MichMedic

As an active EMS provider for the last 14 years, I have seen patients that have had spinal column injuries with out complaint of pain and ambulatory on scene, How ever, I do agree that most of the time I see the patients in the hospital cleared by a physician in the same manner applied in this article. The patients I have encountered had bone injury to the spine without cord damage; this is only picked up on X-Ray not on a physical exam the majority of the time. I wouldn’t mind a means of clearing a patient from a backboard in the field that would keep myself and my service protected in litigation through a systematic and approved Clearance of spinal injury, but until there are clear cut conclusive protocols I’m stuck with back boarding every trauma patient. (Which I hate doing) Given the slow changes that come to EMS In general, Pre Hospital Care providers are on average held to the highest standards then even the in-hospital providers because if something went wrong it is always blamed on EMS whether it was our Fault or not, and doctors and nurses come down harder on any minor mistakes by EMS providers then any other providers of care across the boards. There is the reason for CYA in the field it isn’t pretty but there for a reason. Michael Maczynski EMT-P (Michigan) As an active EMS provider for the last 14 years, I have seen patients that have had spinal column injuries with out complaint of pain and ambulatory on scene, How ever, I do agree that most of the time I see the patients in the hospital cleared by a physician in the same manner applied in this article. The patients I have encountered had bone injury to the spine without cord damage; this is only picked up on X-Ray not on a physical exam the majority of the time. I wouldn’t mind a means of clearing a patient from a backboard in the field that would keep myself and my service protected in litigation through a systematic and approved Clearance of spinal injury, but until there are clear cut conclusive protocols I’m stuck with back boarding every trauma patient. (Which I hate doing) Given the slow changes that come to EMS In general, Pre Hospital Care providers are on average held to the highest standards then even the in-hospital providers because if something went wrong it is always blamed on EMS whether it was our Fault or not, and doctors and nurses come down harder on any minor mistakes by EMS providers then any other providers of care across the boards. There is the reason for CYA in the field it isn’t pretty but there for a reason. Michael Maczynski EMT-P (Michigan)