Join Dr. Dickson and Dr. Patrick live from the Texas EMS Conference with a special guest! Today we’ll discuss prehospital ventilator management as a precursor to the lectures Dr. Patrick and Clinical Chief Jordan Anderson will be giving at the conference.
What would you do if you encountered a patient who you were unable to transport or even extract due to extremity entrapment? At MCHD, we asked ourselves this exact question and decided provide an answer in the form of a field amputation protocol. Dr. Justin Hensley joins the MCHD medical directors to discuss the details and pitfalls associated with implementing a plan to amputate a limb in the field.
The decision to administer paralytics may well be the most significant decision that we make as emergency providers. We have to understand and know paralytic pharmacology 100% stone cold. Join Dr. Patrick today for a review of our two most commonly encountered paralytic medications - succinylcholine and rocuronium. Homage to the old school and an investigation of newer practice shifts will be given equal airtime. References: 1. Tran DT et al. Rocuronium Versus Succinylcholine for Rapid Sequence ...
Dr. Dan O’Donnell serves as the Medical Director for Indianapolis EMS, as well as Medical Director for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police S.W.A.T. team. Central Indiana has been one of the epicenters for the growing opiate epidemic and Dan joins us to discuss a novel approach that IEMS has taken to combat this devastating public health crisis.
Too much of a good thing can always end up being bad. On this episode, Dr. Patrick summarizes the ever increasing evidence that not only does supplemental oxygen not help in patients with reasonable O2 saturations, it likely is harmful in many commonly encountered disease states. Join us for some first-class mythbusting. References: 1. https://dundeechest.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/why-do-copd-patients-retain-co2-when-given-too-much-oxygen/ 2. Chu DK et al. Mortality and Morbidity in Acutely Ill A...
Lowering tidal volumes in effort to reduce lung injury following initiation of mechanical ventilation is far from a new idea, the original ARDS-NET data are nearly 20 years old. Lung protective ventilatory strategies have progressively been shown, from the ICU and now into the ED setting, to decrease ventilator days, ICU/hospital stay and overall mortality. This discussion covers the original ARDS-NET study, causes of ventilator induced lung injury, and closes with MCHD’s efforts to initiate lun...
Peds EMS wizard, Dr. Greg Faris, joins us again on the podcast to discuss pediatric out-of-hosiptal cardiac arrest. This topic gives us all a bit of nausea and tachycardia. We’ll review some recent literature that will, hopefully, nudge us to change the practice of “scoop and run” in our pediatric cardiac arrests. Pediatric OHCA References Tijssen JA, et al. Time on the scene and interventions are associated with improved survival in pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. 2015 ...
Many of the sickest of the sick patients that we see as EMS providers are hypotensive. These folks are often altered and come with spotty histories at best. This episode turns our B2B series to the prehospital management and recognition of shock. How can we better classify then treat our undifferentiated patients in shock? Dr. Patrick and Dr. Dickson build a framework around common sense pathophysiology and treatment.
Falls are one of our most common calls in the EMS world. The potential disease processes and injuries can be wide ranging and difficult to sort. Join Dr. Patrick and Dr. Dickson as they break falls down into two main questions that must be answered on every fall patient. Learn the high risk characteristics and diagnoses to consider and rule out.
Hypotension is one of our number one enemies in prehospital care. In this episode, Dr. Patrick and Dickson begin with a review of vasopressor physiology and then they dive into the evidence and rationale behind push dose epinephrine use. References: https://emcrit.org/emcrit/push-dose-pressor-update/ https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0907118
Join Dr. Patrick and Dr. Dan O'Donnell, medical director for Indianapolis EMS/Fire/SWAT, as we discuss multiple hot topics in the world of Tactical EMS.
On today’s cast our medical directors talk traumatic arrest care with Dr. Justin Hensley, the medical director of Robstown EMS, and lover of all things trauma resuscitation related. We'll review the history, training and implementation of the simple finger thoracostomy procedure at MCHD while also discussing our general approach to the traumatic arrest patient. Below are links to the papers and video training that are mentioned in the episode. Journal of Emergency Medicine MCHD Simple Thoracosto...
Dr. Patrick went where? Dr. Dickson interviews Dr. Patrick about his recent medical journey to Uganda. Learn about the state of prehospital medicine in Uganda, several interesting cases that you probably won’t see here in the United States, and find out how you can help the cause. References www.globalemergencycare.org
Tranexamic Acid (TXA) has been a hot topic in emergency medicine over the past several years with increasing acceptance for use in patients with hemorrhagic shock. Casey Patrick and Jordan Anderson review the pharmacology of TXA, discuss the literature supporting its use, and close with MCHD’s TXA administration protocol. References 1. Gayet-Ageron A et al. Effect of Treatment Delay on the Effectiveness and Safety of Antifibrinolytics in Acute Severe Haemorrhage: A Meta-Analysis of Individual Pa...
Dr. Dickson and Dr. Patrick take on one of our favorite topics here at MCHD - Ketamine and the agitated patient. Agitated patients come in a wide spectrum of severity. This discussion starts with a framework for stratifying agitated patients. We discuss the MCHD ketamine experience along with a less discussed patient population that may need ketamine control quicker than we often think. ***Remember that Ketamine is only to be used for patient protection and is never intended to be used out of co...
Concussions and management of mild head injury are topics that are rapidly evolving. Dr. Greg Faris joins Dr. Patrick to lend his pediatric emergency expertise on these important and commonly seen injuries. With youth and high school football season coming soon, get your concussion refresher now. References: CDC Heads up. www.cdc.gov/headsup Kupperman N, et al. Identification of children at very low risk of clinically-important brain injuries after head trauma: a prospective cohort study. Lancet...
Pregnancy complications make us all a little diaphoretic and tachycardic. On this episode, Dr. Patrick and Dr. Dickson break down the must know aspects of caring for the obstetric patient prior to delivery in the EMS setting. References: https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Task-Force-and-Work-Group-Reports/Hypertension-in-Pregnancy
Dr. Patrick is joined on this episode by Dr. Elizabeth Weinstein. Elizabeth is a dual trained in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, and she delivers clinical pearl after clinical pearl on how to recognize and manage non-accidental trauma in the prehospital environment. Resources: http://www.identifychildabuse.org
Join Dr. Patrick for a discussion of common drugs, both OTC and prescription, that can be deadly to our pediatric patients in doses as small as a single pill. This knowledge will allow us to properly educate families and know when to expect a potential crashing kid. References: Michael J.B., Sztajnkrycer M.D. Deadly pediatric poisons: Nine common agents that kill at low doses. (2004). Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, 22, 1019-1050.
Dr. Jerry Snow, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician from Phoenix joins the show for an interesting discussion about the opiate crisis facing America today, with a specific emphasis on fentanyl and its derivatives. We discuss EMS/first responder exposure risks and preventative measures along with patient care pearls when treating patients with fentanyl overdose. References: American Academy of Clinical Toxicology Statement on Fentanyl Exposure Risks - https://www.acmt.net/_Lib...
Patients with acute pulmonary edema need rapid preload and afterload reduction and often their volume status is difficult to ascertain. Casey Patrick and Brad Ward discuss a novel approach to using our old friend nitroglycerin in these patients along with the other cornerstones of their care. References 1. Cotter G, Metzkor E, Kaluski E, et al. Randomised trial of high-dose isosorbide dinitrate plus low-dose furosemide versus high-dose furosemide plus low-dose isosorbide dinitrate in severe pulm...
CHF exacerbations are bread and butter emergency medicine. Casey Patrick and Brad Ward begin with some background physiology and review of CHF. They then move on to describing a more detailed framework than the typical “CHF exacerbation” that is commonly taught. You’ll finish this podcast and think you’re a plumber as opposed to a paramedic. References https://coreem.net/core/ape/
Today’s show is all about the changes in how we approach intubation in EMS. Dr. Jeff Jarvis will relate how he got interested in the topic of airway management and specifically the process of delayed sequence intubation. Dr. Jarvis is the EMS medical director for Williamson County Texas EMS. He will present data from the recent Annals of Emergency Medicine paper his group authored on the topic. MCHD quality lead, Kevin Crocker, will present our data following DSI Implementation in Montgomery Cou...
Join Dr. Patrick and Ashton Herring our community outreach coordinator as we discuss adult and pediatric drowning emergencies and best practices in prevention.
With the blazing Texas summer just around the corner, we thought it would be appropriate to discuss heat related emergencies. Dr. Patrick leads a discussion of the various terminology, physical exam findings, differential diagnoses and pre-hospital treatments for heat-illness.
Dr. Jerry Snow, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician from Phoenix joins the show for a fact-filled and often hilarious talk on prehospital management of snakebites. This episode involves copperheads, water moccasins and even unsuccessful car battery therapy (yep, you read that correctly). Stay until the end - you won’t be sorry you did!
In the past 24 months, stroke care has evolved in the way we evaluate strokes in the pre-hospital space and how they are worked up and treated in the hospital. Large vessel Occlusion (LVO) stoke is a large caliber vessel clot causing stroke symptoms. New techniques and devices in endovascular retrieval of these clots along with intravenous Tpa has shown great success in five randomized trials published in 2015.(1) The number we need to treat for one improved neurologic outcome at 90 days accordi...
In the past 24 months, stroke care has evolved in the way we evaluate strokes in the pre-hospital space and how they are worked up and treated in the hospital. Large vessel Occlusion (LVO) stoke is a large caliber vessel clot causing stroke symptoms. New techniques and devices in endovascular retrieval of these clots along with intravenous Tpa has shown great success in five randomized trials published in 2015.(1) The number we need to treat for one improved neurologic outcome at 90 days accordi...
Anaphylaxis is a common life threatening disease that prehospital providers encounter on a regular basis. These patients are in need of early treatment with Epinephrine. In today’s episode Dr. Casey Patrick, along with Kevin Crocker and Ashton Herring, will be discussing MCHD’s deployment of Epinephrine to the Fire Departments within Montgomery County. This discussion will cover basic information on what anaphylaxis is and how to best treat it. We will also discuss how MCHD built Epi kits and ho...
Join Dr. Casey Patrick and Brad Ward as they discuss a county wide initiative to expedite ROSC patients to definitive care in the cardiac cath lab. They will be discussing the literature and science on why these patients have better outcomes when they are quickly taken to the cath lab. They will also be addressing how MCHD has partnered with our hospitals to implement our new ROSC Cath Lab Activation. References AHA Updates http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/132/18_suppl_2/S465 Tanveer Rab, Kar...
