This Week in EMS: Facebook Firing...Helicopter Safety...Childcare and Shiftwork

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Conn. Ambulance Employee Wrongly Fired for Facebooking

An ambulance company employee learned the hard way that Facebook is not like Las Vegas--what's said there doesn't just stay there. Now federal labor officials say she was improperly fired.

Diagnostic Heart Test Being Used to Screen First Responders in Maine

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death among on-duty firefighters, but some of the deaths could be avoided with a piece of test equipment that can help detect the small heartbeat irregularities that indicate a heightened risk for heart trouble.

Tenn. County Border Victims Ask, 'Where's The Ambulance?'

A Channel 4 I-Team investigation found emergency victims along Davidson County's border sometimes waiting up to 30 minutes for an ambulance, while just across the county line, an ambulance was minutes away and couldn't respond because of a Metro policy.

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EMS Operations

Helicopter EMS: Part 2--The HEMS Safety Debate

HEMS safety is a genuine public issue that is being widely debated for one very simple reason: Medical staff and patients are dying. But is the industry being unfairly judged because of its high visibility? According to many who work with HEMS, the answer is a definite yes.

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The Corner Office: Practical Management for EMS Leaders

When Lysol Isn't Enough: Nine Steps to Establishing an Exposure Control Plan

While there are templates that can be used to write your agency's exposure control plan, the important concept to remember is the plan must be customized to your agency's individual needs.

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EMS Life

When Johnny Met Rosie--Women in EMS Part 3: Child Care & Shift Work

EMS providers face many challenges when juggling childcare and shift work. It's essential to investigate reliable options and look for viable solutions that will not cripple you financially in the process.

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Reading Room

Please Don't Dance in My Ambulance

Barry Bachenheimer was in college when he first penned Please Don't Dance in My Ambulance. Years later he discovered the hidden gem in his college papers and published his prose, much to the delight of his children and other young fans. With a 25-plus-year career in EMS, Barry knows all about the value of educating the public about EMS; the message behind this book is that EMTs who work on ambulances are there to help people, and that while EMS is a serious business, it's also fun.

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Podcasts

The EMS Squadcast: National Association of State EMS Officials Meeting, October 2010

The EMS Squadcast is a podcast series dedicated to discussions relevant to the world of EMS today. Join Tim Perkins as The EMS Squadcast records at the annual meeting of the National Association of State EMS Officials in Norfolk, VA. Tim speaks to Karen Jacobson from NEMSIS on the importance of data in EMS and to state EMS directors Gary Brown of Virginia, Dennis Blair of Alabama and Lee Burns of New York about issues their respective EMS systems are facing.

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Continuing Education

A Silent Death

Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the leading causes of accidental poisoning death in the United States. It contributes to a minimum of 40,000 emergency department visits and 500 unintentional deaths annually. There are an additional 4,500-5,000 intentional (suicide) carbon monoxide poisoning deaths each year. As the symptoms are often vague and attributed to other ailments such as the flu, many experts believe that an additional 11,000 cases per year are undetected or misdiagnosed.

This CE activity is approved by EMS World Magazine, an organization accredited by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS), for 1.5 CEUs. After reading the article, download the test that accompanies this article or take the CE test online at www.rapidce.com.