Prehospital Emergency Care back issues from January 2003:
Prehospital management of acute tachyarrhythmias
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Arrhythmias are commonly encountered by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. The potential seriousness of acute symptomatic arrhythmias necessitates thorough up-to-date training of EMS personnel. The three most common acute tachyarrhythmias, not linked to cardiac arrest, ...
Preshospital therapy for acute congestive heart failure: State of the art
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Acute congestive heart failure (CHF) is one of the most common syndromes encountered in emergency care settings. Correct diagnosis and treatment for pulmonary edema, the most common acute manifestation of CHF, are of primary importance as misdiagnosis can result in deleterious ...
Current issues in cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Current Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) guidelines and emergency medical services (EMS) clinical protocols usually recommend immediate defibrillation for victims of out-of-- hospital cardiac arrest who have ventricular fibrillation (VF). However, animal studies and results ...
Alternative cardiopulmonary resuscitation devices
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) involving manual external chest compression combined with artificial respiration was first described in 1960 by Kouwenhoven et al. (Kouwenhoven W, Jude JR, Knickerbocker GG. Closedchest cardiac massage. JAMA. 1960; 173:1064-7). In the four ...
Prehospital asthma management
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT The treatment of acute asthma exacerbation consumes a significant portion of emergency medical services (EMS) system resources. Because few studies have addressed EMS treatment of asthma, most EMS providers model their approach to treatment on strategies thought to be effective ...
Management of the violent patient
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Emergency medical services (EMS) providers must often manage violent or combative patients. The data regarding violence against EMS personnel are poor, but according to studies conducted thus far, between 0.8% and 5.0% of incidents to which EMS personnel respond involve ...
New developments in health and medical preparedness related to the threat of terrorism
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Since 1999, and particularly the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the federal government has sought to prepare against the threat of bioterrorism by developing a comprehensive national "preparedness and response" program that encompasses state and local health agencies. In ...
Pediatric mental health emergencies: Summary of a multidisciplinary panel
Jan 01, 2003; ... PEDIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: SUMMARY OF A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PANEL* ABSTRACT The World Health Organization has estimated that by the year 2020, neuropsychiatric disorders will become one of the five most common causes of morbidity, mortality, and disability ...
Treatment of pediatric and adolescent mental health emergencies in the United States: Current practices, models, barriers, and potential solutions
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Mental illness significantly impairs the lives of 10% of all children and adolescents in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health. Brief Notes on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Mental Health, 1999). Of the myriad ...
Influenze immunizations provided by EMS agencies: The MEDICVAX project
Jan 01, 2003; ... SIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS ABSTRACT Objective. Emergency medical services (EMS) agencies may be an underutilized resource for provision of preventive health services. This study sought to demonstrate the feasibility for EMS agencies to provide influenza immunizations. Methods. This ...
Emergency medical services screening of elderly falls in the home
Jan 01, 2003; ...ABSTRACT Objectives. Previous studies of injury prevention among the elderly have focused on care by community-based services for the elderly. The plan for this study was to determine whether emergency medical services (EMS) could be a valuable partner in an injury prevention program ...
Prehospital on-site triaging
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Objective. To estimate the proportion of patients transported by emergency medical services (EMS) who do not need immediate emergency medical care. Secondary objectives were: 1) to evaluate the ability of paramedics to determine which patients need immediate ambulance ...
Effectiveness of a medical priority dispatch protocol for abdominal pain
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Objective. Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) protocols are used to determine the appropriate level of emergency medical services (EMS) response that is sent to care for patients in the prehospital setting. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of ...
Air medical helicopter accidents in the United States: A five-year review
Jan 01, 2003; ... A FIVE-YEAR REVIEW ABSTRACT Objective. To determine the number of air medical helicopter accidents in the United States during a five-year period beginning January 1, 1997, and ending December 31, 2001. Methods. The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB's) Accident ...
Reducing ambulance diversion: A multihospital approach
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Objective. To evaluate the impact of procedures for reducing ambulance diversion in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York. Methods. This was a retrospective review of procedures for reducing ambulance diversion at the system-wide and hospital-specific levels between ...
Temporal trends in ambulance diversion in a mid-sized metropolitan area
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Objectives. To evaluate the amount of ambulance diversion in an emergency medical services (EMS) system and to investigate potential predictive factors. Methods. Ambulance diversion status of hospitals in the four-county metropolitan Portland, Oregon, area has been recorded for ...
Assessment of nationally registered emergency medical technician certification training in the United States: The LEADS project
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Objectives. To describe the adequacy and characteristics of emergency medical services education as assessed by a population-based sample of emergency medical technician (EMT)-basics and EMT-paramedics from the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Methods ....
A survey of first-responder firefighters' attitudes, opinions, and concerns about their automated external defibrillator program
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Objective. To identify barriers to first-responder automated external defibrillator (AED) use by determining firefighter attitudes, opinions, and concerns about their AED program. Methods. An anonymous survey was mailed to all firefighters in a municipal department ...
Stress Test
Jan 01, 2003; ... SIRENS Stress Test Awaken at 2:05 a.m. Chest pains. To the hospital? ...
Pneumococcal vaccination: An opportunity for emergency medical services
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT This report examines the literature regarding pneumococcal disease and the current state of pneumococcal vaccination. Improvements in medical care have reduced the number of deaths from pneumococcal disease. However, vaccination is still the most effective measure. The U.S ....
Characteristics of fire station walk-in patients
Jan 01, 2003; ... ABSTRACT Objective. To characterize the use of fire stations for walk-in health care and compare utilization patterns of fire stations in lower-income areas with those in higher-income areas. Methods. The study was a retrospective review of emergency medical services (EMS) ...
Guidelines for withholding or termination of resuscitation in prehospital traumatic cardiopulmonary arrest: A joint position paper from the National Association of EMS physicians standards and clinical...
Jan 01, 2003; ... POSITION PAPER NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EMS PHYSICIANS A JOINT POSITION PAPER FROM THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EMS PHYSICIANS STANDARDS AND CLINICAL PRACTICE COMMITTEE AND THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS COMMITTEE ON TRAUMA POSITION STATEMENT The National ...
Unsolicited medical personnel volunteering at disaster scenes: A joint position paper from the National Association of EMS physicians and the American college of emergency physicians
Jan 01, 2003; ... JOINT POSITION The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) believe an organized approach is needed for the utilization of unsolicited medical personnel who volunteer to respond to disaster scenes or mass-- casualty ...
Successful patient outcome after field extremity amputation and cardiac arrest
Jan 01, 2003; ... CASE CONFERENCE CASE REPORT On November 2, 1999, at approximately 1220 hours, an 18wheel tractor-trailer (TT) was traveling southbound on interstate 35W within the city limits of Minneapolis, Minnesota. As the TT approached a curve to the right at a high rate of speed, it ...
Drug Reference for EMS Providers
Jan 01, 2003; ... DRUG REFERENCE FOR EMS PROVIDERS By RICHARD K. BECK. New York: Delmar, 2002, 868 pages, $26.95 (softcover) Drug Reference for EMS Providers attempts to address the minimal amount of material that prehospital providers need to know about medications that are often ...
Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook
Jan 01, 2003; ... SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES MEDICAL HANDBOOK EDITED BY COL. STEVE YEVICH. Jackson, WY. Teton NewMedia, 2001, 642 pages, $49.00 (softcover) The latest edition of the Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook has been long overdue. The famous previous version is now more ...
The Paramedic Review
Jan 01, 2003; ... THE PARAMEDIC REVIEW By BOB ELLING AND KIRSTEN M. ELLING. Albany, NY: Delmar, a division of Thomas Learning, 2002, 343 page and companion CD, $35.95 (hardcover) To paraphrase the late Abbie Hoffman, buy this book! I like this book. Having said that, I feel ...
Pharmacology for Prehospital Emergency Care, 2nd Edition
Jan 01, 2003; ... PHARMACOLOGY FOR PREHOSPITAL EMERGENCY CARE, 2ND EDITION BY RICHARD K. BECK. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis, 1994, 307 pages, $32.95 (softcover) The intended audience for this text is paramedic students. Paramedic education is moving toward university-based education ...
Principles of Advanced Trauma Care
Jan 01, 2003; ... By MICHAEL W. HUBBLE AND JOHNSIE P. HUBBLE. New York: Delmar/Thomson Learning, 2001, 736 pages, $57.95 (hardcover) This textbook "is intended to serve as a complete source of paramedic education on trauma," mainly within the framework of an emergency medical services (EMS) ...
EZ ECGs, 2nd Edition (Video and Booklet)
Jan 01, 2003; ... EZ ECGs, 2ND EDITION (VIDEO AND BOOKLET) BOOKLET DEVELOPED BY CINDY TAIT; VIDEO PRODUCED BY STEVE KIDD AND JOHN CZAJKOWSKI. St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 2001, softcover booklet 101 pages (video approximately 40 minutes), $34.95 Emergency medical technician (EMT) ...
Men in Black
Jan 01, 2003; ... On the fourth evening I could taste the drizzle, but could see nothing in the darkness of the night, Just days ago we could taste the salty hurricane, and thought we would never again see light. How was it that I was so fortunate my home was not gone? Most at the shelter just felt lucky to have ...