Tension pneumothorax: How capnography and ultrasound can improve care
Bob Sullivan - EMS1.com Columnists - It is important to differentiate tension pneumothorax from conditions with similar symptoms, and to avoid performing inappropriate needle decompression - Tension pneumothorax is a condition that can quickly cause death from respiratory and circulatory compromise . Prompt recognition of tension...
Back to the basics: Chest trauma
Limmer Education - EMS1.com Columnists - Flail chest, tension pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade and pulmonary contusion have unique presentations, but all jeopardize vital functions - By Chris Ebright - Welcome to another edition of Back to the Basics! This time around, I thought I’d discuss chest trauma. The reason being, injuries to...
Quiz: Test your knowledge of supraglottic airway devices
Michael Fraley, BS, BA, NRP - EMS1.com Columnists - How much do you really know about supraglottic airway management uses, contraindications and techniques? - The EMS industry has seen significant changes in the available airways for patients needing positive pressure ventilation. For many years, the only option was to have an advanced...
On-Demand Webinar: How to get through documentation and reduce risk of Medicare audits
EMS1 Sponsored - A PCR can take 10 times longer than the call, but this webinar can help EMS agencies cut that time and provide complete call information - Webinar sponsored by Forte Holdings iPCR - Register to watch the video - Yearly Medicare auditing in EMS is not a matter of if, but when. The most common way an agency will get...
First, do no harm: With the vent
MCHD - EMS1.com Columnists - 5 ways to protect the patient during mechanical ventilation - We get many of our ideas for podcast topics directly from our MCHD field medics. Recently, a discussion came up around best sources for a vent basics lecture and, of course, one answer was to check out the podcast. Surprisingly, this topic has...
Should the EMT scope of practice include supraglottic airway placement?
NAEMSP - EMS1.com Columnists - The NAEMSP Discussion Forum debates EMT training, capnography considerations - By EMS MEd Editor, Maia Dorsett, MD, PhD, FAEMS, FACEP, @maiadorsett - In February, we posted the following Discussion Forum stem: - EMS is dispatched to a cardiac arrest at a residence with bystander CPR in progress. - The...
5 tips to provide safe and effective ventilation
Michael Fraley, BS, BA, NRP - EMS1.com Columnists - Assign someone to monitor the patient’s airway visually and with capnography using these five tips - Your EMS crew has just sat down for dinner on a peaceful evening when the tones sound for an ATV crash. A rural first responder discovered the scene as he was enjoying the trails...
Hyperoxia: Too much of a good thing
Limmer Education - EMS1.com Columnists - Three significant consequences of routine, excessive oxygen administration - By Chris Ebright - Oxygen. We love it, and it keeps us alive. The atmosphere contains 21% oxygen, and we exhale, on average, 16%. Thus, with the billions and billions of cells within our body, they operate using only 5%...
