Remain calm: Assessing and treating panic attacks
Michael Morse - EMS1.com Columnists - Anxiety and emotion can spiral into respiratory compromise that is self-reinforcing, frightening and an EMS-treatable emergency - Some patient encounters are keepers; other experiences need to be forgotten. - Overcoming past calls is one of those skills that nobody teaches you in EMT school....
Thoracic ultrasound in respiratory distress
NAEMSP - EMS1.com Columnists - Another tool in the diagnostician’s briefcase - By Emily Fitzgerald, MD - Your ALS crew is dispatched to a local nursing home for the 74-year-old female with shortness of breath, priority 2. You arrive on scene to find an elderly woman in respiratory distress. She is tripoding in bed, has marked...
Thinking: Pediatric respiratory distress
The Medic Mindset Podcast - EMS1.com Columnists - Dr. Joelle Donofrio-Odmann discusses diseases of the upper and lower airways - After seeing Dr. Joelle Donofrio-Odmann’s talk in Prodigy EMS’ free Refresh program, I knew Medic Mindset listeners needed to hear from her. She is an associate professor of pediatrics and emergency...
The pediatric assessment triangle: Not just for kids
John Sammons - EMS1.com Columnists - An initial visual assessment can identify threats to you and your patient before you narrow down a differential diagnosis - As we know, the pediatric assessment triangle is often used, rightfully so, as a tool to quickly identify sick kids who may require rapid, lifesaving intervention. While...
ABCs: Back to the advanced
Tim Nowak, AAS, BS, NRP, CCEMTP, SPO, MPO, CADS - EMS1.com Columnists - We’ve all heard about getting ‘back to the basic,’ but sometimes paramedics need to make sure they get back to the advanced, as well - Not everything can be solved with the basic ABCs of patient assessment and management, at least, not without the right tools...
Back to the basics: Anaphylaxis
Limmer Education - EMS1.com Columnists - Four distinct events must occur in order for an anaphylactic reaction to manifest - By Chris Ebright - Do you ever notice that the shape and contour of a grain of pollen looks eerily similar to the Death Star from Star Wars? Many patients with seasonal allergies probably think George Lucas...
A new option for patient ventilation
Michael Fraley, BS, BA, NRP - EMS1.com Columnists - The GO2VENT by Vortran is a gas-powered device worth considering for disaster plans - Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic over the last few years, there have been concerns that we would not have enough ventilators to care for all the patients who experienced respiratory failure. Although...
The TBI ‘H bombs’
MCHD Paramedic Podcast - EMS1.com Columnists - Dr. Al Lulla breaks down an area where we can improve outcomes - In this episode of the MCHD Paramedic Podcast, join our host, Casey Patrick, MD, FAEMS, assistant medical director for the Montgomery County Hospital District EMS, for a discussion of some of the recent literature surrounding...
