pink box, purple box, yellowish box and then when the patient enters the gray zone medics fall back to "well, it didn't say that in the protocols" Protocols be damned...you are a patient advocate...and sometimes you need to do what needs to be done and take the flack. Protocols are ambiguous at best and definitions in them, as well as the medical world are also perceived differently by different folks. A simple rule of thumb I go by is "sick, not sick". CCDoc is right, the pt may present with a number of responses while not being"conscious" and these would be called decreased level of consciousness. I know, I'm rambling....suffice it to say, the medic made a descision based on numerous factors at the time and you got him from point a to point b...that's a good thing. snake

Two things really, First I had a homeless guy call me by first and last name as I was walking to the bank machine. (no we do not have our personal information on our uniform so it was odd) Second: there is a station in the city that is haunted, well, there are a few but this one used to be an old police station. I and others have had someone/thing shout our name in our ear in the middle of the night only to wake up to silence and 2 other crews in the station sound asleep, and also late at night you can hear clanging on the old cells and screams of "let me out". Jake

HBD/psych especially....male lying on grate, unknown if breathing....cell phone caller. JM

Dispatched for a Cardiac Arrest at Nursing Home. On arrival we see pt sitting up with nasal canula on and looking out the window; nursing staff sitting in the corner looking at us with this look of what the hell are you guys doing here. I ask " what's the problem?" Pt is "short of breath", I ask when it started because he certainly didn't look in distress and she states, I just walked in and he said he was short of breath so I put a nasal on him and called you?.... ...Approach patient, Pt is not only vital signs absent but he is cold, lividity and rigored....need I say more :roll: Snakemedic

It is my understanding that the "thump" at least from ACLS prospective can be delivered when in the presence of a witnessed cardiac arrest and immediate access to defibrillation is not available. It is not so much a common practice on the road as most times you have access to your defibrillator, but perhaps it might be more common in a hospital setting where someone is sent for the crash cart. A Canadian perspective? Snakemedic