My instructor in EMT-B school did a 5 minute passing stop on penetrating trauma, and i was wondering if anybody has any tips or tricks that are used for it? Where i will be working I can expect a high number of stabbings and GSW's. Any help\advice is good help to me!
She did not spend anywhere near as much time on it as I thought she should have? Maybe its because it'll be above my pay grade, i don't know, i was just wondering for tips or things of that nature to make me feel more comfortable.
Prehospital trauma is honestly pretty simple- especially at the BLS level. If they're bleeding, stop it; if their airway is closed, open it; if they're not breathing, breathe for them. BLS has pretty decent save rates because there's really not much you can do. Have very short scene times (5-10min max) and get them to difinitive care.
My teachers number 1 rule to prevent "freezing" and not knowing what to do was "remember how you got there, you came in an ambulance, worst comes to worst, load them up and take them back in an ambulance", which sounds like this is the case for my question
I'm sure ERDoc means get to the hospital quickly, not drive fast.
Driving fast is not the answer. Not wasting time on scene is an answer, and driving safely to the hospital is an answer as well. Sure, use your lights and sirens, but do so SAFELY.
Sorry- but after 25 years I have become tired of hearing "drive fast" as an answer to anything. STXmedic provided a great answer. Those are the things you can fix or control at the BLS level. And at the ALS level, for trauma there isn't much more beyond pain control, more advanced airway measures, and needle decompression.
Yeah, my comment was meant as tongue-in-cheek. There are obviously things even BLS can do such as hemorrhage control but what a true trauma pt, as presented by the OP, needs is a trauma surgeon.
My instructor in EMT-B school did a 5 minute passing stop on penetrating trauma, and i was wondering if anybody has any tips or tricks that are used for it? Where i will be working I can expect a high number of stabbings and GSW's. Any help\advice is good help to me!
Whether at the BLS level or ALS level, the treatment is the same: control bleeding (if you can see it), airway management, and take them to a trauma center to fix them up. ALS might dart them, but that's not as common as some would have you believe.
Too many paramedics forget that a true trauma needs a surgeon to repair the damage, not a prehospital provider. Minimize your on scene times, if you are on scene for more than 10 minutes, you need to rethink what you are doing.
