Published in EMR. Tags: patient assessment.
The primary survey identifies and treats patients who are in immediate need of resuscitation The primary survey is how EMS meets every patient. The objective is to identify and treat patients needing resuscitation. Resuscitation is the action or process of reviving someone from unconsciousness or apparent death. There is nothing academic about the primary survey. […]
Published in EMR. Tags: ems operations, patient assessment.
EMS is always looking for a mechanism of injury After the scene has been determined to be safe (or at least not obviously unsafe), the EMS crew needs to determine if there is a mechanism of injury (a force that could cause injury). When there is no mechanism of injury, the patient must be ill […]
Published in EMR. Tags: ems operations, patient assessment.
If a house was on fire, would you still go inside the house? When a patient calls 911 and summons the ambulance crew to their home, a set of things are usually set in motion. The fire department and possibly the police are responding the the scene as well, who are sometimes needed to ensure […]
Published in EMR, EMT. Tags: airway management, artificial ventilation.
Air movement In normal ventilation, the lungs are stretched out by the ribs and diaphragm. This creates a vacuum resulting in air filling up the pharynx and filling the lungs with air. In positive pressure ventilation, air is pushed into the patient’s pharynx with great pressure. The air fills the dead space of the airway […]
Published in EMR, EMT. Tags: airway management, artificial ventilation, shock and resuscitation.
When the patient is unresponsive and demonstrates any deficiencies with rate, rhythm, or quality in breathing, the patient probably needs to be ventilated with a pocket face mask or bag valve mask. The easiest and smallest device that would give the provider the ability to ventilate without performing mouth to mouth resuscitation is a pocket […]
Published in EMR, EMT. Tags: airway, airway assessment, artificial ventilation, respiratory.
The primary survey is where we figure out if the patient is conscious or needs ventilation During the primary survey, the ambulance crew meets the patient face to face and makes some quick observations. Is the patient conscious and talking? If so the airway is clear. Is the patient not alert (not talking)? Then the […]
Published in EMR, EMT. Tags: airway management, oxygen administration.
The nasal cannula (NC) is a device used to deliver supplemental oxygen or increased airflow to a patient or person in need of respiratory help. This device consists of a lightweight tube which on one end splits into two prongs which are placed in the nostrils and from which a mixture of air and oxygen […]
Published in EMR, EMT. Tags: airway management, oxygen administration.
Portable Oxygen Cylinders Ambulances typically carry D and E cylinders. These cylinder are portable and allow the ambulance crew to bring oxygen to the patient prior to transport. D cylinders carry 350 liters of oxygen and E cylinders carry 625 liters of oxygen. Anything that flows can be measured with a unit of volume (just […]
Published in EMR, EMT. Tags: airway management.
The patient in this picture is unconscious. Normally, we could ask the conscious patient about the status of their airway and breathing, but this is different. As explained before, the airway must be assessed in an unconscious patient. This involved opening the airway with a manual maneuver, then looking, listening, and feeling for breathing to […]
Published in EMR, EMT. Tags: airway management, respiratory.
Conscious patients are easier to determine airway and breathing status When a patient is conscious and experiencing respiratory distress, they usually just tell anyone that will listen that they can’t breath. Nonetheless, clues abound for the respiratory distress patient: Rapid respiratory rate The patient lungs make sounds as they breathe The patient is unable to […]