Lee County EMS Revisits Naloxone Guidelines

Medic 1 and Engine 1 are dispatched to a man down in a parked automobile at a local pharmacy. Law enforcement is on scene and has rendered the scene safe. Forced entry into the vehicle is made and the providers make contact with an adult male slumped over the steering wheel. The patient's primary assessment reveals he's a 45-year-old male, 80 kg, unconscious and ill-appearing. He has snoring respirations and is bradypneic with retractions. He's cyanotic and unresponsive, with a Glasgow coma score of 1/1/1 = 3. The patient is immediately removed from the auto, placed in a semi-Fowlers position on the stretcher with a head-tilt chin lift, and quickly transitioned to the awaiting medic unit. The basic airway maneuver resolves the snoring respirations. In the ambulance, the initial assessment demonstrates the following: Central and peripheral pulses are present; regular, bradycardic rate; no obvious hemorrhaging; and the skin is cool, centrally cyanotic and diaphoretic. The airway is non-natural yet dry without excessive secretions and glossopharyngeal reflexes are minimally present. The patient is still bradypneic with symmetrical chest wall movement and some supraclavicular and intercostal retractions. Lung sounds are clear to auscultation and equal bilaterally. There's no evidence of trauma, and exposure is unremarkable except for a fresh venipuncture in the left antecubital fossa and pinpoint pupils. Once in the ambulance, the patient's occiput is padded, which promotes a sni...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Operations Patient Care Source Type: news