Paramedic student vs. pediatric assessments and dosages

[FireEMT2009]

Hello everyone,

I made a topic about this a couple of months ago and just thought I would give you an update and have some questions that I would like some insight on that I can get nowhere but here.

First off, Peds seems alot like an adult assessments, ABCs come first (DUH) and that the browslow tape is your BEST friend on peds patients. I would also say that it seems to be clicking with me very easily and am truly enjoying my class before PALS.

I test out in April and will be taking the NREMT-P and I know there is no browslow tape allowed on the wiritten. The questions I have are:

When you are dealing with drugs that aren't on the browslow tape (i.e. albuterol, diphenhydramine, phenergan, odansetron, etc.) how do you remember all the drug dosages? I understand that 99% of all the drugs that are used on peds in a critical situation are on the browslow tape. I am just looking for some great insight that I know this site can offer me.

I also have found that the "generic" (i use this term loosely in this situation) is 0.1mg/kg.

Thanks for all the answers that I hope to come. And in case I haven't said this before, thanks for all the help and advice ya'll have given me so far in my education.

FireEMT2009

[Eydawn]

I don't suppose you get problems where it tells you kid's weight or surface area and safe standard doseages for different uses? That's what I'm used to calculating with...

You may need to memorize certain drugs and certain "by weight/size" ranges if your problems are set up differently. I just know what we use in nursing school.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[paramedicmike]

You need to memorize them. Plain and simple.

Yes, the Broselow Tape is an excellent reference tool when assessing pediatric patients. But what happens when it's not there? Or missing? Or torn? Or wasn't moved over when you switched ambulances? Or... get where I'm going?

There are some things you just need to memorize. And not just memorize. You need to know reflexively so that you can spit out the answers in the middle of the night on your 25th call in the past 18 hours.

This is one of those things.

Also, please do go into your PALS class and mention the "just like adults" line. This will not win you any friends. Not to sound like a broken PALS record, but kids are not little adults. Yes, we may assess the same things. But the methodology is different. If you approach a pediatric patient the same way you approach an adult patient you've just made the assessment infinitely more difficult than it needs to be because you've just scared the crap out of the kid.

Good question.

Good luck.

Edited November 19, 2011 by paramedicmike

[FireEMT2009]

Mike,

I apologize that came out completely different than what I meant. I treat kids as just that, kids. I completely understand that pedi assessments are different than adult assessments and have learned that with scenarios in our lab setting. I meant as in ABCs are always first just like adults, except that kids are alot harder to manage compared to adults.

I apoligize for my mistyping. I am working on learning the dosages, memorizing i have come to realization, that it only stays long enough for the next test or the next couple weeks but not the next couple of month or years depending on when I need them. I work hard to memorize, understand, and fliter out the drugs of which I am administering, whether adults or pediatrics. Thank ya'll for the advice.

I will continue to keep ya'll updated on my progress and continue working hard throughout the rest of my time in medic school. Its better to learn your mistakes in the lab setting than the real deal.

Thanks for the great advice so far,

FireEMT2009

[tcripp]

Had a friend once tell me that she had difficulties remembering how much of each drug to give; mg/kg. So, she came up with a way to help her better remember it. Instead of 0.01 - she now says it's a penny's worth; 0.10 is a dimes worth. By giving it some relevancy in her world, she remembers it better.

Yeah, it's still memorizing the dosage, but it was a step in helping to remember it.

tlc

[romneyfor2012]

I memorized all the .01s, the .1s, and the 1.0s in order from top to bottom