Lifepack

[EMSpassion94]

Hi all. I was just curious as to if your company uses a Lifepack? Particularly the Lifepack12. And if so, can you trust them? I've been on a few calls where the Lifepack was totally opposite of my manual vitals. And I rechecked twice, and even had a Medic take manual to make sure(God forbid) i wasn't taking manual vitals wrong. If you do, how do you like the Lifepacks? Any feedback would be great.

 

[Icenine]

I assume you're referring to the bp's?

We've had some issue w/ them but only while moving. Tube length needs to be as short as reasonably possible, cuff secured tightly, and don't let the tube sway much or rest on the rail.

With those things taken care of ours is within 5. Pulse ox is accurate, but actual pulse can be off. Depends on whether the pulse ox is counting or the qrs counter.

 

[Hockey]

Mine is within usually 4-5mmHg.

I always start out with manual. Had a 2 patient call today and as I was taking the BP on one dude on the bench, I threw the autocuff on the other patient. Once I got BP on both, i switched and it was actually within 2mmHg. After that I left it on the one patient and just did manual on the other one. I've seen some 30+. Just matters on if your patient is moving, tube twisted etc.

I prefer Zoll's but that is what I used through Para school

 

[Chief Complaint]

The county i did my internship with trusts the LP12 religiously. So much that ive never even seen anyone take a manual set of vitals. Sounds crazy right? Granted, i only rode with a handful of medics, but it seemed to be the norm.

The LifePak was always taken into a call, and was the first part of most treatment process'. I inquired to a couple of medics about what i had read regarding innacuracies and they were very confident that the BP, pulse, and pulse ox were always accurate.

Im not saying that these guys are special, they just seemed to be informed as if they had tested manual vs. LifePak and didnt see any real problems. Ive got to assume that the BP could be wrong due to many factors (tube length, the tube resting on the cot, a properly placed cuff).

I was just a student so i didnt want to criticize them, but it seems odd to me that no manual vitals were taken. Ive seen/taken some pulse rates manually and found that they were darn near spot on. Doesnt mean they dont have an issue though.

I think there is a much larger room for error when taking BPs, that is something that i will always do before hooking them up the LifePak.

 

[EMS_Monkey]

On our ambulances we dont use the Lifepak for BP SPO2 or pulse. We have a separate machine (cant remember brand or model right now) that does SPO2, BP, and pulse in the ambulance. The first BP is always done (unless its a serious load and go situation) by hand, the first spo2 and pulse is with handheld pulseox. The system works well and I have never had reason to doubt the readings.

 

[the_negro_puppy]

We use LP 12s for monitoring, defib, pacing, cardioversion 12 leads etcs and they are extremely accurate. If in doubt take a manual BP.

 

[MrBrown]

We also use the LP12, for a brief period we switched to Phillips MRx but Brown believes we are going back to the Lifepak.

Considering we have been using the Lifepak since the Mobile Life Support Unit pilot project in 1972 why stop now?

 

[CANMAN]

I too trust the LP12 or 15 but it is all in your monitor maintenance as well. Our monitor's are serviced once a year and calibrated, they also check to make sure it's putting out the correct joules etc etc.

If in doubt on the pulse ox change a EKG lead to a SPo2 waveform. I do this 100% of the time just to know the Spo2 I am looking at is fairly legit or not. I normally monitor 2 leads and the Spo2, or an EKG lead, Spo2, and CO2 for resp. patients etc.

 

[Simusid]

Our policy is to get a manual first before we use the NIBP. I don't think I've had a bad/unreasonable reading except when the ambulance is moving. and in those cases, as I recall, this was fixed with better positioning of the cuff, not over clothing, and probably a smoother road.

 

[firecoins]

Lifepack 12s has been accurate for me.

 

[EMSpassion94]

That's how my station is-- everyone uses the LP12 religiously, almost NEVER taking manual vitals. As a matter of fact, i've never seen anyone even take them manually. No one sees a need to take manual vitals BECAUSE "we have a LP12 to do that for us." I see this as a little odd, seeing as how machines CAN be wrong sometimes. When I do get the calls with abnormal vitals, such as high BP or PR, do you think I should take a set of manuals, just to be safe?

 

[ArcticKat]

I've used the LP12 in both ground and HEMS with no real problems, provided you use common sense. Occasionally the road will be so bumpy that you get 3 sets of pressures at the 135/82 range and the next one is 220/196.

It's pretty obvious that there was likely interference and that you either need to push the button again while attempting to mitigate interference or do it manually.

On scene we always take a manual BP first, but then move to the LP12 for the remainder of the VS monitoring.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Have you guys noticed a difference between the coiled tube and the straight tube with NIBP on the LP12? It seems like the coiled tube always gives me odd pressures when I'm en route.

 

[Fox800]

Manual BP first on ALL patients. Followed by LP12 monitoring. If there is a significant difference then we must continue taking manual BPs through transport.