mshow00

We transport bodies for the coroner, rarely, but we do. Sometimes if it is a suspicious death, the deceased has no funeral plans set (or the funeral home hurst is out already), or they are going to the morgue we will transport the bodies. I consider it an honor, and attempt to give the family a sense of final peace and respect. Just FYI.

Seeing as how I live in the Great state that Blago "runs" my only point is, in the end, the King of Illinois will only grant another pawn that is easily moved with money the goveners' seat.

That seems to be more about the times, not so much the fact they showed up in a pov. Did you see the witness list, a who's who of Drs. I am supprised that that it went the say it did.

This is just like everything else in the field, benefit vs risk. What will happen (either potentially or actually) vs the possibility of loosing that persons' trust for the next time. I mean if you get a call for an accidental injury at a school the child at some point confesses to you that his injuries are a result of a couple of bullies. Now option1 is say something to school/parents etc. they "get involved" and the next week you get called for an assault the same pt, only now he has a sever TBI due to the retaliation for "tattling". Option 2 you don't say anything and your pt brings a gun to school and "fixes his own problems". Option 3 again you report it up the proper chain, only to have this kid withhold pertinate information the next time to pick him up. I know this is an extreme example, but the concept is the important part, risk vs benefit.

Just a point of order here: the term "spinal immobilization" is out the new PC term is "SMR= spinal motion restriction" At least here where I am from anyway, thanks to Mr. Lawyer; apparently in a court case it went like this: "How can he be immobilized and still be able to move? So you lied!".

I have only given it once as a paramedic student doing my ER clinical... lady OD on H and sollowed several kinds of pills with a fifth as a chaser (not real sure of the order). She walked upstairs passed out and someone scene called 911. She was brought in in a BLS unit (only truck available, very very rare). The Dr ordered IV access, ET on stand-by, Narcan, NG tube, and charcoal. They nixed the ET, and let me do the NG and give the charcoal. Their charcoal came in the caulk-like tube and the tech that set it up for me and cut the tube to short. Needless to say it got everywhere, I spent the better part of an hour cleaning that room up after she was sent to ICU. As for on the streets, we don't carry it and I'm not really sure. Most of our ODs are narcotic based, with the new thing seeming to be eating patches (morphine and fentanyl being the most common)

He is the first LODD for this company, and the first in this area of IL to die since I started here two years ago. http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Home/D...mp;pageId=1.1.1 MedStar employees are mourning the loss of a colleague. A Washington Park based EMT was found dead during his shift Saturday. 24-year-old George Schaub had went out on a call around midnight, when he returned he laid down for a nap and never woke up. Schaub was working a 24 hour shift and co-workers say had been recovering from a cold. His partner tried to wake him up Saturday morning at the end of his shift, but couldn’t. Friends and coworkers say Schaub was a young, vibrant, guy with no known health problems. It’s not known what caused his death. Schaub’s visitation will be held Tuesday in Belleville. ******************************************************************************** *************************** http://www.legacy.com/Belleville/Obituarie...sonId=120302899 George G. Schaub III, 23, of Belleville, Ill., born April 27, 1985, in Belleville, Ill., died suddenly and unexpectedly Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, at Memorial Hospital, Belleville, Ill. George was an EMT for MedStar Ambulance Service. He was also a firefighter for the French Village Fire Department, where he was an Explorer Trainer. George had also been a member of the Villa Hills Volunteer Fire Department since the age of 13. He was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, Gil and Florence Schaub; a grandmother, Helen Hawk; and a grandfather, Paul Edward Stell. Surviving are his wife of one year, Kristan M., nee Kerth, Schaub, whom he married Nov. 11, 2007; his mother, Penny E., nee Rutherford, (William) Stell of Belleville, Ill.; his father, George G. Jr. (Erica) Schaub of Granite City, Ill.; his mother-in-law, Samantha Kerth of Belleville, Ill.; three sisters, Lisa Schaub, Amber Schaub, and Kim Schockey; two brothers, William Stell Jr. and John Stell; his grandparents, George G. Sr. (Della) Schaub of Belleville, Ill., Martha Schaub of Belleville, Ill., Jack (Lacine) Rutherford, and O'Ray (Edith) Graber; nieces and nephews; aunts and uncles; and many cousins. George is also survived by his MedStar and fire department families. Memorials may be made to the Backstoppers of St. Louis. Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.rennerfh.com. Visitation: Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008, and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008, at George Renner & Sons Funeral Home, Belleville, Ill. Funeral: Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008, at George Renner & Sons Funeral Home, Belleville, Ill. Burial will be at Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery, Belleville, Ill.

Thank you reaper that will be of great help. My family and I thank you for your prayers.

My Grandma was just Dx with lung Ca a couple of days ago. At this point they do not know a whole alot about it (kind, how bad, what Tx plan etc). I was wondering if anyone in FL (Avon Park area) can tell me about how DNR orders work there, and if there are other "advanced orders" we, as a family, can discuss. Thanks for any help or direction.

I was reviewing our protocol over sickle cell crisis and it stated that we can give the pt MS IVP (standard 2-4mg) or SQ (2-5mg). I can't figure out why the SQ. Our protocol allows us the fastest and slowest onset with nothing in the middle. Why not IM? We only have protocols and equipment for IO in peds, so that is out. I have plan on seeing one of our medical control Drs on Tuesday to ask him this question, I am just attempting to see if I can find out sooner rather than later.

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Home/D...mp;pageId=1.1.1 Lawsuit: Locked Up Defribulator Could Have Saved Son Last Edited: Monday, 10 Nov 2008, 9:46 PM CST Created: Monday, 10 Nov 2008, 9:46 PM CST D.J. Chastain SideBar By Mandy Murphy (KTVI - myFOXstl.com) -- Two years ago this past October, 15 year old DJ Chastain collapsed on the basketball court and died. He had a heart condition that had never been diagnosed. He appeared perfectly healthy and had just passed his physical. Silex High School had an AED, a defibrillator used to shock the heart back into rhythm but it was in a locked office. DJ's mother Billie Houghton has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school arguing Billie's practice was too long and too hard and that the defibrillator could have saved his life but it was locked in an office. The school's attorney denies any wrongdoing and says the coach is still heartbroken over DJ's death. The coach did CPR until paramedics arrived. Our Fox 2 investigation found many schools don't have AEDs because they fear litigation. Experts say schools worry where to put the device and how that could open them up to lawsuits. Under the sovereign immunity law, a school cannot be held liable. Silex high school offered Billie a nominal settlement and assumed no responsibility. Their attorney said everything possible was done to save DJ and they are saddened by Billie Houghton's loss. Billie would like to see schools be required to have AEDs and limit the time of sports practices. I read this and wondered if the schools' fears are justified. What are your thoughts?

As a still learning paramedic student fresh out of ACLS, I don't see anything wrong with what you did. Was the Doc wanting you to bolus her up to 100 sys so you could give the Nitro? I say good call on the Fentanyl MOA, as we give MS for its pain and anxiety effects with the vasodilation being just a nice perk so Fentanyl seems a perfectly good substitute. Please correct me if I am way off base here.

Thank you guys that is what I was thinking, I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss the train.

Is the pulse weak? Is there a difference in b/p from arm to arm? What about pedal/sacral edema? For starters it sounds like his heart rate is to fast to properly profuse his extremities. Depending on those answers, I would treat him as stable V-Tach (150 mg Amioderone over 10 mins and then drip of 900mg/500cc ran at 1 mg/min for the first 6 hrs [etc]). At least this is my inital thoughts, correct me if I have missed something please.

He was speaking more about bowel sounds when saying it was a waste of time. He does not want us to be/become protocol monkeys nor does he want us to be "Mother may I?" paramedics. He is teaching/challenging us to use all of our assement skills, teamed with the tools and "tricks" available to be confidant in our Dx and subsequent Tx. Bowel sounds, to do honestly, takes too much time, heart sounds are good but are hard to hear, esp. going 3 down the road; not to mention I have never seen a paramedic check them (not saying they didn't just never seen it). He was attempting to give us a trick to R/O a tension pneumo vs hemopneumo and to tell by resonance (teamed with the rest of the assessment) which side to decompress. I'm sorry if the explanation above was incomplete.

If you look at the Springfield MO area, where Bob Page is from, the paramedics in that system give lytics in the field based on presentation and the 12 lead. If you think about it time being key to the level of damage done to a heart then their pts have the absolute best chance at a fast recovery from a small infarct. All because of the trust the doctors have in the medics ability to read and correctly interrupt the 12 lead.

Allow me to expand a little on what he was saying, they are important however with a seriously short transport time (5 mins or less in our area), there are more important things we need to gather...

No one is as yet reported to have died. One officer was shot on the chest, the other in the neck per on scene EMS... http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Home/D...mp;pageId=1.1.1 (KTVI - myFOXstl.com) -- An early morning shooting outside a Granite City sports bar has reportedly left two off-duty St. Louis City police officers wounded. The two are hospitalized, one with blunt head trauma and another with serious gun-shot wounds. As of this report, it appears that one off duty officer who shot him. A civilian was also injured in this scuffle. An attorney who represents St. Louis city police officers tells FOX 2 that several off-duty city officers had been attending a wedding and as they were driving around 1:15 this morning, a car cut them off. A scuffle ensued outside Mac and Mick’s Sports Bar in Granite City and a St. Louis City officer, who'd been struck in the head, fired his weapon in self-defense, wounding another off-duty officer. FOX 2 will bring you more details as they become available.

He really wasn't on duty, but then as it is, are we ever truly off duty? A St. Louis firefighter who thought he was helping a motorist after a wreck Wednesday evening instead found himself confronted by an armed carjacker who shot the firefighter and left him dying in the street. Minutes later and a few blocks away at the northern tip of St. Louis on Riverview Drive, the carjacker fired at St. Louis County officers, who shot back and killed the man, ending a carjacking spree that authorities called "chaotic" and pieced together based on witness accounts. The suspect was identified as Christopher Brandon, 19, of St. Louis. The firefighter, Leonard Riggins, died later at a hospital from a gunshot wound to the chest. Riggins, 52, was a 15-year veteran of the St. Louis Fire Department and left behind a wife and two sons. "He stopped, he tried to help, and he was shot for no reason at all," said St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, speaking at Christian Northeast Hospital on Wednesday night. Authorities were still trying to reconstruct the chain of events Wednesday night but said it appeared Brandon killed the firefighter carjacked or attempted to carjack four cars within a span of minutes. They had no motive for the crimes by Thursday afternoon. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stor...47?OpenDocument

A simple question... Do you really percuss the chest of a "suspected" pneumo to determine if/which side the pt requires a decompress? It is a simple enough trick of the trade, but how practical is it? My paramedic instructor is teaching us to do it, but then says stuff like don't worry so much about heart sounds in the back of the rig as they are too hard to hear, don't listen to bowel sounds as it takes six minutes(you would be at the hospital by then here) etc. Just trying to get some impute here, Thank you.

Remember everyone, You can't fix stupid. It is overwhelmingly clear to me that the ignorant fool is just that. Maybe if we are lucky and ignore this moron long enough he will go away? Oh! and by the way ass clown, God hates idolarty.

Not necessarily, you don't really need to see to locate anatomical landmarks, not anymore. How hard is it to find the sternum at the nipple line? I do see the point of removing the top for AED pads and the hands free for the defib unit. As far as the moniter leads, they should be placed with the top on when "in public". As for the OP, I heard this story years ago long before I got into EMS, and have always been told that it is more urban legend than anything else.

That was one of my thoughts; Flash PE secondary to sudden onset L CHF. I also though prolonged hypoxia (with end organ damage) due to a CVA/TIA or SZ, or an apneic period the night before. My partner saw the ER doc yesterday and asked about the pt. The doctor said the pts only issue was being acidic (unknown what the pH was). Never would have guessed that.

postictal does not fit as she is alert and apparently oriented, the V/S dont really fit nor does the scene give the impression. The bed is in perfect order save where she slept, and she does not fit your typical postictal state. No history of seizures (which I know does not mean a lot). Almost as if her and her brother have some degree of MR, or similar life long neuro deficit. She can not speak but can shake her head. I dont have an answer for that yet but wil try.

My former partner told me about this call she had today, I have no clue so I thought I would share here: Called out for 44 y/o female unresponsive... AOS to find 44 y/o woman in bed laying in the right recovery position (exactly as she feel asleep) she presents with a bloody sputum/emesis coming out of her mouth, on her bed and on her clothes. She appears to have facial droop. She responds to verbal stimuli, attempts to verbally respond but can not. Mother states pt has an unknown neuro deficit history. (Pt appears to have long term neuro deficit that runs in family) Mother states pts only other history is stomach ulcers. V/S: B/P:142/58 P:120 R:20 slightly labored and SPO2: 84% on Room Air BGL: 146 BBS: Rhonchi (all fields) Skin: extremities-cold and dry core-hot and diaphoretic Pupils: PERRL 3lead: Sinus Tach w/o ectopy. Pt denies chest pain, head ache, and has equal weakness on both sides. Paramedic established 18 GA NS lock in Left hand, placed on 4LPM( O2 sats increase to 95% with single Albuterol tx) Transported to ER 3 miles away... Anyone care to venture a guess at what is wrong with her? (if you need more info please ask and I will do the best I can to obtain the answers)