DirtJerZ

Im not trying to suggest that spo2 is the best diagnostic, but there are too many things missing from the assessment to determine what type of distress the patient is currently in. I do not know very much about v/q mismatching but will research it.

I need some quick ideas. I seem to have hit a slump in my IV skills. I have an uncanny knack for finding every valve or anomaly lately. Where would you recommend I go to get back on track? I'm an Intermediate working very part time and also in a volunteer service. I don't have the luxury of someone standing over me helping me through every stick. Any ideas? Go to phlebotomy school? volunteer at the plasma center? I'm working on an A & P course but I need practical help. I am sure someone has had this problem before me. HELP!

Heres the best advice i ever got, "Just do it." Its true, if you think about it too much youll psych yourself out and miss more often. I placed this concept into action and found myself becoming more and more confident, and it works for intubations too People by me, like to call these skills "Monkey skills." they say you can teach a monkey to do it, but understanding why and when to do it, is alot more important.

Has anyone heard of or have in their protocols: give 1mg of atropine to a symptomatic bradycardic patient after an administration of .5mg with no change?

If they are symptomatic, we start a line, try 0.5mg of atropine and go to pacing, after we have capture and the patients BP is normalized we can try some versed for sedation. If your definition of symptomatic is the same as mine it means unstable and our protocols are pretty cut and dry.

Well, was the patient febrile? was he in acute distress, what was he doing when it started, how was his bloodpressure? Was there any jvd, peripheral edema, was he diaphoretic, mild, moderate, severe distress. It sounds like pneumonia too me, from what little info you did give, if it was pneumonia in my state he would be going bls to the hospital, 99% spo2 is better than mine. And too many questions about what his actuall level of distress was? are you a paramedic?