Are you ready for 2012? In this month’s edition of posts outside the service area I share some of my favorite posts from the month and resolutions associated with the post. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

EMS Blog Resolution: Jim Hoffman, the EMS Professional, loves EMS bloggers. He shares some of his favorite EMS blogs and also lets you in on a 12 lead ECG secret. Jim regularly shares tips, resources, links, and products that help him as a paramedic and I am sure you will find helpful as well.

2012 Resolution: Share your favorite tips, resources, products, study aids, and more with other EMS students and professionals. You can share on your blog (or as a guest blogger), share with your social networks, share with your colleagues in a simple poster in the break room, or share in a conference presentation.

Celebrate and Encourage Resolution: One of the risks of being a content creator is feedback from readers/viewers. In the age of the internet I am perplexed why readers/viewers would bother reading all the way to the end of an article to write a comment that they didn’t like the article. Over at Looking through the Handle of a Pair of Pink Trauma shears the blogger/paramedic shares a quick story about a bad review comment she received on an EMS World Article.

2012 Resolution: Celebrate and encourage your colleagues that take the risk to share their knowledge, experience, skills, and time in print or video.

Social Media Resolution: I am fond of saying social media is a tool for good and not necessarily a nefarious tool for evil. Dave Konig, the Social Medic, shares how EMS professionals are using social media as a tool for good to help other social media professionals in need. Serving our communities and our colleagues speaks to the greatest potential for social media, to give back.

2012 Resolution: Use social media for a tool for good. Share with your community the events and causes that you support.

EMS Education Resolution: Dan Limmer shares an idea to take new students to an assisted level facility to do a series of vital sign checks and patient histories. Repetition is clearly important to skill proficiency and getting lots of reps in a short time is even better.

2012 Resolution: Create opportunities for your EMT and Paramedic students to assess lots and lots of patients that are as close to “real” patients as possible.

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While wrestling through a written test I had this idea. Each student takes the test on their own and submits their answers for grading. Then in groups of two or three – just like a real patient contact – students answer the same set of questions. While reading the test questions I had occasions, again just like a real call, I would want to say to another paramedic:

“What do you think is going on here?”
“Should we do A or B?”
“When would it make sense to do C?”

Do you allow students to collaborate on test taking?

For online education one of the frequent complaints is cheating. Well why not require students to take the test with a partner.

What do you think?

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University of Delaware Emergency Care Unit

Student run, all volunteer organization provides emergency response to the University of Delaware. UDECU website.

Emory University Emergency Medical Services
911 emergency response by Emory University students: 24-7 to campus and surrounding community.

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I detest the use of these three EMS phrases:

1) Stay and play

2) Load and go

3) Scoop and run

Usage is 10x worse if said with air quotes.

Instead I prefer terms like primary survey, secondary survey, focused history and physical exam, rapid transport, high priority transport, low priority transport, and interventions.

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A week ago Friday was the premiere of the Chronicles of EMS – episode 1 season 1. (view episode 1 in this EverydayEMSTips.com post). As I watched the episode for the premiere I had several ideas of how educators could use the episode in the classroom. Here are my Everyday EMS ideas. Please share your ideas in the comments area:

1. Student recruitment. Play the episode during a career day visit for potential visit. The Chronicles gives a real and balanced view of what EMS is really like most of the time.

2. Safety discussion. Regular readers know I strongly advocate the use of seatbelts at all times and the importance of securing equipment. As students watch the video, ask them to make a list of safety concerns. After watching, discuss those concerns and how to make changes to mitigate those risks. This would also be a good prelude to student’s beginning their ambulance ride time and things they should be doing to be safe and minimize risk during calls.

3. Patient care reports. Assign students to write a detailed patient care report using the episode information and their own imagination for one of the patients. They have these choices – cardiac chest pain complaint, extremity laceration, alcohol intoxication, congestive heart failure, pedestrian vs. car. EMT students, especially, need more patient contacts. The episode featured real patients with real problems.

4. EMS blog discovery. Screenshots of many of the top EMS blogs are shown in episode 1. Assign students a blog (or 5!) to visit and ask them to read and comment on at least three (or 5!) posts at that blog. Encourage them visit all of the blogs and add those blogs to their own RSS feed reader.

5. Film your own episode of the Chronicles. The “back of the rig” chat sequences between Mark and Justin could easily be replicated. Ask students to interview a preceptor.

6. Virtually visit another EMS system. Start with a simple internet search to visit another EMS system in your state, country, and outside of your country. Learn about that system through its website. Look for EMS professionals from that system on social networks. Invite a provider from that system to “visit” your classroom using Skype, GoToWebinar, or other virtual meeting technology.

How else can we use the Chronicles of EMS Episode 1 for EMS Education? I look forward to reading and sharing your ideas.

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This is a guest post by respiratory therapy and EMT-B student Jared Scott. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

As an EMT student, I have come to realize that we are taught very simple life-saving techniques: ABC’s. Airway, breathing, and circulation.Two of these (airway and breathing) fall directly within the same body system– the respiratory system– and as my time in Respiratory Therapy schooling has shown, EMS providers are not taught nearly enough to fully understand the respiratory system and its more complex disease processes and concepts that medics and EMTs run calls on all the time.

Because of this, I would like to use my knowledge as an RT student and share with my fellow EMS providers some excellent respiratory reading material.

Respiratory Disease: a case study approach to patient care

An important part of an EMT or Paramedic’s assessment is evaluating the patient’s respiratory condition. For some patients, respiratory diseases are often a part of their past medical history. Wilkins’ Respiratory Disease gives an in-depth explanation of a number of respiratory diseases that are only briefly covered in EMS education programs, such as Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema, Interstitial Lung Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Asthma, and Bronchiectasis.

Each chapter of the book can be read in roughly an hour or less, and provides in-depth information on the etiology, epidemiology, and treatment of a particular disease, as well as actual case studies, which include lab values, pertinent patient history, assessment, and recommended treatment for the disease(s).

Clinical Applications of Mechanical Ventilation by Chang, David. (2005). Clinical application Delmar Pub.

Many of my paramedic, CCP, and MICT colleagues often transport patients on the ventilator. Quite a few of them have come to me with questions about mechanical ventilation: modes, settings, principles, and so on. I realize that Paramedic school skims the surface regarding Mechanical Ventilation, so this book is for anyone who has ever wanted to know more about it.

Chang’s Mechanical Ventilation provides both a concise and easy-to-read approach regarding respiratory physiology and the practical application of the simplest ventilatory modes (VC/AC, PC/AC), to the more advanced modes and concepts (BiLevel, APRV, intrinsic PEEP).

The chapters are relatively short, but an excellent resource for anyone who takes care of a mechanically ventilated patient. One of my favorite things about this text is that it offers visual examples, and key points are highlighted in the margins.

Clinical practitioner’s pocket guide to respiratory care. Health Educator Publications, Inc.

Textbooks are excellent, but as we all know, they don’t often come in handy in the back of a rig, or even in the hospital setting when you’re knee-deep in patients and don’t have the time to pull out a large book. If an EMT or paramedic were to come to me and ask what is the one resource I would recommend for the care of a respiratory patient, the Clinical Practitioner’s Pocket Guide to Respiratory Care would be it.

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I have used this reference, or how many times I will in the future. It summarizes and highlights virtually everything to do with the respiratory patient, including respiratory assessment, cardiovascular dynamics, pulmonary dynamics, cardiovascular and respiratory equations, respiratory pharmacology, diseases (including a description of each disease, recommended treatment, and much more), as well as CPR and clinical practice guidelines/steps for almost every respiratory procedure.

Another thing I have come to learn that many paramedics and paramedic students struggle with is ABG interpretation and acid-base principles. The best part about this reference, in my opinion, is a detailed chapter on nothing but ABGs, including a handy little chart to help you interpret a blood gas.

These are but a few of the excellent resources I have found to be helpful for both Respiratory Therapists and EMS providers alike. Remember– as a provider in any health care field, it is important to continually educate yourself for the benefit of your patients.

Coming soon: Helpful respiratory links and web resources.

Jared Scott is an RT and EMT-B student in Texas. In his free time, he authors the blog Surviving RT School and is co-host on the new podcast Generation Medicine. He can be found on Twitter (@myrtlife) or reached via email at jared (at) genmedshow (dot) com.

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Tomorrow (1230EST) is the next episode of the EMS Office Hours podcast. Join Jim Hoffman and me for a live conversation on EMS topics for already certified EMS professionals and EMS students.

You can call in to talk to us or use the chat room to submit questions.

Wednesday 1/27 at 12:30 PM EST.

http://blogtalkradio.com/emss

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” Medical Math – Get it Right Every Time “

Date : November 23rd 2009
Time: 1400 hours EST.

This session will target Medical Math, i.e. Drug Calculations. Special guest speaker Buck Feris is an EMS educator that has years of experience helping students who struggle with drug calculations. Several years ago he did some research on the origins of the drug calculation formula and found that it was based on a very simple concept in chemistry called “dimensional analysis.” By teaching the mechanics of dimensional analysis to students Buck has been able to teach them to go beyond the simple memorization of a formula. Some of they key elements of this session will be:

• Helping to finally end the struggle with drug calculations
• How knowing one simple concept will vastly improve your drug calculation skills
• The true mechanics behind drug calculations
• Discovering “dimensional analysis” and how it simplifies medical math
• Modifying one easy formula that will fit all your medical math needs
• Going beyond basic memorization to concrete understanding

If you are a student who is struggling with this subject, or a practicing paramedic who wishes to finally master medical math, this is a course you won’t want to miss.

Don’t let this uniquely focused session pass you by. Space is limited so sign up today.

This EMS Boot Camp session give you the tools and confidence you need to make drug calculations when seconds count.

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A new semester has started for many first time EMT students and EMTs returning to school to be Paramedics. If you are looking for tips and strategies to succeed don’t miss episode 184 of the MedicCast. Rob Theriault and I joined Jamie Davis and a live audience of MedicCast listeners to discuss our top tips for study skills, time management, working with a partner, and more to succeed in EMT class.

Preparation and success in training is one of my favorite topics to discuss. I want to help you succeed. Consider these other programs to get to the top of your class.

1) EMS Boot Camp Session 1 – test taking tips and strategies for EMT and Paramedic students. A webinar that features great question and answer between the audience and me and Jim Hoffman.

2) EMS Boot Camp Session 2 – preparing for EMT and paramedic school. An interactive online training program on how to thrive in school.

3) MedicCast Extra – the bonus content created by Jamie Davis for subscribers to the MedicCast. Inside the extra you will find commercial free podcasts, as well as numerous tips and resources to help you succeed as an EMS professional.

Let me know if you need a guest for your podcast, conference, or staff meeting to discuss how to excel as an EMS professional.

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EMS instructors this EMS1.com Everyday EMS Tips column explains my favorite interactive classroom activity to reinforce the importance of being a good detective and asking patients good questions. Read the explanation – really short – and try this activity during your next class. Then email me or write in the comments how it went. No matter what, only answer the question the student asks and go to the next student for the next question. Don’t allow follow-ups or clarifications.

Remember real patients only look confused when you ask them if their pain radiates. Students need to ask good questions with real person words.

Tell me how you use this activity. Need more interactive class room ideas? Let me know I have lots. I would also like to share your ideas.

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