Acute spinal cord injury vital signs Having determined that a patient cannot be prehospital cleared from suspicion of spinal injury, we have to think about the other vital sign changes that might be present. Some of these will be slightly […]
Continue ReadingAcute spinal injury movement and transport Having determined that a patient cannot be prehospital cleared from suspicion of spinal injury, we have to provide effective spinal care until ED arrival. Primary SCI happens at the time of trauma and not […]
Continue ReadingAcute Prehospital Spinal Injury Assessment and Clearance Spinal injuries are divisible into two categories: spinal column (bones, muscles, ligaments) and spinal cord (the CNS part). When thinking spinal injury, think whole of spine. Most responders talk about cervical collar and […]
Continue ReadingMy great idea fell from the sky. Literally. It wasn’t spontaneous. Well in a way it was of course, every idea has to have that first spark moment. But this one was nearly ten years in the making. I was […]
Continue ReadingOne prehospital pain and analgesia strategy Pain is one of the most frequent complaints amongst the patients we attend as paramedics. In managing pain, the intention for paramedics always is to exercise clinical judgement. Patients with serious pain will probably […]
Continue ReadingSedate or not to sedate, that is the prehospital question You are attending to an elderly man who has dementia. He is in an aged care residence and, looking at him, doesn’t have much of the muscle strength he may […]
Continue ReadingCan you help my mum please? There was really only two options for this callout. ‘Child caller,’ the dispatcher had said. It was either a hoax or someone in a really bad way. Normally the hoax callers like to talk […]
Continue ReadingWhat’s Christmas day without Christmas dinner? The radio suddenly blared, its tone rudely summoning our minds back into work mode. From reflex, I moved to press pause on the remote control beside me then grunted. This was the television and […]
Continue ReadingJust close your eyes……for the last time We stood outside the now smouldering house, safely back but with prime view. Only minutes earlier flames had been leaping from the front bedroom window and through the roof. In rapid time one […]
Continue ReadingI didn’t notice you were there too I was busy. Sitting in the clinician chair in the ambulance call centre there seemed to be an endless backlog of hospital enquiries, urgent bookings and other tasks all seeking my attention. Requests […]
Continue ReadingSorry, I did say that didn’t I I knelt before the man, intravenous needle in my hand. His colour was ashen grey and sweat poured from him as if it were a spray bottle I held. His free hand rubbed […]
Continue ReadingOh no it’s you again Jim came into my life in the worst possible way. I spent a day getting to know him and his wife in a hospital delivery ward. At the end of it, his infant, his first […]
Continue ReadingDon’t forget the new guy The delivery ward was busy. It was a major hospital and today several mother’s to be had all arrived within a few hours of each other in various stages of labour. My luck was in. […]
Continue ReadingPlease help me, my boy isn’t breathing The doctor stood at the door to his consultation room waiting for us. This was a little unusual perhaps since we normally find them in the consultation room with the patient. Sometimes you […]
Continue ReadingA choice. The one thing worse than having no choice We pulled up a perfectly judged fraction short of a tyre screech out front of the call out address. It was dark and I had to shine the scan light […]
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