Anyone who has driven an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens knows that it can be fun, it gets your adrenaline bumping, and a lot of us become giddy, like a kid in a candy store. But with some of us, it activates our innate road rage tenancies. Other than the obvious, it’s fun and [...]
When it comes to working as a first responder, EMT, Paramedic, firefighter, or something else, how do you feel about your personal level of fitness? Do you feel like you are physically and mentally ready for whatever the job throws at you, or do you think there is room for improvement? I think for most [...]
As a first responder, we have a duty to the public. If someone calls 911 for any reason, we have a duty to help them whether it’s a medical emergency, trauma, psychiatric issue, or something else. We have a duty to help achieve the best possible outcome. However, just helping when they ask for help, [...]
In part one of this series we talked about the indications, contraindications, MRI conditional compatibility and what medications can be administered via an intraosseous route. Today we will further unpack the specific needle sizes, driver options, usage and potential anatomic sites for insertion using the EZ-IO system. As stated earlier, intraosseous access should be reserved [...]
For years, intraosseous (IO) access has been considered the “hail mary, last ditch effort” of vascular access. The procedure was often only utilized after all other repeated intravenous (IV) attempts had proven unsuccessful. What if intraosseous access could be utilized earlier? What if we could prevent the dynamic downward spiral that often accompanies multiple unsuccessful [...]
One of the many benefits working for DistanceCME as an instructor is getting to work with some of the greatest emergency responders in our nation who utilize our platform to stay current with their continuing education (CE). Though most students come to learn from us, we learn a lot more from them. For example, we gain [...]
Were you ever told not to give Ketamine to your head injury patients, hypertensive patients, increased intracranial pressure (ICP) patients? I was taught that. “Early studies suggested that ketamine could increase intracranial pressure, decreasing cerebral perfusion pressure and thereby reducing oxygen supply to the damaged cerebral cortex.” (NIH, 2022). There have been 11 recent studies [...]
As of 2017, it is reported that at least 75 percent of American adults are overweight, obese, or morbidly obese, so it is not surprising that more and more people are trying to lose weight. I know that we have all heard about the recently popular weight loss shots: Ozempic (Semaglutide), Mounjaro (Terzepatide), Wegovy, Zepbound, [...]
Have you ever wondered what do to with your career as an EMT or paramedic? The obvious choice is to work on an ambulance, either for a fire department, private company, or government run entity. But not everyone wants to work on an ambulance, not all ambulance jobs pay enough to support you, or maybe [...]
I understand that discussions about wearing masks for protection from COVID can evoke some strong emotions and differing opinions. However, I believe that using basic math we can come to the realization of what truly works and what does not work. Let’s first look at what is a virus and the sizes of viruses: A [...]
