Tag: patient assessment
- Seizures ()
Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain. People are diagnosed with epilepsy when they have had two or more seizures. There are many types of seizures. A person with epilepsy can have more than one type of seizure. The signs of a seizure depend on the type of seizure. Sometimes it is hard to tell when […]
- Getting SPASTIC With Altered Mental Status ()
What is altered mental status? Altered mental status (AMS) is a disruption in how your brain works that causes a change in behavior. This change can happen suddenly or over days. AMS ranges from slight confusion to total disorientation and increased sleepiness to coma. What causes AMS? AMS can be caused by physical, psychological, and […]
- Reassessment ()
Once the patient has been loaded into the ambulance, the assessment continues. Did the patient’s bleeding actually stop? Is the patient no longer looking like they had a stroke? Is the patient becoming confused? Exactly what to look for depends largely upon what was initially found during the primary survey. The reassessment includes the primary […]
- The Focused History & Physical Examination ()
The focused history and physical exam answers the question, “why am I here?” When the EMS crew is confronted with a patient who has a medical problem but there is no mechanism of injury, the medics have to figure out the complaint and formulate a differential diagnosis. A differential diagnosis is a temporary or working […]
- How To Look For Injuries ()
When a serious mechanism of injury is the cause of the patient’s condition or the patient is unresponsive for reasons unknown (after looking for an explanation of the loss of consciousness by using the NACHOS pneumonic), the ambulance crew needs to look for injuries. The EMS crew needs to look for injuries that could be […]
- Modifying Assessment Based On Age ()
Pediatric Pediatric patients are treated specifically based on their age. For all practical intents and purposes, pediatric patients are patients who are under the age of 8 or have secondary sex characteristics. Older children (acting age appropriate) can be assessed and managed the same as adults. Assessing a pulse on an infant is performed by […]
- The Patient Interview ()
The patient interview is the only conversation that an EMS provider has with all of his or her patients that will remain exactly the same no matter how many calls he or she runs in their career. Signs and symptoms Most conditions are described by their signs and symptoms. Signs are things that the EMS […]
- What Is A Significant Mechanism of Injury? ()
A significant mechanism of injury is a force that could result in an injury so severe, the patient could die from it or suffer a debilitating injury for the rest of their life. What exactly constitutes a significant MOI? According to the CDC, examples of a significant MOI would include: Falls of greater than 20 […]
- When To Ask Questions Or Look For Injuries ()
Asking questions is what medics do when there is no mechanism of injury If the ambulance shows up to the scene of a 911 call and does not find a mechanism of injury, how would they know why they are even at the patient’s house? The answer is simple, ask the patient. If the patient […]
- What The MOI Means To The Primary Survey ()
EMS personnel should always be on the lookout for a mechanism of injury (MOI). The MOI is force that results in injury to the patient. Injuries are easy to see (if you look for them). Obviously, not all MOI’s are equal. A person that tripped on a rug in the living room probably won’t have […]