Finally ! Someone who cares about BLS and EMT's

[JPINFV]

Screwing up GCS is nothing. The clinical genectist that came in a taught a class told us a story of a PMD who screwed up reading a Huntington's Disease screen. Huntington's Disease is caused when a triplet repeat on chromosome 4 goes past 36 repeats. Now the screens come back with two numbers, one for each chromosome. The poor patient's PMD decided to add the numbers together (it was something like 17 and 23), and told her that she was going to develop Huntington's Disease eventually. Oh course she goes to see the clinical genetists, he takes one look at the test and tells her the good news.

 

[Foxbat]

Many, many, many articles and I didn't even have to use my medical search engines. JCAHO now also has several measurements in place to see how a hospital is dealing with the pain of a patient.

Just type in Pain Trauma Mortality or Morbidity.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=trauma+pain+management+morbidity&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Ah, I must have used wrong keywords. Thanks.
I'm still surprised that little attention is paid to it in EMT-B and ITLS classes, though.

 

[CAOX3]

I'm sure they do, but they have access to ECG and additional training. And at least here, paramedics only pronounce after a four lead shows asystole and they call medical control to obtain approval.

Are you just arguing for the sake of arguing, or do you support the idea of basics pronouncing?

Yes Im arguing just to argue, thats productive.

In my system our statues are written as yours, the only difference no medic, nurse or medical doctor has to confirm or pronounce, if obvious signs are present the EMT can pronounce.

We havent had a problem that Im aware of.

 

[BLSBoy]

The advantage of paramedics is that they have more tools in the box for when things go wrong. Anecdotally, it's unfortunate that they use so few of them, which in my view hurts some of the arguments made here. At least where I live, if the only reason a paramedic is called is for pain relief, then you'll be dissapointed - a patient with a fracture or dislocation (or any other condition) may be in great pain but the paramedics (either because of their inclination, or that of their medical director and protocols) will not give analgesics. I can't tell you how often I've transported a patient where every bump was agony.

I'm guessing you live in an area where the Medics all wear white shirts, are paid poorly, and mostly all have bad attitudes?

Being a Medic in Jersey in the far South, we have started reevaluating our pain protocols, and our docs are allowing much more to be administered, in both the number of pts and how much we give, as long as it is clinically necessary.

 

[Akulahawk]

Out here, Santa Clara County used to have a "Field Pronouncement" protocol... A few years ago, they changed the terminology to something like "Field Determination of Death".

What makes thing interesting is that if I was working in that county, I could determine someone dead after following a given protocol... but a Deputy over there could do the pronouncement... Go figure.

 

[EMSLaw]

I'm guessing you live in an area where the Medics all wear white shirts, are paid poorly, and mostly all have bad attitudes?

Being a Medic in Jersey in the far South, we have started reevaluating our pain protocols, and our docs are allowing much more to be administered, in both the number of pts and how much we give, as long as it is clinically necessary.

Got it in one. I'm glad to hear that there are advances being made. Be nice if certain other projects got onboard.