PCP

Thanks RaceMedic. It always sucks when you get news of a fellow paramedic being involved in a accident. It does not happen very often but when it does it sure reminds me of how dangerous our job can be while driving.

Welcome to the City! I am looking forward to your thoughts and comments as it is always great to learn from a dinosaur!

I just learned that one of our crews has been involved in a ambulance MVA rollover accident while transporting a patient. The patient had to be transferred by air to Edmonton and the one paramedic after being treated in Fort Nelson for their injuries was then transferred to a larger facility. Please be safe out there everybody!!

Hang in there my friend! I have questioned myself a couple times as to if I picked the correct profession and I always end up with the same answer " YES " I love what I do even when things go bad. It takes a special person to do what we do and I feel you have what it takes just by your post. Have fun, learn, and always talk about what you are feeling or ask quesitons after a call to see if there is something you can do better next time. Sometimes things end bad in this profession as long as you know you have done everything possible within your training for that patient then stand tall and keep your head up! Your classmate is an idiot!!

How did the interview go?

So by the looks of it we can all agree that giving Ventolin would be a good treatment for both patients. I never thought about adding a few cc's of saline to help flush out the pepper spray.

This might be a silly question. I was working with fellow paramedic yesterday and she told me about a call she had done the other day and the question of treating a patient with a hx of COPD with Ventolin after being pepper sprayed came up. She and her partner had been dispatched to a pepper spray incident that occured. There was approx. 15 people who had been pepper sprayed, and out of those 15 people they had two patients who both had a hx of COPD with complaints of SOB after being pepper sprayed. Now the question is would you treat this pt. with Ventolin due to their hx of COPD and complaint of SOB and would it help or not? I know Ventolin would cause bronchial dialation which in turn would help their breathing but my thinking is without being able to flush out the pepper spray would they not continue to experience SOB until the pepper spray was flushed out? Brian

I can only speak for myself when I say that I change the sheets, pillow case, and towel after every call. I feel that my patients deserve to have clean sheets. I always make up a new blanket wrap as well. I will even go as far as getting a warm blanket out of the oven at the hospital for my patient, especially if they are an elderly patient or a child.

Would you not want to attempt to use the brachial pressure point along with elevation of the limb first before going straight to the tourniquet?

What if you are a BLS car and all you can administer for pain is Entonox? Would I be wrong to attempt to have dispatch page out the ALS crew to come and administer pain medication if I felt that my patient would benefit from stronger pain medication which I don't carry on car? The town I work and live in we can be at the hospital within 10-20 code 3. Would it benefit my patient or just delay transport time if I paged out ALS to administer pain meds.?

Just call me Master Yoda!

Read a story about a person who lost their arm just below the elbow due to a blast that occured at a gravel pit. The story states that a blast had gone off which caused rocks the size of a baseball to go flying in the air . This person was blocking their face by putting up their arm and by doing so, a rock severed their arm just below the elbow due to the velocity behind the rock from the blast. My question is upon arrival would you do the direct pressure with elevation, brachial pressure point or go straight to using a tourniquet? I know the area where this occured and the time between dispatch and the arrival time would be approx. 8-10 minutes. With that in mind and the severity of the injury my initial thought would use the brachial pressure point with elevation, then bandage the severed limb and last if needed put on the tourniquet. That is of course if there is substantial amount of bleeding. I have never done a call with a severed limb before so not sure how much blood loss occures or how active the bleeding is or would be on arrival. What do you think you would do?

All great advice! As a parent who has lossed a new born child. I would not wish this upon my worst enemy! What ever you tell the parents make sure it is the truth and remember when you tell them be ready to comfort the parents the best you can. Never tell them that it is going to be okay or you know how they feel. Tell them you are sorry for their loss, hug them if needed, ask if there is family members that you can contact for them. Let them grieve in their own way. They may scream at you,hit you, fall to the grownd, pass out, or not say anything. Just remember it is not your fault and that you and your partner did everything that could be done. Before leaving just make sure there is someone else there for the family as they should not be left alone after such a loss. Just never lie! Brian

Yup! That would be a painful for sure! I think that also would make for an interesting call as well. Somthing one would remember for a long time. Lucky man.

Lone Star, You can do this man! When I took my Primary Care Paramedic course I had some difficult times and thought I should drop out as I was having a hard time with certain portions of the program but I didn't as my wife would kicked my ass and I knew I could do it. I just had to study twice as hard as everyone else. As many have mentioned there are plenty of people on this site who are willing and want to help you get through the program. Don't give up and don't ever ever think you bit off more than you can chew! I wish I could help you but you are above my skill level so all I can offer is support and positive comments any time you need them. Keep your head up and remember there are many great medics on this forum who are your friends and can help. YOU CAN DO IT!

It all depends on whether I fell I can help or not. I do carry a first aid kit in my car which has come in handy a few times. The road I drive on between the mine site has no cell service and is pretty dangerous due to the sharp cornors and logging trucks driving on the road. So if I come across an accident I do stop and help anyway I can until an ambulance arrives. Which can take up to half an hour or more. If I see an accident in town and it looks minor then I usually don't stop as I know there will be an ambulance along with fire there pretty quick. If the MVA looks bad enough then I do stop as more hands on scene the better. As DFIB mentioned when it comes to a family or kids that look like they need help then for sure I will stop and do what I can. If I did not have any equipment I would probably still stop at a bad car accident and do what I could or for anything for that matter as I have the training and knowledge so why not put to use! That is just me though

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you and your mom. Nothing I say will take away the sadness and pain but hopefully knowing that you can always turn to the ones on this site for comfort hopefully will help you through this tough time. Take care and remember we are here for you.

I sure will and same goes for you. If you are ever heading over to the Island let me know.

The patient was 91 years old, so yes it is possible that a physician is aware that some form of obstruction is present. Now I had a chance to check up on my patient later in the day, and he was scheduled for surgery the next to fix his broken hip. I should have added as well that I spoke to the nurse again about an hour later and she mentioned that when she check the pulses again that they where both equal, strong, and regular. zero hx of a by-pass surgery. The pt. did have a cardiac hx but I can't think of what his condition was at this time.

Good luck on your test Welcome to BC and you never know once you pass your exam and start working for BCAS I might see you on car when I go full time in Vancouver in a couple years! I work for BCAS out of Nanaimo right now along with a few ALS paramedics but I don't think any of them are on this site. I will ask next time I am at work and talk to a couple of friends that work on the ALS cars in Victoria and see if I can get any tips for you. Brian

This is not a joke but about a news article I read last night which I thought was pretty funny. A lady brought brownies to work last week and three of her co-workers started to experience light headed, numbness around the lips, and a headache. After they had been transported to the hospital and some investigating had been done it turned out they had eaten a brownie from the fridge at work. Well it turned out that the brownies that the lady had brought to work where pot brownies that her son had made and put in the freezer over a year ago and forgot about them. Had to share that story with you guys as I thought it was pretty funny! Only In BC would that happen!

Man I could not imagine trying to get a job as an EMT for two years! I don't understand why it is so hard to land a job down in the US as a EMT? Is it because there are so many EMT basics looking for work down there? Don't give up as your turn will come!