This Week in EMS: A Recap for July 16 - 22, 2011

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Responders' Handling of Incidents Involving Children Has Deep Impact

While there are protocols for treating patients having chest pains, respiratory issues and trauma, providers who suddenly find themselves with parents who've lost a child often aren't sure what to do or what to say. Yet, their actions on the family's worst day of their lives will be remembered for a lifetime.

Ore. Responders Recount Horrific Murder-Suicide Scene

Dozens of men and women from local police and fire departments scrambled to save the lives of four young children and two adults. Rescue personnel carried out victim after victim, pulled aside bloody clothing, pumped on tiny chests and poured their breath into little smoke-filled lungs.

Baltimore EMS Instructors on Administrative Leave

All of Baltimore City's Emergency Medical Service instructors have been put on administrative leave until an investigation is complete into allegations of cheating at the city's fire academy.

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EMS Training Center

Knockout!

As mixed martial arts continues to grow in popularity, more venues will begin to offer both professional and amateur fights that require not only EMS response, but venue EMS coverage. Here's what you need to know.

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EMS Education

EMS Revisited: Advancing the EMS Education Process

In an era where increasing demands are being placed upon the shrinking resources of healthcare, it seems reasonable to take a fresh approach to the concept of educational efficiency. One way to do this is to examine the possibility that learners should stay in programs only as long as it takes them to meet or exceed the educational goals of EMS training.

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EMS Operations

Smile for the Camera

Cities can use video surveillance systems for both security and dispatch information that alerts first responders to an unsafe scene. At Secured Cities, a recent conference held in Atlanta, local leaders were able to network with manufacturers and learn about implementing municipal surveillance, from design and installation to procurement and funding.

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EMS Safety

Developing an EMS Culture of Safety Strategy

"We need safety to permeate everything we do." That's how Dr. Sabina Braithwaite sums up the reason for the National EMS Culture of Safety Strategy Conference held in late June. "Nothing we do here will matter one bit if it doesn't get down to the street," she explains.

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EMS Webcasts

CPAP ASAP! July 29, 2 p.m. EST

CPAP is rapidly gaining acceptance as a prehospital standard of care for selected patients in acute respiratory failure. Join Mike Grill for this free webcast in which he will explore the history of CPAP, review the respiratory physiology associated with disease states, and discuss how CPAP is a safe and cost-effective treatment that every EMS service should be providing.

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Featured EMS World Magazine Article

National Merit

To Americans used to wrestling with healthcare issues within the context of 50 state governments, the Israeli system starts with a key difference: It's national. That simplifies relations between its local arms (EMS, hospitals) and its national head (the Ministry of Health), as well as its operations with other players (e.g., law enforcement, the military) and during emergencies. Learn how having a single healthcare system facilitates emergency preparedness.

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Continuing Education

Abdominal Pain in Females of Childbearing Years

Abdominal pain is an extremely common complaint in the emergency setting, accounting for up to 10% of all emergency department visits. Because of their more complex anatomy, females of reproductive age require special consideration when they present with abdominal discomfort.