zzyzx
Forum Captain
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From something I read recently, in 50% of patients (those having a broad chest) the 4.4 cm needle used by most EMS services for need decompression is not long enough to penetrate the pleural membrane. I don't understand this, so maybe someone can explain. Aren't you trying to place the needle into the space that has been created between the visceral pleura and parietal pleura? So wouldn't you hit that space as soon as you penetrated the chest wall past the parietal membrane?