First Rural Cardiac Arrest...

[Nate]

This is why we need an autopulse.

Big strong country boy will do the trick. :wink:

[island emt]

buying an autopulse will be cheaper than feeding a big strong country boy + smell a lot better !!!!

[firefighter523]

PARAMEDICS CAN NOT PRONOUNCE DEATH.. Yea i could have called the code. But you know that woman that he was married to for 50 yrs was watching and following tha ambulance in to town. so as much as i wanted to call it i also wanted her to know i did all that i could do for her husband including CPR for an hour if needed. Their was NO question in her mind when we were done with our job that we didn't exhuast all available avenues of treatment including transport to definitive care. One of the six points on the star of life if you remember. Even the ED worked on him another thirty minutes before calling the code. And yes by all means take ACLS to the PT. but ACLS is like us, Portable thats why we have ambulances so we can work while we are being driven to the hospital.

We have everything we need and more in the back of our ambulances and yet so many of us are afraid to work in it. No where in any ACLS or Textbook i have ever read has it ever said ACLS can only be worked on scene. That is a stupid thought to have and even worse to put it in to practice. We have Ambulances LETS USE THEM!!!! They are as much a tool of our trade as the monitor and stethoscope. They were built to transport patients. Both stable and unstable.

A bit of Hx. this man was a very active member of the community and had no past medical history. No CHF, No AMI's, No cancer, No hypertention, No anything. had never been on any prescriptions. Just led a simple farmers life. he was also my friend. that too made a difference.

But also what good does it do a PT if they need a treatment that you can not give in the field to remain on scene? things like Hemothorax, pericardial tamponade, things like this that we can not or usually are not allowed to treat. there is not always tell tale signs on the outside to see whats going on inside.

The man collapsed and his heart stopped. well ok. I guess i ll stay here and see what happens. If he opens his eyes and says quit jumping up and down on my chest ... well then ill take him to he hospial. but if he doesn't in 30 minutes well then he's dead. Never mind the fact that he was in a Minor MVA earlier in the day that his family didn't think to mention. I don't have X-ray vision, missed that day in medic class i guess.

Well, I don't know about you, but I was taught that we shouldn't abuse a corps, and secondly, part of this job is being TRUTHFUL, and ABLE to break horrifying news to people. Working a code for 1 hour is a stupid, cowardly thing to do, you are only prolonging the inevitable. We talked about this in a past thread about SIDS. You need to be honest and upfront with family members when THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO DO.

[Lithium]

They were built to transport patients.

Yes, but not very comfortably. I remember when I first started, most services still utilized the 'type 2' high top van units. Let me tell you, I hated working a vsa in those, there simply was no room.

I'm assuming that's why they started buying the type 3 modular units. Much more room, but still, not a very comfortable ride. They're basically placing a metal box, surrounded with some fibreglass on top of a truck chassis. The ride and suspension isn't much fun, especially for the patient.

[JPINFV]

First, note large bump.

But in the hospital there is unlimited help and family members are futher away than right behind you.

So, umm, because you don't want to have to tell a patient's family that their loved one is dead, it's ok to pass that on to the hospital? You are just delaying the news.

Furthermore, please tell me where this ER with an unlimited number of ER docs, nurses, techs, and beds is located so that I can move there. Taking up a bed in the packed local ER and taking away 1/5 of their doctors, ~1/4ths of their nurses (going off of a 3 RN/code in a 32 bed ER with a 3:1 RN:Bed ratio+ charge nurse (scribe (normal charge), plus 2 RNs) for 20-30 more minutes to work this asystole that EMS has brought in is not helping anyone else either. Congrats, your clearn sooner, but now the hospital is even more backed up. Something to think about next time you're holding the wall.

[Dustdevil]

Minus 5 for bumping an old, dead topic with nothing worthwhile to add. :roll:

[JPINFV]

^

minus 7 for being unclear who got the minus 5. The two other posts before me were recent, but I was the only one to acknowledge the bump.

[Dustdevil]

^

minus 7 for being unclear who got the minus 5. The two other posts before me were recent, but I was the only one to acknowledge the bump.

What is unclear? Only one person dragged this dead carcass from the grave.

[BEorP]

What is unclear? Only one person dragged this dead carcass from the grave.

Give him a break... he wanted to give it every possible chance to live. Threads were made to be posted in and now he can leave it up to a mod to lock and and say it's done

[bbbrammer]

You have to look at several things when you decide whether or not to cease (or even start) treatment. My call this weekend was a witnessed arrest that was down for approx 15 minutes before we got there. He was in asystole at the time and I decided to work him. He arrested at 0215 and at 0248 we actually went from asystole to a junctional rhythm WITH A PULSE! Go figure that one. He only lived for four more days, but that was time for the family to say goodbye. Should I have worked him? The bigger question was, "Was there any definitive reason why not?"