Tag: patient assessment
- No Signs Of Circulation ()
Signs of circulation are any movement that would indicate the patient is alive Imagine a patient sitting in a chair awaiting the arrival of the ambulance crew. The patient see the medics come through the doorway. The patient can’t help but think help has arrived. The medics look at the same patient and say to […]
- How To Protect Yourself From Disease During the Primary Survey ()
When the patient is unconscious, they are not in a position to tell you they have a contagious disease. Let’s say the patient is found unconscious. If the ambulance crew doesn’t know why the patient is unresponsive, then how would they know that the patient doesn’t have some contagious disease? If the patient could talk, […]
- What To Do When The Patient Is Unconscious And There Is No MOI ()
When the patient is unconscious, they are not in a position to tell you what’s wrong If the patient had fallen off the roof of their house and was found unconscious, the medics should be thinking head injury or spinal cord injury. If the patient had been hit by a car and was unconscious, the […]
- Meet The Patient With The Primary Survey ()
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. […]
- Manage The Scene With The Scene Size Up ()
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 […]
- Playing It Safe With The Scene Size Up ()
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 […]
- Techniques For Opening An Airway On An Unconscious Patient ()
Patients who are not alert and not talking to you may have an obstructed airway. When your patient is alert and speaking to you, checking the airway is unnecessary (it is impossible to speak through an obstructed airway). When the patient is not alert (and definitely not speaking), you have to assess the airway to […]
- Infection Control Situational Awareness Made Easy with CLOSE ()
As the EMS crew nears the patient, the likelihood of contracting a contagious disease increases with each step. Proximity(ft) Observation Appropriate PPE 10 Cough Wear mask, goggles, gloves 5 Liquids Wear gloves 5 Odor Wear gloves 1 Story Suspicious story? Wear everything 1 Elevated Temp Wear everything The key to minimizing infection is to maintain […]