scubanurse

I have never gone through it myself, but a little digging on the AHA website I found this: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3066320 Hope this helps!

A lot of the new scoop stretchers, I've been told, are meant to also be used as a LSB... am I wrong?

I am familiar with sailnet and we belong to the 7 seas cruising association, which is where I got a basic kit list from and we're going off of it. The ACEP is a great resource and I will look into it. A local hospital in D.C. GW to be exact does the cruise line base hospital deal so I was thinking of asking one of their docs about stuff as well. Ty for your help!

Before y'all think I'm a whacker or tool or whatever other word maybe used hear me out. I am helping my parents outfit their medical kit for a 3-year around the world sailing trip. They will be going to some places with primitive medical care, and also long durations away from land and civilization. Our primary doctor is very willing to work with me on making sure they have antibiotics and all other things that they might need (sutures, IV's, etc...). So onto my main question. While walking around the EMS Today Convention in Baltimore earlier this year, I saw a booth with various auto-injectors. They did not sell on site and gave me a brochure, which, of course I lost. Do any of you know what company would sell the various auto-injectors out there? Primarily we are looking for the morphine injector that I saw in their case. Our PMD and I think this is the best way so that my non-medically inclined parents can administer morphine in the case of a long bone injury. On a sailboat there is potential to fall from the mast, fall down the gallyway, so there are a lot of scenarios we need to prepare for. I understand a few of you might jump on me for this, and will have strong feelings about non-trained civilians doing sutures and the like, but please keep the following in mind: 1) My PMD is educating them in when to give antibiotics and when not to 2) My parents are not idiots. They are not planning on treating long term. The equipment is more for stabilization until they can get a medical evac (which could be a few days in some parts of their trips) So any help on finding the company that sells these auto-injectors and any experience in using them and how well they work. Thank you

Still reading the article, but thank you very much for the link!!

I called for a medic once as a Basic because we had a 60 YOF with a nasty nasty fracture/dislocation of her ankle and we literally could not even feel for a pulse without her screaming. When the medic got there they didn't even come in with any bags and pulled me outside the house and said to clear them because it was a simple BLS call. I stood my ground and said I will not until you go try to asses that patient and tell me that she is not a candidate for pain management protocol. As soon as the medic really looked at her, he started a line and gave morphine so we could splint and get her down the stars to the unit. I was so pissed that he wanted to leave without even seeing the patient and didn't want to give any drugs until he realized we weren't going to be able to splint it without causing her immense pain. GRR still pisses me off when I think about that call.

I would think keeping people alive and not killing them would be slightly more important...but yes, pain management is high up there. Having been a patient and a provider, I am more liberal with pain management. I rode with someone who would never give any sort of pain medication even when indicated in the protocol and it would piss me off because we have a tool and we can do something for them. So often we are in a situation where this is nothing we can do, so why are we not doing something we have and can do for the patient?? Good for you for pushing the drugs. As far as the nurse who complained...they're probably just wishing that they could have standing orders like yours! It is just cruel to watch someone in pain and not do something for them when we have the capability to.

Let's knock them all out with RSI... backboard them...tube em...and be done with it! Problem solved. No more combative patients! Just kidding. I think. The movement, when say extricating a patient when we didn't need to pop the door or cut the roof, should be minimized as much as possible by going slow, talking it through before you move, etc. But when the roof is cut and a KED is not contraindicated...why not use a KED? I know this is opening another can of worms here, but why not do all that we can do minimized further trauma? I may be living in my own perfect universe where we have plenty of time and resources and everyone is a 4-year college educated paramedic (I wish!), but why not do more inservice on how to apply spinal immobilization with the least amount of collateral damage. Why not put providers through a series of scenarios and practice extricating and moving someone with a suspected cord injury? Again another can of worms, but I think this problem stems deeper than just do you apply the collar and if so when.

I would be curious to see any evidence against a C-collar and if there is any evidence against manual stabilization... I agree there are arguments to both sides, and I can see where in some situations the collar would cause more harm either emotionally or physically, but what about the consequences of those people who are paying more attention to the hot chicks than keeping in-line stabilization? Without a collar to at least help hold them in a neutral alignment, couldn't the distracted people holding manual cause more harm if there is in fact a spinal cord injury?

welcome...and hope to see you around... sorry you got stuck workin with Dwayne too ... must be rough

That is where I have an issue. How many people are competent at holding manual stabilization?? I have seen it too often in the field done improperly to have any confidence in manual stabilization alone. With regards to the situation you provided though, why not apply the collar yourself once you get on scene to assure it's done properly? I would have a hard time moving a patient, with any degree of suspicion for a spinal injury, without a c-collar in place. I personally like to apply them because I am confident in my ability and if I am the primary provider, then I am ultimately responsible for how the collar is placed. There are situations where you have to adapt and overcome, but priority should always be placed on maintaining control of the spine and not causing further damage.

I'm scared about the "sticky test" wtf... If you do things backwards you are putting your patient at risk. EMS Standards state to place the collar THEN move onto a backboard.... Follow protocol and SOP's... and wth is a sticky test?!?

It is nice finding "others" haha... I recently found a facebook group for EDS and it has been amazing to talk to others who go through the same daily pain and frustrations! Good luck with the sciatica and I really hope everything works out!

I get that we aren't huge fans of fire monkeys here...but what about Rescue Me. That has been rather successful and really does not portray fire fighters in a very good light to the public. This is not meant to open a bashing of firefighters so please don't even try... but really... I wasn't in EMS when Third Watch came out...did people react this badly to that? I did not like Trauma just because of the characters and their attitudes. Besides I have class on Tuesday nights so I'll rarely be able to watch it...

You would think that the "pirates" would learn by now!!! The deserve whatever negative outcomes they get in my opinion.

Wow.... the epi-pen has saved my life on two occasions. Truely a great loss to EMS and society... Although now I carry the twin-ject the original epi pen is what we have on units and are trained on. Thank you for posting Gypsy

I'm confused... the officers put the homeowner who they shot on the hood of their car and drove around??? None of that story made any sense to me

Thank you for clearing that up.

I like the system as long as it is for good posts not just people we like.. Maybe there could be some sort of reward for if you reach 100 positive points? Like a t-shirt or a month of premium membership? An incentive for people to post quality posts. On another note... Thank you for changing the way the status messages show on the forum threads. It is a lot easier to read

I am a kinda germaphobe and after every call I would use the wipes and wipe down the stretcher, handbars, straps, everything. If it was a communicable disease we would usually spray down all the surfaces and clean everything pretty well. I would clean my stethoscope after every call, and after the nasty ones, I would actually take it apart and soak the pieces in diluted bleach. I hate the idea of other ears on my stethoscope so I wouldn't ever lend mine out to anyone else either. I wish there would be a really easy system for cleaning ambulances like what I got for my shower..that scrubbing bubbles shower spray thing...it works great!

Welcome back to the site!!! The second one really interests me. I am a WEMT (although not really anymore) and interested in wilderness type EMS. My parents are headed off for a 3 year circumnavigation in their sailboat and I have been helping them put together their medical kit and one of our biggest debates right now is whether or not to get a traction device. We saw one at the EMS today conference in Baltimore, and I'm blanking on the name, but it has the ability to be angulated and fully mobile for various other types of fractures. I'd be very interested in the outcome of your study as to the efficacy of the traction splints. Again welcome back, and good luck with med school!

the y=mx+b really threw me off! I had terrorizing flashbacks to geometry in 8th grade! Ditto to what Fire said... but also how far are the patients from the car... what local support do we have on ground... Are we sure it's only 2 patients and a third didn't get ejected further from the other 2? (I've had that happen with rollovers someone gets ejected on the first bounce and the car keeps going for another 50 feet...no bueno!)

Wish I could be there but that's right in the middle of my finals week and a few days before my surgery Maybe one day I can make one of these!