blubrry.com

I found an article over at WebMD that reports on a study that shows evidence that adult women (aged 45 - 54) at twice as likely to suffer a stroke as men in the same age group.  The study was conducted at UCLA and is reported in the journal Neurology. The numbers are still small 2.5% versus 1% respectively and the authors only speculate on the possible causes.  There are some correlated factors including cholesterol levels, history of heart disease, and waistline measurement.  Check out the article link above for more info.

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I report on this and other EMS news in the most recent episode of the MedicCast News at the Podcaster News Network.

Jamie

the Podmedic

Here is some valuable information on medical and healthcare disaster preparedness. This information would be a great resource to make available to your communities in a handout or a class taught at a local civic organization or church group. While it deals with hurricane preparedness, this information could certainly be adapted to any disaster preparedness plan.

For more info on disaster preparedness for families, check out this link at FEMA.

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Hollywood, FL (PRWEB) June 19, 2007 — To prepare for a hurricane, residents in hurricane-prone areas are urged to stock up on emergency supplies, learn about their local emergency plans, warning signals, and evacuation routes. However, one area that is often overlooked is ensuring continuity of medicines and healthcare.

“When a storm hits, we all think about batteries and water, but we forget to include medications for ourselves, our families and our pets,” said Rene Reyes, M.D. “Whether it be insulin, heart medication or a simple first-aid kit, it is important to make these items a priority when preparing for a storm. I recommend that patients always maintain their prescriptions up-to-date and keep them in their original bottles along with any other helpful medical information,” continued Dr. Reyes.

Patients should check how much medicine they have and get refills as soon as possible. If patients need to evacuate prior to refilling, they should take a waterproof bag with their current medications - even if the bottles are empty. The information on the bottle labels will help the pharmacist refill the medicine once they have arrived at their destination. The waterproof bag is helpful for protecting medicines against heat, humidity and sunlight that can degrade the effectiveness of the medicine. Additionally, patients should keep a written record of their current prescriptions and dosages with their other valuable papers, including their insurance cards, doctor’s name and contact information. Dr. Reyes also urges his patients to ensure they have adequate supply of other medical equipment and supplies such as dentures, glucometers & strips, nebulizers, crutches, prostheses, etc.

After an emergency Dr. Reyes encourages his patients to prevent common health risks associated with storms such as those from food, water and heat exhaustion. Individuals should not eat any food that may have come in contact with dirty water from floods or tidal surges, and refrigerators that have been without power should be cleaned out. Additionally, it is important to watch for the warning signs of heat exhaustion, which include heavy sweating, weakness, paleness, nausea and vomiting.

“One of the main ways to prevent illness after a storm is to simply wash your hands,” stated Dr. Reyes. Finding running water may be difficult, but keeping your hands clean will help you avoid getting sick. It is best to wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, but when water is not available, using alcohol-based hand sanitizers will do.”

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Great information! Check back here at MedicCast.com for more information, tips, and news. I publish new information 4 or 5 times each week.

Stay Safe!

Peter Canning wrote a post on his Streetwatch: Notes of a Paramedic blog on the new pain protocols under which he was operating. He pointed out how the new dosing schedule offered an opportunity to better treat pain. He then alluded to an article about a pain management doctor who was arrested for over prescribing pain meds. Check out his post for the details.

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Peter had an anonymous comment about “nobody ever died from pain” and that docs should be focused on healing the underlying problem and not resorting to long term pain management.

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I had to respond and here are my comments:

I have to disagree. People “die” of pain all of the time. Continuous chronic pain of even a low level affects sleep, work performance, and overall health including immune response. People who are left untreated for pain experience longer recovery times and higher mortality rates.

By the statement of “anonymous” above, an arthritis patient who can’t get out of bed in the morning without the use of strong analgesics (pain meds) should just tough it out and deal with the inability to function productively without pain management. This person should leave their job because they can’t use their hands some days or walk long distances. They should just quietly starve while enduring their uncurable condition until — oh yeah! They die!

Pain is deeply personal and what is extremely painful for one patient is minor to another. We as medical providers must be careful not to place our own personal pain template over another’s injury. This is why we use the 1 to 10 scale for pain assessment. It gives us a scale to judge the patient’s discomfort and to re-assess pain management effectiveness.

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A bit of a soapbox moment for me but I think the point needs to be made. Whether the pain is acute or chronic in nature, we do our patients a disservice by not treating their pain. There have been many studys done on the adverse affects of untreated pain and I have covered pain management before in this blog and on my podcast.

Welcome to Episode 72

The MedicCast is a proud member of the Blubrry Podcast Network.

Right click to download this episode or click the little arrow to listen here.

A podcast for EMT’s, Paramedics, and other medical providers of all kinds.

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MedicCast Listener Deals at GoDaddy.com –

Code BLU27 gets you 10% off your order at checkout
Code POD27 gets you 10% off any web hosting order at checkout
Try them out and get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com!

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Link of the Week: A Study of First Responders and Pandemic Response

A number of studies have been done asking if first-responders (EMS/firefighters/hospital workers) will come to work or remain on duty during a pandemic. Distribution of this survey will be a collaborative effort among several bloggers and podcasters.

You may find links to this survey on numerous sites. In order to maintain accuracy, we ask that the survey be completed once per person.

Effects of Pandemic Situation on First Responder Staffing

Find the survey here:

Pandemic Survey

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News:

Giving Back by Teaching

9/11 Rescuer Benefits Still Lacking

Ambulance Fire Injures Paramedic

Men Avoid Routine Dr. Visits

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Tip/Trick of the Week — Combitube

NREMT Skill Sheet Download (pdf)

Combitube How-to Study

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Med of the Week — Narcan (naloxone)

Drugs.com on Narcan

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Visit the MedicCast Forums

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Thanks for Supporting the MedicCast!

Rate the podcast at iTunes or at EMS Village or Vote at Podcast Alley

Visit the MedicCast Store!

Get the New MedicCast Newsletter — Sign up now — it’s free!

Other Podcasts: MedicCast News and MedicCast Live!

Contact Me!
Call the Voice Mail Line — (941) 306-3342

send me a note at podmedic@mac.com

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Music from The Podsafe Music Network
This week –
“Breath Deep” by Caitlyn Smith

If you like Caitlyn’s music you can buy it at iTunes by clicking the button below -

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Until next time, Scene safety, BSI!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

A Study of First Responders and Pandemic ResponseA number of studies have been done asking if first-responders (EMS/firefighters/hospital workers) will come to work or remain on duty during a pandemic. Distribution of this survey will be a collaborative effort among several bloggers and podcasters.

You may find links to this survey on numerous sites. In order to maintain accuracy, we ask that the survey be completed once per person.

Effects of Pandemic Situation on First Responder Staffing

Find the survey here:

Pandemic Survey

The Your Studio A podcast hosted an interview Dr. Broselow of the Broselow Tape for pediatric assessment.  They asked his opinion about the recent study looking at pediatric assessment and treatment tools like the Broselow Tape and how they handle obese children.

Check it out and listen or download here.

I want to thank Zach Guidry for emailing me about this.  He and the gang over at Your Studio A put out a great and informative show and prove that Acadian Ambulance deserves their reputation of leadership in the EMS field.

When you are covering a community event, you often run in to inuries that don’t need hospital transport. With injuries like sprains and strains where the patient doesn’t need or want to go to the emergency room, remember RICE = Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Pass this along to the patient while they are signing the refusal for transport. It will help them be more comfortable during the recovery process.

* Rest:
The first 24-48 hours after the injury.

* Ice:
For the first 48 hours post-injury, ice the sprain or strain
20 minutes at a time every 3-4 hours. The ice pack can be a bag of
frozen vegetables (peas or corn), allowing you to be able to re-use
the bag. Do NOT ice a sprain or strain for more than 20 minutes at
a time!

* Compression:
Use compression when elevating a sprain or strain in early
treatment. Use an Ace bandage to wrap the affected area. Wrap the
area snuggly but not too tight. Check peripheral pulses after
wrapping or splinting.

* Elevate:
Keep your sprain or strain as best possible–try to get it
higher than your heart if possible.

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I found this and more over at this Ask.com page. Check it out!

It is International Fire and EMS Safety Stand Down Week. This is a time for all of us to focus on coming home safely. I end each of my EMS podcasts with the phrase, “Scene Safety, BSI.” Sometimes, though, I think we say this but have become numb to what it really means. We need to be watching and prepared for unexpected dangers at each and EVERY call to which we respond.

Here is a link to some EMS related resources for you, your companies, and your training officers. It includes handouts and bulletin board materials to help remind all of us to be more mindful of our surroundings. That way we can all make sure that we return home safely.

This week’s podcast tip of the week focused on some pointers to identify and treat autistic patients. I thought they were important enought to reiterate here:

Autistic patients are not behavioral patients but the improper handling of them would seem to prove this wrong because a misunderstandings in communication and diagnosis. It is vital that a patient be identified as autistic early in assessment by first responders (EMS, Fire, and Police) in order to assure an easier response from the view of all parties involved.

Here are the key parts of a call involving an autistic patient:

1. Recognition (repetitive motions, avoids eye-contact, unusual sensory response)
2. Assessment (work from distance, communicate, calming, limit contact)
3. Identification (personal, caregivers?)
4. Anxiety Management (reduced sensory stimulation, communication before procedures)
5. Transport (if needed)

Check out this week’s podcast for more elaboration of these points or visit the American Autism Society for information and additional resources.

Welcome to Episode 71

The MedicCast is a proud member of the Blubrry Podcast Network.

Right click to download this episode or click the little arrow to listen here.

A podcast for EMT’s, Paramedics, and other medical providers of all kinds.

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MedicCast Listener Deals at GoDaddy.com –

Code BLU27 gets you 10% off your order at checkout
Code POD27 gets you 10% off any web hosting order at checkout
Try them out and get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com!

———————————

Link of the Week: A Study of First Responders and Pandemic Response

A number of studies have been done asking if first-responders (EMS/firefighters/hospital workers) will come to work or remain on duty during a pandemic. Distribution of this survey will be a collaborative effort among several bloggers and podcasters.

You may find links to this survey on numerous sites. In order to maintain accuracy, we ask that the survey be completed once per person.

Effects of Pandemic Situation on First Responder Staffing

Find the survey here:

Pandemic Survey

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News:

Woman Dies in L.A. ER

‘Per Diem’ Paramedics

Flight Ambulance Rules Tighten

Autism vs. Vaccines

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Tip/Trick of the Week — Autistic Patients

Autism Society Site

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Med of the Week — Thimerosal

FDA on Thimerosal and Vaccines

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Visit the MedicCast Forums

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Thanks for Supporting the MedicCast!

Rate the podcast at iTunes or at EMS Village or Vote at Podcast Alley

Visit the MedicCast Store!

Get the New MedicCast Newsletter — Sign up now — it’s free!

Other Podcasts: MedicCast News and MedicCast Live!

Contact Me!
Call the Voice Mail Line — (941) 306-3342

send me a note at podmedic@mac.com

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Music from The Podsafe Music Network
This week – “Esperanza” by Sophia Ramos

Click the button below to check out Sophia at the iTunes Store

Let Sophia know that you heard it here on the MedicCast!

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Until next time, Scene safety, BSI!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

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