A Look into the Code STEMI - Flights Case 2 Recap

/
A Look into the Code STEMI - Flights Case 2 Recap

It’s true that sometimes critical care transport missions to transport STEMI patients to PCI are fairly uneventful.  But if we allow ourselves to get lulled into a “Milk Run” mindset, it will most definitely come back to bite us.  The jovial, normotensive, fairly comfortable-appearing STEMI patient may be only a couple of minutes away from V Fib arrest or florid cardiogenic shock.  When that occurs, if we have expected and prepared for such a complication, it’s likely that we’ll be able to manage it successfully.

Read More

Flights - Un-Break My Heart

/
Flights - Un-Break My Heart

It is early October and you are the flight doc in C-pod on a brisk but clear Saturday morning. The day starts out with several challenging patients with vague complaints and has just begun to ramp up in volume when a patient rolls into your pod by EMS, restrained face-down to the cot, covered in feces and urine, screaming about hearing voices. You begin to take report from EMS when, as if by divine intervention, the tones drop and you are dispatched for an inter-facility transfer. You gleefully (almost too gleefully…) give a brief patient sign-out to your staff, grab the blood cooler, and head to the roof...

Read More

A Lonely Road - Recap and Expert Commentary

/
A Lonely Road - Recap and Expert Commentary

A couple of weeks back, we kicked off our “Flights” portion of our Air Care Orientation Curriculum.  Dr. Latimer outlined a challenging patient case for use to consider and an excellent discussion ensued.  As a reminder of the case, here’s how it was posed:

Your patient is a 56 year-old male with unknown medical history who was an un-helmeted motorcyclist found in a ditch roughly 40 feet from his motorcycle which was discovered in the middle of the road by a passing motorist. The accident was un-witnessed, but the bike was found just beyond a sharp downhill curve in the rural farm road. EMS has BLS capabilities only and they have placed the patient on a backboard and loaded him into the unit.

Read More

"Flights" - A Lonely Road

/
"Flights" - A Lonely Road

It is mid July and your first shift as the coveted H2 Doc at Air Care 2 is finally upon you.  It has been an especially warm and beautiful Saturday and you ponder the possible flights for the evening as you take the scenic drive to Butler County Regional Airport. 

You finish checking the aircraft with the flight nurse and sit down to begin the 20:30 brief with the flight crew when the tones drop and you are dispatched for your first flight of the evening, a scene flight to Franklin County, Indiana for an “un-helmeted motorcyclist”. You grab the blood cooler, perform a safety walk-around the aircraft and strap yourself in back

Read More

The Little Things that Matter

/
The Little Things that Matter

We were fortunate, a couple weeks back, to have Dr. Brian Burns of Sydney HEMS come and speak to us.  In his lecture, “When the 1% Makes All the Difference” which you can find here, Dr. Burns hit on a number of excellent points.  We sat down and talked with Dr. Burns a bit more extensively over a couple of the themes of his lecture.

In this podcast, we cover some of the plus/minuses of checklists, the importance of high fidelity continuous training practices (simulation, routine case debriefing, intensive induction training), and the role of cognitive factors in running resuscitations.

Should resuscitations run like a jazz quartet or a Formula 1 pit crew?  Are checklists simply in the way or do they cognitively unload the team members to improve performance?  How do you train cognitive factors in resuscitation?

Read More

When That 1% Makes All the Difference

/
When That 1% Makes All the Difference

Just prior to SMACC (the Social Media and Critical Care Conference), we were lucky enough to have Dr. Brian Burns of Sydney HEMS stop through Cincinnati.  In the video below you can see his lecture on when the 1% makes all the difference.  Dr. Burns talks about how we should strive for excellence in prehospital care not simply meeting minimum standards.  Watch the lecture below to hear Dr. Burns discuss the importance of incremental changes, cognitive offloading, checklists, and continuous improvement and training through simulation.

Read More

"Flights" - Shaken Recap & Expert Commentary

/
"Flights" - Shaken Recap & Expert Commentary

Thanks to everybody who commented and contributed to the discussion on our final “Flight!”  If you missed out on the case, check it out here. Below you’ll find a curation of the comments to each question and a podcast with expert commentary from Jenn Lakeberg, APRN.  This was the final “Flight” for this spring/summer.  Look for the cases to return again in January 2016 as we begin Flight MD Orientation with the next class of future Air Care Flight Docs.

Read More

Endotracheal Intubation vs. Supraglottic Airway Placement for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

/
Endotracheal Intubation vs. Supraglottic Airway Placement for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

If you want to get a group of prehospital providers riled up, simply ask them how the airway should be managed during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.  "Supraglottic airways are easier!"  "No, you gotta stay with endotracheal intubation!"  "Forget advanced airways, a bag-valve mask is all you need!"  "Only apneic oxygenation!"  Don't believe me?

Read More

A Pain in My Heart - Curated Comments and Expert Commentary

/
A Pain in My Heart - Curated Comments and Expert Commentary

Thanks to everybody who chimed in on our last "Flight"! We had a great discussion on the management of the STEMI transfer patient.  These aren't just "milk runs" as pointed out by Dr. Hinckley.  The highlights of the discussion are below with additional commentary on the case by Dr. Bill Hinckley and Air Care Resident Assistant Medical Director Dr. Matt Chinn.  Out final flight will be lifting off June 1 and it's a doozy - looking forward to the discussion!

Read More

Field Amputation

/
Field Amputation

Hey, everybody! Today we are going to talk about field limb amputation.

I know what you are all thinking… No, I’m not crazy. Yes, you’ll probably never do one. No, this is not a common procedure. You just might, however, be in a situation on Air Care where knowing how to correctly perform this procedure can safe a life. 

First, let’s provide a little background on the pre-hospital limb amputation. The procedure itself has gained much more press in the FOAMed world and the emergency medicine and pre-hospital literature since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti during which early physician responders were faced with large numbers of patients trapped under debris and few responders with familiarity or basic working knowledge of the procedure (Lorich et al, 2010). A few of case reports and articles surfaced around this time and the field amp even made an appearance in an episode of the popular television show ‘Greys Anatomy’ in 2011. 

So I was told… 

Read More

Flights - A Pain in My Heart

/
Flights - A Pain in My Heart

You are the Pod doc overnight on a particularly quiet Sunday night.  You have been looking for an excuse to leave the pod and do anything other than treat abdominal pain for the past several hours when the tones drop.  You thank whatever celestial being you believe in and grab the blood and run out of the department full of glee.  In route to the helipad you are told it is a Code STEMI.  At this point, even that seems more interesting than sitting in C Pod.

You buckle into the helicopter and take a quick flight to the outside hospital.  You grab a set of gloves and unload the cot carefully and walk inside.

Read More

Flights - A Blow to the Head Recap and Expert Commentary

/
Flights - A Blow to the Head Recap and Expert Commentary

Thanks to everybody who commented and contributed to the discussion on our last "Flight!" If you missed out on the case, check it out here.  We had a great discussion which we have recapped here.  Take a look below and a listen to the commentary provided by Dr. Bill Hinckley in the embedded podcast.  Look for our next flight to lift off in the next couple of weeks!

What medications could be used in the care of this patient? If the patient loses his IV, how does your treatment strategy change?

This first question sparked quite a bit of debate within the community.  Everybody agreed that this patient requires sedation, intubation, and more sedation.  There was, however, some significant differences in how the providers would go about attaining adequate sedation.

Read More

Flights - A Blow to the Head

/
Flights - A Blow to the Head

You’re working as the Pod-Doc, having just taken the radio from the off-going UH-doc, you just finish admitting the patient in C40 for NSTEMI when the tones go off.

“Air Care 1 and Pod Doc respond to a scene for motorcycle crash, Northern Kentucky”

You call the B-Pod attending, sign out the pod, grab the blood from the blood cooler and head to the helipad.  Flying over the river, landing at a local firehouse’s parking lot you hop out of the back of the helicopter and head to the awaiting squad.

Your patient is a 29 year-old male who was riding his motorcycle (without a helmet) on a local country road.  Coming around a blind corner he unexpectedly found a car stopped in the middle of the road.  Striking the car from behind at ~35mph, he flew over the handlebars and impacted the back of the car.

On EMS’s arrival he was initially unconscious, but since their arrival has become increasingly combative

Read More

EMS Recertification Requirements

/
EMS Recertification Requirements

Often times during the EMS continuing education courses we teach, we get questions about recertification requirements for both our state and National Registry certifications.  This podcast is designed to summarize the various recertification requirements as well as discuss the National Registry Transition from EMT-Paramedic to Paramedic.  While much of the discussion focuses on these issues relating to Paramedic certifications, the same principles can be applied to recertification requirements for other levels of pre-hospital providers.  For a complete set of recertification requirements we refer Ohio providers to the Ohio EMS website: ems.ohio.gov.  For details about the National Registry’s requirements for re-certification, we refer everyone to their website: nremt.org.   

Read More