Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()
Subscribe: RSS
[audio:23_GreyCloudsAndAmiodarone.mp3] (53:00) Is Ron still a white cloud if he visited both level 1 trauma centers in one ambulance shift? Find out about Halloween in the hood.
Cardiac drugs, new ACLS guidelines and the Noah’s Ark drug. Video laryngoscope and a description of your vocal cords that a fireman can remember. Learn what kind of patients don’t respond to atropine.
Listener Questions
When will I feel comfortable? When will I feel like I know what I’m doing? – Sabrina
I am a teen in Arizona. Do you have any suggestions for me to sort of jump start my education with medicine and EMS? – Amy
My question is if Kelly would comment on a few cases which have come up over at ems1.com between here and the UK about medics ignoring someone who asks for their help during break. I think doctors are required by law in some places to respond if someone asks if there’s a doctor in the room. How does that work with Paramedics/EMTs? What’s the balance between catching your breath and getting someone the help they need? – Chris
Mentions:
Emergency Cardiac Care 2010 Update Interview on Mediccast.
http://www.mediccast.com/blog/2010/10/18/ecc-2010-update-interview/
stileproject.com look it up yourself cuz this is a hardcore porn site with gory trauma video.
Subscribe or review on iTunes.
Didn’t you mean describing the vocal cords that even a Logtown graduate could remember?
Hi everyone,
Even without Stileproject, one common video is of frog hearts. During undergrad physio lab, one of the experiments was measuring EMGs and frog legs. Which, of course, required harvesting fresh heart legs via a procedure that started with removing the anesthetized frog’s heart.
For paying attention in class, ask if your professor if you can audio tape the class. This way even if you don’t get the majority of the information while sitting in lecture, you can go back and listen (or watch) the lecture later. In fact, one of the dirty little secrets of medical school (if people knew what medical school was like, they’d probably stop seeing physicians) is that a large amount of students (possibly a majority) don’t actually attend class since most schools record (some audio, mine does video and uses a program called Echo360 to match the audio/video up with the lectern computer display) their lectures. I, personally, find it much more efficient to go through lecture at 2x speed in the comfort of my room after setting up my study guide from my text books and primers than sit in class.
Finally, regarding the FDNY dispatchers, my understanding is that all of their dispatchers are licensed EMTs, even though they don’t work in the field. While I agree that they most likely couldn’t do anything to treat the condition, I think one of the most important “interventions” provided by EMS is a trained, calm individual who can take control of the scene.
No, Ron is not a white cloud anymore. Sorry, dude…
The video scope y’all are talking about is the AirTraq. They are good and fairly inexpensive (about $80 – $100 each). You can learn more here: http://www.airtraq.com/airtraq/portal.portal.action Long story on the whole removal issue but I won’t get into it here.
Thanks for the discussion on Malignant Hyperthermia. I was given a lesson on it during my last OB clinical shift and was wondering about it in EMS. None of our patients experienced it, but it seems to be a hot topic in the hospital setting right now.
Thanks again!
Randy, as a Logtown graduate, you were destined to be a fireman. They go hand in hand. 😉
Thanks for answering my question about lazy providers refusing services. Keep them comin!
The podcasts that is 🙂
Way too much chit chat! I came to learn not to hear what you guys wore to the prom!!
Darn, that’s disappointing.
I thought everyone was dying to know what I wore to the prom.
Ron, Kelly,
I’ve been listening to your podcast since the start, and now I’m upgrading my CFR card I got back in August to an EMT-B. My Class starts in Feb. Any tips for a guy entering an EMT-B class?
I’d say the biggest advice would be to go back and listen to the first 12 episodes of Confessions of an EMS Newbie. 🙂 That’s my time in Basic and I asked all kinds of basic questions.
Ep 1 :http://www.emsnewbie.com/2010/06/ep-1-newbie-emt-fears/
There are also a few posts back then that have some tips to getting started and buying gear.
When I started my CFR class, I splurged on myself (signed up for it on my 18th birthday), and got myself a Littman and a MDF BP Cuff, as well as a nice Timex watch. Granted, I’ll eventually add a set of trauma shears to the mix, but as it is a college course (I’m a freshman in a small private college in Central Mass. studying fire science, and this class is worth 8 out of 17 credits I am attempting next semester), I’ve already got a crapload of pens. (Lost more than my fair shar during high school, so I got a 24-pack of pens, cheap, and came to college prepared. 🙂 )
I know and understand EMS, but I keep questioning myself if I’m going to be able to remember it all. :/
Are you going to be able to remember everything, especially as you advance past EMT? Nope, however what’s important is understanding where to go for reference, what the pieces of the individual parts of the history and physical point to, and a good idea of the processes for various diseases. You definitely won’t be able to remember every single sign or symptom for every single disease process. Similarly, your patients aren’t going to present with every single sign and symptom of their disease state(s).
Similarly, procedure wise, a lot of what is taught in EMS is utter baloney. For example, when it comes to taking a history and physical, there is no one single right way to do it. Every one has their own take on how to do it that’s comfortable for them. The individual steps, and the order thereof, isn’t important provided that all of the pertinent parts are covered in a timely manner, even if the skill sheets try to set a one single correct way to do it.