EMS Assessment of Newborns

Babies make us nervous. It’s a simple fact. And it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Assessment and evaluation of the newborn infant is the patient assessment equivalent of a high-wire act. The stakes are high and it’s easy to make a mistake. Obstetricians and pediatricians spend years learning how to properly assess the neonatal patient. Even with their training and experience, proper evaluation of a newborn remains remarkably difficult.  They are not simple little adults.They are a unique and challenging patient population. Here are some tips and thoughts to consider the next time you are called to assess a newborn infant in the prehospital environment. Hopefully these clinical pearls will help make the next newborn evaluation a little less intimidating. 1) Take a good history. When asking about the newborns brief medical history, there are several important points to consider. Ask about the baby’s birth weight and consider weight gain or loss since discharge from the hospital. If the newborn is failing to gain weight in the out-of-hospital environment, that is cause for concern. Also ask about the length of the hospital stay prior to discharge home. If a newborn baby was kept in the hospital for longer than 48 hours after delivery, it is likely that the child’s obstetrician had some concerns regarding the baby’s health. Also ask if the newborn received any specific diagnosis prior to being discharged home. 2) Consider the events of pre...
Source: The EMT Spot - Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: Tags: Assessment slider Source Type: blogs