Recent content by RatMed

In Poland for paramedics it's morphine and ketoprofen. Ambulance docs use much wider variety which includes also: fentanyl, pethidine, tramadol, metamizol and paracetamol.

Call to an epileptic. On our arrival patient is in his bed, still in a seizure, but also his breath reveals that he has massive pulmonary edema - we can hear crackles from the apartment entrance. 10mg of diazepam iv. breaks the seizure and we can start to examine the guy: He's cyanotic, skin...

Couple of shifts ago I had a seizure, then ALOC patient with BGL of 75mg/dl. After iv glucose, in a minute he was GCS 15 and feeling fine. Until we met he's been perfectly healthy and has never had a seizure before. So BGL 70mg/dl may be a bit low in some patients (other possible causes for his...

Character of the pain, radiation, body position and movement influencing it or not? Is this the first time she's in the pain like this? Palpation of the abdomen (and lower ribs)? Peritonitis signs? Auscultation for signs of intestine obstruction? How did the vomit look like (blood present)...

In Poland we're not allowed to perform cardioversion without a doctor's direct supervision so in the field we're limited to antiarrythmics: amiodaron and lidocaine. I've been lucky enough to only encounter SVT and fast AF patients in relatively good condition (still would qualify as unstable...

Slim chance but you can try. Contact me when you get here :)

There is a serious shortage of doctors meeting specialisation requirements AND willing to work in the EMS. For now it's so bad that some companies hire other specialists just to have a doctor on board of an 'S' ambulance. The problem should be solved in another couple of years after enough...

Call to a psychatric patient in the middle of the night. Guy in his 50s sits on a bed looking scared like hell. He tells us: 'guys, sorry to bother you at night but something strange happens to me: I can see people in this room. I woke up, lit the lamp and saw them standing there. I know they...

Couple of random pics.

EMS in Poland is public and financed by the government. Ambulance services, together with hospital ER's and emergency dispatch centers, form the integrated system of emergency medical rescue. Emergency call number is 999 or 112. Ambulance services in majority are operated by publicly-funded...