Mike McEvoy's Blog Posts Tagged 'EMS' (13)

The mother of a 13-year-old girl gave me a wake-up call several weeks ago.  After her daughter overdosed on heroin, her husband rushed home from work following a panic-stricken call.  On the way, he passed an ambulance idling on a roadway several blocks from their home.  That same ambulance later arrived to provide care but only after law enforcement appeared on scene.  I knew exactly what the ambulance was doing--staging until the scene was safe.  Trying to explain this protocol to the…

Continue

FDNY is the largest fire department in the United States and is a trendsetter.  A recent report by the Citizens Budget Commission, a New York City watchdog organization puts some very interesting handwriting on the FDNY wall.  The report, "Twenty Years Later: Integrating Services In The New York City Fire Department" reflects growing call volumes, steadily declining fires and ever…

Continue

Which is better: letting pain and muscle spasm immobilize an injured spine or doing it with the same tools we’ve used for decades?  Should hypothermia begin DURING the arrest?  Do response times make any difference whatsoever in patient outcomes?  The answers to these and other hot EMS topics were intensely debated in Dallas last week at the 14^th annual Gathering of Eagles, EMS State of the Science Conference.

The U.S. Metropolitan Municipalities EMS Medical Directors…

Continue

The recently released Warner Bros. movie, Contagion details the fictional outbreak of a deadly and highly contagious novel respiratory virus.  While some aspects of the movie are improbable, a major outbreak of a deadly disease could really happen.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was extensively involved in the production of Contagion which was partially filmed at their headquarters in Atlanta.  If anyone…

Continue

Just ask Lazar Greenfield, MD, a world renowned surgeon from the University of Michigan.  Dr. Greenfield's recent Valentines Day editorial in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) newsletter cost him the Presidency of the 77,000 member group he was poised to assume in October.  In the surgery news editorial, which some found demeaning to women, Greenfield described semen as a female mood enhancer and suggested that, "there's a deeper bond…

Continue

At the January 26, 2011 meeting of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Medical Device Advisory Committee, Circulatory Systems Devices Panel, a recommendation emerged to tighten regulation of AEDs (Automatic External Defibrillators).  Currently, AEDs are listed as Class III (high risk) medical devices being…

Continue

Bed Bug media hype has spurned considerable action in the travel industry, hospitals, prisons, homes and (of course) fire stations. These pesky little critters have developed resistance to many pesticides (which may account for the recent increase in infestations), are particularly good a hiding, but remain visible to the naked eye. That's right; you can see them! What you might not see so clearly are the unscrupulous profiteers hoping to drain your wallet with ridiculously expensive equipment… Continue

Last week's announcement by the US Transportation Secretary that traffic fatalities have reached the lowest levels in 60 years overlooked an important contributor: EMS. NHTSA Administrator David Strickland cited increased seat belt use and tougher drunk driving enforcement as key contributors to the decline in traffic deaths. There was no mention of EMS. This is a grim reminder that we need better methods of documenting the… Continue

Champion EMS EMT-trainee Casey Steenland, aged 33 died on Friday, August 13th in Texas, an apparent victim of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Three other Champion EMS members were treated, two required HBO (hyperbaric oxygen) according to local news sources. All four were apparently exposed to CO from an ambulance… Continue

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee on Ambulances balloting this week failed by one vote to move a draft “NFPA 1917, Standard for Automotive Ambulances” forward into the review and public comment process that would have rolled an ambulance design standard out the door during mid-2012.



At issue was inclusion of several AMD (Automobile Manufacturers Division of the National Truck Equipment Association) testing standards incorporated into the draft document… Continue

Recent news from Massachusetts reporting suspension of 207 EMTs and revocation of 4 Instructors for bogus refresher training smacks of poor oversight. But it may also highlight continued frustration with recertification requirements placed on EMS providers across the United States that fail miserably at providing any real education. That's… Continue

Well, one cat's outta the bag. In the continued debate over the efficacy of prehospital spinal immobilization, it would appear from a study published the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Trauma that prehospital spinal immobilization doubles the risk of death for certain patients. Researchers at Johns Hopkins looked at 45,284 penetrating trauma patients… Continue

Our recent news announcing proposed FAA rule revisions on Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) and a public hearing by the NTSB in February 2009 cry out for fire service involvement (see: www.fireengineering.com/display_article/346289/25/none/none/HLTHS/FAA-and-NTSB-react-to-air-medical-crashes). 2008 promises to end as the most catastrophic year in the… Continue