Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
-
Although death education is a standard component in most medical schools and nursing programs, few include instruction on dealing with sudden death. Typically, death education courses overlook instruction in areas germane to emergency medicine, e.g., making death notifications, interacting with survivors during the immediate grief period, and reducing professional stress innate to working with newly bereaved persons. ⋯ Topics include death perspectives and awareness, death typology, cultural and religious considerations, communicating with bereaved persons, making death notifications, and dealing with initial grief reactions. Units of instruction are outlined, including educational goals, descriptions of units, teaching strategies, and supplemental readings.
-
One of the highest priorities for prehospital emergency personnel is airway management. Several rescuer positions for intubation on the ground have been published. ⋯ Using four case reports, situations in which inverse intubation may be an important tool for successful airway management are discussed. Other uses of the method are listed.
-
To determine whether paramedics can safely use a spinal clearance algorithm to reduce unnecessary spinal immobilization (SI) in the out-of-hospital setting. ⋯ An out-of-hospital spinal clearance algorithm administered by paramedics can reduce SI by one-third. Any application of a spinal clearance algorithm should be accompanied by rigorous medical supervision.
-
The need for valid and reliable emergency medical services (EMS) data has long been recognized. EMS data are useful for monitoring resources and operations, documenting patient care and outcome, and evaluating injury prevention strategies. The goal of this project was to develop a computerized data set with the capability to generate a patient care record (PCR) to overcome some of the current EMS data limitations. ⋯ This computerized approach overcomes many limitations inherent with using paper-based systems for research. Linked with emergency department, hospital discharge, and mortality data, EMS data can be used in systems analyses related to patient outcome.
-
The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) recommends that medication storage temperatures should be maintained between 15 degrees C and 30 degrees C (59 degrees F to 86 degrees F). Concerns have been raised that storage temperatures in EMS may deviate from this optimal range, predisposing drugs to degradation. This study was conducted to determine whether temperatures inside the drug box carried by paramedics aboard a helicopter remained within the range. ⋯ Medications stored aboard an EMS helicopter are exposed to extremes of temperature, even inside a drug bag. Measures are needed to attenuate storage temperature fluctuations aboard aeromedical helicopters.