Vent Was right - Another EMS screw up, stroke, California

[aryan51]

But if you want to get really mad, read the nursing comments on this forum, about what EMS should and should not do. I warned you to take a HBP pill:

http://allnurses.com/forums/f8/furious-amb...ent-353520.html

Holy S.

If any of you haven't read that yet, do it.

That website seems like quite the menagerie of great minds.

Ahem...(sarcasm)

[BushyFromOz]

He was disoriented, had urinated on the sidewalk and vomited on his shirt.

Harb was given two alcohol breath tests, both of which registered zero.

Yeah, i reckon that it's pretty obvious that something medical is on the cards.

[scott33]

Holy S.

If any of you haven't read that yet, do it.

That website seems like quite the menagerie of great minds.

Ahem...(sarcasm)

Yes, painful reading.

I post there occasionally and I do find their opinion of "ambulance drivers" somewhat amusing. However, they do lack the wannabee (or Walt) contingent which is unfortunately prevalent in many EMS forums.

[HellsBells]

how about showing a little love to your arch-nemesis ? I know it hurts to say I was right, but you will survive the encounter, unlike the patients we continue to leave behind.

Again, I ask, How many deaths are too many ?

How many blowhard, egomaniacal, former paramedics with an I told you so attitude are too many?

Why don't you give us all a break? This is a isolated case, and does little to prop up your opinion that all cancellations should be monitored by a supervisor. It actually is a perfect example of the need for educated practitioners and hiring/ training practices that weed out incompetent paramedics.

[zzyzx]

I work in the same county where this incident happened--Kern County. This is pretty bad. I heard a different version of the story, however. Supposedly the medics stopped on scene, but before they got off the ambulance, the cop said something to the effect of, "This is a non-injury. He's drunk and he's going to jail with us." The news article contradicts this, so I'm not sure what to believe.

[VentMedic]

How many blowhard, egomaniacal, former paramedics with an I told you so attitude are too many?

Why don't you give us all a break? This is a isolated case, and does little to prop up your opinion that all cancellations should be monitored by a supervisor. It actually is a perfect example of the need for educated practitioners and hiring/ training practices that weed out incompetent paramedics.

Not all serious mistakes make the headlines. If that was the case there would be a separate very thick book published weekly just for hospitals and EMS. Many of the "mistakes" don't kill especially if they are caught immediately. Unfortunately, in some EMS systems, we do not know exactly how many mistakes are made everyday unless they do cause serious harm. Poor medical oversight and QA/QI procedures not only make accountability difficult but also tracking those that provide less than adequate care. There are also those that believe "what happens in the truck, stays in the truck".

If it is a serious mistake, the hospital, EMS agency, risk managers and attorneys will try to control the situation quickly. Many of those that mistakes are made on may have no patient advocate and thus no voice in what happened in their care or demise. Those are usually just shelved even if they are used for some statistic. You can put the elderly, handicapped and homeless into this category.

During one of our lengthy Fire based education discussions on this forum, I linked to a review of the FD in question. It had incidents that resulted in the death of patients which were probably not published in the newspapers. You many find similar documentation in other FD or agencies protected by sovereign immunity laws or State protection statutes. The courts will protect government entities. However, a claim can still be made but liability damages are greatly limited.

EDs have a reporting system but internally and externally for filing mistakes made by EMS. If the ED catches the right away, like a misplaced tube or grossly infiltrated line, it is pointed out in hopes the EMT(P)s will also do their own documentation. If the EMT-Ps admit to the wrong med, action can be taken quickly and there is an understanding mistakes to happen. It is all better than the ED finding out strange things on lab results. But, the proper paperwork must still be done.

Hospitals have now put into place as many safequards as possible to prevent mistakes. Everything from computerized ID to med carts have tried to decrease errors. The technology I work with will keep a record of everything I do or don't do. If anything happens to a patient, the ventilator will be a witness with all of the data downloaded for all to see. Even the portable ventilators used on Flight or CCT have a memory chip which we will download for QA/QI. Some patients have had as many as 30 setting changes during a 15 minute transport. That speaks volumes about the "knobologists" managing that ventilator.

Regardles of all the details to the Bakersfield patient, I'm sure the courts will sort it out eventually. Hopefully good documentation was done by the ambulance crews. The PD will also have their own documentation. There is a lesson to be learned from this regardless of where the largest percentage of blame lies.

I'm sure everyone involved with this patient and with others have gone over and over all of the "should have", "could have" and "would have" scenarios in their mind...after the fact. It doesn't have to be a headline grabbing incident for some to have review sessions with their medical directors for situations that have gone very right and those that have gone very wrong.