scubanurse

Someone did that to a post not too long ago that Dust had posted on a lot and it made me really sad and made me miss him all over again

Why am I not surprised?!

For me the only time I've had an anaphylaxis reaction to latex was during school back when latex was EVERYWHERE and we were in a very small classroom with lots of latex gloves and tourniquets. After about 30 minutes I got hives and wheezing, next thing I knew I was in the elevator on a gurney with an IV and my instructor jabbing an epi-pen in my thigh. Pineapple closes my airway for some hairbrained reason and morphine gives me systemic hives. When I ingested pineapple I would get the whole angioedema wheezing dying experience so I stay far away. There has been little research and only anecdotal stories about Ehlers-Danlos patients having more reactions to a variety of foods and things. Not sure if it's real or not though, just anecdotal. Would you try a fluid challenge if there were hives/angioedema present though, as usually the case with anaphylaxis?

I saw that on the news the other day. It's amazing that people still text and drive. What a heartbreaking story though, and great for the parents to get the message out.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4134247 A controversial study testing a blood substitute in seriously injured patients at 32 sites - including Denver Health Medical Center - has ended. The blood substitute - PolyHeme - was used on patients who had suffered blunt trauma and had loss of blood and low blood pressure, according to Dr. Ernest Moore, Denver Health's chief of surgery and trauma services. Denver Health enrolled 120 patients since the study's start in 2003, said Moore, who has worked for more than a decade on PolyHeme's development. Northfield Laboratories Inc., the maker of PolyHeme, said the study reached its goal of 720 participants. Dr. Steven Gould, Northfield's chief executive, said the study results may be ready by this fall. PolyHeme is made by extracting hemoglobin from human red-blood cells, then filtering, processing and combining it with an electrolyte solution. Moore said that while the FDA could approve PolyHeme for emergency use based on the current study results, further study may be needed before the product can be approved for other applications. The research elicited testimonials from patients - including the daughter of singer Hank Williams Jr. - who said they would have bled to death without PolyHeme. It also drew criticism from some in the medical community, who called it unethical. The controversy peaked four weeks ago when ABC's "20/20" aired a segment on the research. This spring, three medical ethics professors signed an open letter to boards at hospitals in the study saying the research "fails to meet ethical and regulatory standards." The three - Robert Nelson of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Nancy King, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine; and Ken Kipnis, a medical ethics professor at the University of Hawaii - asked the hospitals to sharply alter or end the research. In the study, critically injured patients were given either PolyHeme, or the current standard treatment, saline solution, by paramedics or other emergency personnel. Since eligible patients were hemorrhaging, in shock or unconscious - and not capable of giving consent- the researchers received FDA permission to enroll participants in the study without their prior consent. Ambulances don't carry whole blood because it must be kept refrigerated and it is difficult to determine a patient's blood type at an accident or injury scene. Objections focused mainly on the fact that patients also got a blood substitute after arriving at the hospital, where whole blood was available. "We make efforts to contact patients' families instantly," Moore said. "At Denver Health, virtually every family was contacted within 12 hours of arrival" at the hospital. There are about a half-dozen synthetic blood and blood-substitute products in various stages of development and testing. Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303- 820-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/denver-health-medical-center-on-modified-lockdown-after-paramedics-threatened After all that went on in GA, keep these guys in your thoughts too. The hospital is on a modified lockdown and they know who the suspect is at least.

It says doc's is 594 on mine...

I had to take it for nursing school. What I got out of it was a better understanding of journal reports and how reliable they might be. The common term around here for anecdotal experience is using the n=1 model. Having a foundation in statistics helps you to understand the reliability of studies and how they were conducted. Understanding what standard deviation is and how they get to that number. With just 3 weeks go go, suck it up. Go in for tutoring, buddy up with another student to work through the homework. It's worth having a solid foundation, even if you think you'll never need it. Good Luck!

There's a guy in my nursing class who uses one d/t hearing loss from the Air Force. Other cheaper options is look for a stethoscope that has a wide tube and a shorter tube. The less tubing it has between the diaphragm and the ear pieces, the better. ETA: I have this one http://www.allheart.com/3m-littmann-stethoscope/p/littmannlwt/ and love it. I'm on a tele floor right now and have to auscultate heart sounds constantly and never have an issue with this one.

Just curious, what is your reason for rarely palpating blood pressures?

I would have too but it's also a state that didn't allow basics to use a glucometer or combi-tube/king airway. Not sure what all has changed but it's not a progressive system. Colorado allows basics to do more than MD did. Here is their 2013 protocols http://www.miemss.org/home/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Tz5wGQYZrKI%3d&tabid=106&mid=875 Page 144 breaks down skills by provider level and EMT's still don't have standing orders for glucometers, laryngeal airways, IV's/fluid, and a few others.

I was trained on MAST pants in 2005 in Maryland. They were taken out of protocol the next year I believe though.

It's a great thread. It's a fun place to post "status update" type posts and the random ramblings.

Ugh...since I'm close to graduating, I just got notice of how much I will owe in student loans. Not including grad school. I feel sick.

With CBT, each test is different. No one can tell you how many questions you're missing or guessing correctly on. Good luck!

I think there are a lot of guys in EMS I wouldn't want to see in a kilt.

Nursing homes get audited in my area if they have too many deaths in a year so they always push to transport away from the facility so the death didn't occur at the facility.

3 blocks from my house... I"m all for a gathering of the City here this summer and can help organize it if there is enough interest.

Still illegal for healthcare workers to use...

Ahh... I'm not crazy enough to go to Boulder.

No, I live in Thornton/Brighton.

I'm about to graduate and can relate to a degree. 5 semesters left? are you going straight through to the NP program? I can say clinicals get better. We were in geri for the first two semesters and I almost didn't make it. Now we get to work critical care and learn a lot more. I would keep EMS to yourself unless asked. I wowed my preceptor today by knowing 2nd degree type 2 av-block and she was so impressed. Just keep EMS out of clinical as most preceptors don't need to know that. Did you research the program first? My program has some idiots teaching in it but they certainly don't yell at us or treat us like idiots. Like the resident on my patient today that ordered a "STAT" mag drip when their last mag value was in 9/2012 and was 2.4 even then? Yah. "Yes, Doctore XX, this is the nurse for 14, I'm just calling to clarify your new order for a mag drip, he hasn't had a mag level since 9/2012 and it was normal then." Doctor: "Oh, that was in 2012? Oh yeah, cancel that order. Sorry." I was just glad it wasn't 1) Potassium and 2) that I knew it didn't make sense. Just stick with it. You'll make it through the other side eventually and we be a better nurse and hopefully help change the way nurses are educated.

NO FIRES. NO NO NO. I SAY NO FIRES! We don't need them in CO we have enough bad juju as it is. On another note...chat still HATES me and I can't get in to talk to myself. Where will I go to let my crazy out?!

Come on Florida.... I know the sun damages brain cells but seriously? http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/04/florida-djs-april-fools-water-joke/63798/?fb_action_ids=10151555653821774&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151555653821774%22%3A631468190212081%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151555653821774%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Bridezilla stuff... some brides are plain scary. I don't think I am but some of those chicks are bat $#!# crazy!