Ask A Medic

you are more than a white cloud to go that long without a call.

 

your telling me. One of my partners is the black cloud of hell, and I stopped all calls while on shift with her.

 

wow you are a white cloud with a silver lining then.

 

Longest I remember without a call was a month. Damn 3 months? Holy hell!!!!

 

it's not like i work is a slow ass town, We do 1500+ calls a year witch is not to bad for where i am from. But i was also working per diem shifts in another town that avg 800 calls a year and between both I had no transport for 6 mo. and no call for 7 consecitive shifts.

 

just got bit by a racoon, do I have to chop its head off and drink its blood to make sure I dont get rabbies?

 

ouch.

why yes, and you must make a loincloth from its fur too, skinned under a full moon.

 

thanks doc....might have to kill 2 racoons to make a loincloth big enough for my johnson.

 

^^ i have a massive one hanging out by my house come kill mine..

 

Johnson? Why don't you feed it and call it your own?

 

So looks like CPR has changed again?? and its no longer checking the ABCs but check the CAB???

 

is a KED only for automobile extraction or lets say you have someone with a spinal injury in a place where you can't fit a backboard, like in thick woods, would it be good to use in that situation also??

 

Yup. Or people in chairs that you can't get them on a regular spine board properly.

 

thats correct, as long as they are extricated to a spine board, litter, toboggan or vacuum splint asap, because its not a full body splint. KEDs can be used as spinal immobilization for babies. it works really well for that.

 

I have seen keds used for hips injuries too

 

Huh. thats a new one to me. will have to remember that...Vacuum splint is almost always my first choice for hip Fx since (other then MVCs or Skier vs tree type trauma), Hip Fx seem, in my experience, to be 99% geriatric pts, who benefit greatly from not being stuck on a rigid backboard. that being said a vacuum splint should be packaged to a LSB to actually be rigid. Ive seen some providers skip that step, and its not great. it could fold in half if the vacuum seal is lost.

Another old school trick is to wrap a sheet around the abdomen-to-thighs area and twist it tight to kind of snug and secure the area. we did that at the service that was too cheap to supply vacuum splints. ("they cost WAY too much, and we seem to lose one every time it goes to the hospital" Anyone ever heard that excuse ? )

 

Mine was from wrecking a kx85. Right hip fully dislocated by 5 inches out of the socket.They tied my right leg to one of the hand holds on the left side of the board for the 1 1/2 hour ride over. The emt was just a low level so he couldn't give me drugs which meant my leg had to stay where I had minimal pain.

 

Alright, i got a round for some emt's and medic's.

1) What do you do typically at a heart attack call, and what is the most advance thing a paramedic can do on it?

2) Can Paramedics/EMT stitch people up (did i spell that right)?

3) What do you guys typically do when someone complains they cant breathe/chest pains?

4) What is the most advance and the most typical thing you guys do to control bleeding?

5) When you're not on a call what do you do...(i know this sounds like a stupid question)?

 

As an emt,
1. O2, nitro if possible and transport immediately.
2. Not that I am aware of.
3. O2 and immediate transport
4. Direct pressure / turnoquet
5. Work as an avionics tech on corporate aircraft and play around in my wood shop.

 

Sorry , misread #5, usually sit around and wait for the next call and study for emt advanced (next level in the food chain)