This Week in EMS: Heat Wave Challenges...SCA Video Contest...Chest Pain Assessment...EMS Blogs
As a record-breaking heat wave grips the East Coast, firefighters and emergency medical service providers at some agencies are taxed to the limit.
The more PCRs you review, the better insight you will gain into the quality of care your agency is providing, as well as the job your individual providers are doing. As you look behind the curtain, be prepared for a reality check. Some who are considered the greatest EMS providers who ever lived may quickly be exposed as being quite humanly flawed, while others who are seen as nervous and timid may prove to be some of your more thorough and diligent providers.
EMS on the Hill: June-Aug 2010
The latest edition of our EMS on the Hill newsletter features a profile of a community paramedicine program in Eagle County, CO, which involves sending out EMS providers to help citizen with routine care so that they don't have to call 9-1-1 or see a physician. One goal of the program is to reduce hospitalization by 50% for patients seen post-discharge.
The EMS Squadcast
The Resuscitation Academy and Epinephrine Shortages
Join host Tim Perkins for the sophomore episode of the EMS Squadcast, a podcast series dedicated to discussions relevant to the world of EMS today, as he welcomes Dr. Mickey Eisenberg to talk about the Resuscitation Academy, a new program created by King County (WA) and Seattle's Medic One program to help EMS administrators improve cardiac resuscitation rates in their communities. Also, Matt Zavadsky and David Lamb from Medstar EMS in Forth Worth, TX, talk about how their agency is handling the current shortage of epinephrine.
Reading Room
Author Interviews and Writing Advice
Don't miss our Q&A with Joseph Clark, author of My Ambulance Education, in which this professor of neurology recalls his early career as an EMT: A totally severed hand is not something an emergency service worker encounters every day. Hanging by a thread, yes--that happens a lot. I have seen some very big "threads," including some that looked more like an arm with a bad cut. Such exaggerations by bystanders were common. But I was made nervous by the cop's description of the hand as "severed."
Continuing Education
In general, abuse of elders, like abuse of children or intimate partners, is a recurring "pattern of coercive tactics that abusers use to gain and maintain power and control over the elderly." The National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL) states that elder abuse is "various types of abuse against someone age 60 or 65 and older." The abuse may have begun well before the patient became elderly. Intimate partner violence can persist for decades. Relationships also change or worsen over time with life and health changes. Types of abuse can include physical, sexual and emotional.
This CE activity is approved by EMS Magazine, an organization accredited by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS), for 1.5 CEUs. After reading the article, take the CE test that accompanies this lesson at www.rapidce.com.
Additional CE Articles
CE Videocasts
www.rapidce.com- How Do You Know CPAP Is Working?
- Therapeutic Hypothermia in EMS
- The Power of Capnography to Guide Respiratory Care
- ECG Clues to Identify the Site of Occlusion in Acute Myocardial Ischemia/Infarction
This CE activity is approved by EMS Magazine, an organization accredited by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS), for .5 CEUs.
Business News
San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District Releases Public iPhone Application
The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District (CA) is proud to announce the arrival of its much anticipated iPhone application in the Apple App Store. The FireDepartment.org iPhone application defines a new category of iPhone functionality. By providing a virtual window into the District's 9-1-1 dispatch center, iPhone users now have real-time access to emergency activity occurring in the community. The application also provides the District with a powerful new avenue to communicate with its mobile population during a disaster.
Website of the Week
Page, Wolfberg & Wirth Free Forms Library
The Page, Wolfberg & Wirth Free Forms Library features new and updated model forms, instructions and other documents. You'll find all of the most important forms your ambulance service needs--free of charge.
