FDNY Commissioners Son Quits After Racist Tweets
The fire commissioner’s son quit the Emergency Medical Service Monday after he was accused of accused of sending racist and offensive tweets. Joseph Cassano, 23, son of FDNY head Salvatore Cassano, stepped down after less than three months on the job as an emergency medical technician. [Read the whole story here] (Source: The EMT Spot)
Source: The EMT Spot - March 18, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Everything Else Source Type: blogs
Orange County Fire Truck Torn In Half By Tree
LOS ANGELES — An Orange County Fire Authority truck slammed into a massive tree Wednesday evening in a crash that was apparently powerful enough to sever the emergency vehicle’s engine. [Read the whole story on EMS1] (Source: The EMT Spot)
Source: The EMT Spot - March 18, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Research and News Source Type: blogs
Stop Cooling Those Burns
Do you ever get the feeling that everything you learned in EMT class was wrong? If you haven’t yet developed that feeling, then you probably haven’t been around long enough. Stick around. Sooner or later (depending on whether or not you are paying attention) you’ll start to feel that every treatment guideline you ever learned was somehow flawed. I’ve been in EMS education long enough now to start to feel that everything I ever taught was wrong.
Such is medicine.
And now I’m going to throw another curve ball at you. Do you remember when we told you to aggressively flush burns with copious amoun...
Source: The EMT Spot - March 18, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Knowledge Skills slider Source Type: blogs
A Life Less Ordinary
“What do you desire?
What makes you itch?
What sort of a situation would you like?
Let’s suppose – I do this often in vocational guidance of students.
They come to me and say:
‘Well, um, We’re getting out of college and
we haven’t the faintest idea what we want to do.’
So I always ask the question,
‘What would you like to do if money were no object?
How would you really enjoy spending your life?’
It’s so amazing, the result of our educational system, that crowds of students say,
‘Well, we’d like to be painters.
We’d like to ...
Source: The EMT Spot - March 1, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: The Big Get It slider Source Type: blogs
Medtronic Save-A-Life Simulator Scores
As frequent readers are aware, sometimes when I encounter a public service announcement or online training tool that is so clever that it amazes me, I feel compelled to pass it on. This month is American Heart Month and, in honor of the occasion, Medtronic Foundation has released a new online AED training tool called The Save-a-Life-Simulator. I’ve just finished playing with it and it is a fantastic tool.
Just released, the newest chapter of the simulator features Minnesota Timberwolves’ star Ricky Rubio who helps the viewer save the life of an SCA victim at the gym through an interactive online experience. In the ...
Source: The EMT Spot - February 23, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Everything Else slider Source Type: blogs
The TICkLeS (TICLS) Mnemonic for Pediatric Assessment
If you know me, you know that I’m a sucker for good, useful mnemonics for prehospital care. Since we’ve been discussing pediatric assessment lately, I thought it might be a good time to review an excellent mnemonic tool for pediatric assessment. That tool is the tickles (TICLS) mnemonic. The tickles assessment is a cornerstone of the PEPP (Pediatric Emergencies for Prehospital Professionals) pediatric assessment triangle. It’s also strongly endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. (APP)
When you make initial contact with a pediatric patient, think about the five elements of the TICLS mnemonic as pa...
Source: The EMT Spot - February 11, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Assessment slider Source Type: blogs
Medics Want Better Protection While on Duty
Toronto Star
TORONTO — Abuse against paramedics is too common, says the Toronto Paramedic Association. On the heels of a recent attack against a veteran paramedic, the group is calling for changes to Canada’s Criminal Code to give emergency workers the same special protection as police officers. [Read the whole story on EMS1] (Source: The EMT Spot)
Source: The EMT Spot - February 10, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Research and News Source Type: blogs
New Foam Could Treat Victims of Internal Hemorrhaging
WASHINGTON — A new type of injectable foam that molds to organs and slows hemorrhaging could be used on the battlefield by military first responders.
The technology, developed under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Wound Stasis System program, resulted in 72 percent survival rate at three hours post-injury in testing. [Read the whole story on EMS1] (Source: The EMT Spot)
Source: The EMT Spot - February 10, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Research and News Source Type: blogs
County Manager Investigating Collier Ambulance Delay
NAPLES, Fla. – The Collier County manager is investigating an ambulance delay uncovered by Fox 4, according to the a county commissioner’s office.
“We lost a life here, a human life,” said Charles Minard. ”And to me, at this point, I feel like a human life is not worth much here in Collier county.”
Fox 4′s efforts to get Minard answers, after his son died from a cardiac arrest on Dec. 14, has been stone-walled and ignored by Collier County EMS since they began asking questions two weeks ago. [Read the whole story on Fox4] (Source: The EMT Spot)
Source: The EMT Spot - February 10, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: administrator Tags: Research and News Source Type: blogs
Sorting Out Our EMS Research Priorities
I’d like to pose a question to you. Perhaps this is one of those questions that I should be happy to be asking. The entire idea of me needing…or even wanting to ask this question bodes well for the future of EMS. So *deep breath* here it goes.
What are the most pressing questions that EMS researchers should attempt to answer?
The reason I’m asking this question today is because of a string of comments I’ve recently received regarding EMS research. As an example, Bil (yes, one L) recently left a great comment on my post about the face flick as an assessment tool. Bil has done some thinking about appr...
Source: The EMT Spot - January 30, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: Skills The Big Get It slider Source Type: blogs
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 as...
Source: The EMT Spot - January 24, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: Assessment slider Source Type: blogs
15 Ways to Be an Awesome EMT in 2013
It’s time. The New Year is upon us. I started last year by telling you about 17 Ways to Be an Awesome EMT in 2012. Yes, all of those suggestions still apply. Now, here are 15 more to help you achieve your personal pinnacle of EMS awesomeness in 2013.
Don’t try to do all of these tomorrow. Pick one or two that resonate with you and start there. Then come back next month and pick a few more. If you choose to adopt only one of these suggestions for each of the coming months, you’ll be guaranteed a fantastic 2013. (If I’m wrong you can return 2013 for a full and complete refund.) Now let’s get sta...
Source: The EMT Spot - January 5, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: The Big Get It slider Source Type: blogs
