Disaster Planning in Action for Coastal Valleys EMS in Northern California
In Fall 2017, with more than 36,807 acres burned, Northern California experienced the worst wildland fire in state history, as the Tubbs fire, a rapid and fast growing wildland fire, burned its way through Sonoma County. By 23:00 on October 8, 2017, the edge of the fire hit the city limits of Santa Rosa, the most populated city in Sonoma County, with more than 175,000 residents. By the end of the natural disaster, more than 5,500 structures were burned and 24 people lost their lives. The Team The Sonoma County Healthcare Coalition, an established working group for disaster response, is made up of hospitals, skilled nursing...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - July 18, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Doug Butler, Jr., EMT-P Tags: Major Incidents Exclusive Articles Source Type: news

Deadly Respiratory Distress Mimic
Conclusion It’s important for prehospital providers to be able to differentiate metabolic disturbances in the setting of respiratory distress and not be fooled into thinking tachypnea always has a respiratory cause. The physical exam and adjuncts such as end-tidal capnography can assist in the prehospital diagnosis. A COPD exacerbation generally presents as diminished lung sounds, wheezing on exhalation, and a prolonged expiratory phase. Here, a patient will attempt to compensate for the inflammation and mucus accumulation associated with the destruction and narrowing of peripheral airways and a subsequent lack of availa...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - July 17, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Brenton Faber, PhD, NRP Tags: Airway & Respiratory Exclusive Articles Patient Care Source Type: news

Crisis Response Team: Mobilizing Technology to Enhance Care
Imagine you were Jacob, a 68-year-old with comorbid chronic pain and Major Depressive Disorder, who’s had more than his fair share of ED visits. Your distress has gotten worse and now you’re feeling unsafe. You have to call 9-1-1, but you hesitate. Picking up that phone will start a chain reaction; a call that once initiated, will insert a series of doctors, social workers, and nurses in your life—all of whom will undoubtedly refer you to someone else within the system—leaving you to piece together disparate information, diagnoses and resources. Although Jacob’s experience is fictional, it is reflective...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - July 16, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Allen Blaine, EMT-P Tags: Mobile Integrated Healthcare Source Type: news

Data Awareness Provides Key Metrics and Insight for Surprise, Ariz., Fire Department
Surprise (Ariz.) Fire Medical Department (SFMD) was committed to taking the organization to the next level. Stakeholders within the department set out to put our data to work for the betterment of the department and community. SFMD wanted to make two major changes within the department: purchase a new record management solution (RMS) that could handle all of our Fire, EMS and Preventative data needs, and then use that large amount of data to improve the department from the top down. The Department SFMD is a medium-sized paid department. We are located 30 miles Northwest of Phoenix, Arizona.The Phoenix Metropolitan area is ...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - July 16, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Brenden Espie, EMT Tags: Exclusive Articles Operations Source Type: news

Utilizing Data Reporting for Transport Research
When implementing an electronic patient care record, clinical documentation is always the first thing leaders consider, and for some it may be the only consideration. As a hospital-based neonatal and pediatric critical care transport team, we needed the ease of offline field documentation as well as the clinical complexity of ICU level care and access to inpatient records. However, it was also vital that we have the ability to report and analyze data for both quality and research purposes. Once ImageTrend Elite was implemented as our ePCR, we began to fully utilize Report Writer. We built daily, weekly, and monthly reports...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - July 13, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Megan Sorensen, RN, MHA, BSN, CEN, NEA-BC Tags: Exclusive Articles Operations Source Type: news