Jun 2, 2014

On this week’s show, Scott Kier is joined by Sean Eddy from Medic Madness, and first time podcaster the Chicago Medic Jeff Sorenson. After the recent incident where two Michigan paramedics were caught on camera allegedly smiling and “posing” while taking care of a patient, the trio discuss humor and its place in the field. What place does it have in patient care? How do we use it to deal with those more frustrating or stressful calls? How can we prepare new providers for the type of humor they are going to encounter? Do you want to find out the answer to these questions and more? Take a listen below! Read more from Sean Eddy on his blog Medic Madness. Follow Jeff Sorenson on Twitter. To download this week’s podcast, click this link!  Otherwise, use the player...

I feel bad following up yesterday’s positive CPR piece with a negative one, but I feel like something needs to be said in a greater forum than just the timeline of my Twitter account. I spent Wednesday night reading some articles that I had put aside this week, specifically ones related to the paramedics who were allegedly photographed “smiling” at the scene of a motor vehicle accident and what can loosely be referred to as “reporting” by Fox 2 in Detroit.  I would link the original story but Fox 2 has pulled it from circulation without explanation.  I am not going to beat the dead horse of the issue revolving around the picture.  If you want to read some great articles about it check out Dave Statter’s page, or see what the Rogue Medic has to say about it. After reading a few articles and looking over the Twitter feeds of those involved, I decided that I would make a simple attempt to voice my opinion.  I posted the following four tweets and called it a night.   What I woke up to was a reply from Maurielle Lue, one of Andrea Isom’s colleagues at Fox 2.  Ms. Lue, who states on her Twitter profile that she is an “Emmy Award Winning reporter” posted the following reply on my timeline:             That’s right; an Emmy Award Winning reporter told me to “STFU.”  While, with that simple statement, she lost all credibility in my eyes, I engaged in a lengthy 140 character at a time discussion with her that ended with her telling me I should contact the station if I was so upset.  I took Ms. Lue’s advice and sent the following e-mail to Kevin Roseburger at Fox 2.   Mr. Roseborough, I am writing you in regards to the story that your station did last week about the paramedics who were thought to be smiling at the scene of a motor vehicle accident.  Last night, I sat down to catch up on a number of EMS related stories that I had bookmarked, your story and Dave Statter’s (Statter911.com) thoughts on it being towards the top.  After reading both, as...

Yesterday afternoon I received a press release from Physio Control in my email, and it is a story that I think needs to be shared.  PulsePoint, a revolutionary app designed to notify users that somebody nearby might need CPR played a key role in saving the life of a patient in Portland, Oregon. An off-duty firefighter was working out at is gym when his phone alerted him that somebody outside in the parking lot was unresponsive.  Scott Brawner of the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue followed the app’s map to the patient’s side.  57 year old Drew Basse was unresponsive in the gym’s parking lot and found to be pulseless and apneic.  Scott started CPR until paramedics from AMR and the Clackamas Fire Department arrived on scene. Because of the app, a trained provider of CPR was at the patient’s side in less than two minutes.  Firefighter Brawner’s actions, along with the paramedics from AMR and the fire department completed the vital chain of survival that the American Heart Association rightfully promotes as being so vital to survival in sudden cardiac arrest.  The actions of everybody involved in this call resulted in the patient, Mr. Basse’s expected full recovery. It is really remarkable what we can do with technology these days.  While there is a serious shortage of people who are willing to help in situations just like this one, there are still people out there who are willing to make a difference.  Apps like PulsePoint make that possible.  Without Scott Brawner’s presence on May 9th, there could have been a life threatening delay in an emergency where seconds truly count.  While most people would opt to call 9-1-1, and stand back to let someone else take care of the problem, Mr. Brawner allowed the trained he received as a firefighter which, coincidentally is training that anybody can receive, guide him through the treatment that his patient needed until more help arrived. It amazes me that PulsePoint is not in place in more communities around the United States.  Currently, there exists a huge gap in the chain of survival.  In-hospital care is improving.  Pre-hospital care is evolving.  The gap exists though in what happens before...

May 26, 2014

On this week’s episode of EMS in the New Decade, Scott Kier and Ben Neal talk about an inspirational conversation they were part of while sharing a few Happy Hour drinks at a bar called Huck Finn’s in New Orleans at the tail end of EMS Expo 2012.  What started out as a group of medics swapping war stories turned quickly into a conversation about pit crew CPR led by Tom Bouthillet from EMS 12 Lead and Code STEMI that was the jumping off point for some major changes in Ben’s EMS system. So crack open a beer, sit back, and enjoy a night at Huck Finn’s with Scott and Ben. To download this week’s podcast, click this link!  Otherwise, use the player...

As I talked about briefly last week I was recently asked to work a little bit with a paramedic class.  My purpose for being there was two fold.  I was expected to help them review for their National Registry EMT test, and I was also asked to prepare them for the test.  Personally, I feel that these are two completely different things. Way back in 1999, my paramedic instructor told us something very early on.  He said when it came to the paramedic exam and the Massachusetts Office of EMS, “the sky is purple.”  That is to say how we feel about a question and whether we think its answer is right or wrong based on our real world knowledge is a moot point.  We had to be book paramedics, and as far as the book was concerned, the sky was purple. This is not the fault of the authors.  They produce information in a clean form, and one that cannot possibly be updated as fast as the field moves. Revisions take time, and information in industry publications is moving and evolving faster than that in books.  Study the books for the test material (purple sky) but also educate yourself outside of that when the time is right to prepare yourself for the field (blue sky). When we review for a test, we make sure that the information is in our heads.  We talk about things sometimes to the point of exhaustion to make sure that we understand mechanisms, why things work, and concepts behind information that we are expected to know.  Reviewing information makes sure that it is in our head, and that we have retained the right stuff.  Test prep is a completely different animal all together. Test prepping prompts us to then take that information and apply it in answer form to whatever questions are being asked, whether it be multiple choice, narrative answer or true and false for example.  We know the knowledge and information is there and now we need to put it into a readable form that lets someone know that we “get it.” Multiple choice test taking specifically is a skill that one must have if they...