Identity theft is a big issue right now.  People are having their lives turned upside down by having their financial records compromised.  Imagine having your medical records compromised as well.

Patients are having their medical safety endangered when their stolen identity got to the hospital ahead of them.  Picture this:

The thief receives treatment in someone else’s name

The real person shows up at the hospital and their (fake) record is already on file

thief has no allergies, real person does and has an anaphylactic reaction — Surprise!

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The lesson here, as some of our agencies switch to electronic mobile record keeping and may have access to patient records from previous transports –  Be a thorough historian.  Verify as much information with the patient as you can and don’t slack off on the important steps like asking about patient allergies and medications.

Welcome to Episode 106

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

Right Click here to download (Macs Ctrl Click)

Subscribe with iTunes here!

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

Fill out the New Survey!

—————————-

Sponsored by the New MedicCast Store –

Get your own limited edition MedicCast T-Shirts and Polycarbonate Water Bottles

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: Listener Brent’s PodshowRadio.com music podcast

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News:

Poison Prevention

EMT Students Save Teacher

Pennsylvania Paramedic Starts Urgent Care Center

Sierra Leone Paramedic Runs Local Clinic

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Tip/Trick of the Week — Poisonings and Poison Control

Poison control phone number — 1-800-222-1222

Poison Prevention Center

Maryland Poison Control

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Med of the Week — Digitalis

Digitalis Medline Link

Digitalis Toxicity Medline Link

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Comment or share ideas at the MedicCast Forums forums.mediccast.com

Rate the podcast at iTunes and help others find the MedicCast

Visit the MedicCast Store

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

Other Podcasts:

• MedicCast News
• MedicCast Live
• Headliner News Roundup
• The Nursing Show (coming soon, visit the blog now!)

Contact Me!

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

email me at podmedic@mac.com

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Great music by Johanna Stahley (website link) — Nothing I Would Change — (iTunes link)

Click here to get Songs from the MedicCast at the iTunes Store.

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Until next time, Scene safety, BSI!

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

An article I found recently talks about the increased mortality rate of patients who go into cardiac arrest in a hospital at night versus during the daytime hours. While this might seem like a no-brainer to those of us who come in contact with the hospital environment on a regular basis, it seems to be causing some shock to the community outside the health care system.

If you code in the ER after hours you are most likely better off. There’s a full staff there 24 hours a day. But in small hospitals in rural and suburban areas, after hours, there are fewer or no doctors on the floors and less staff in general. If you code then, you are likely to be hosed!

What about code survival in the field? I know that my buddy, Rick Russotti, over at the Mitigation Journal podcast gets worked up over why we look so hard and gauge our success on only on the least survivable marker.  And yet, I know that I get excited when I have that rare occasion when I an arrest gets a return of spontaneous circulation in the field.  It may be the least survivable marker but it is also one that when changed for the better, becomes significant in the number of surviving patients.

Childhood obesity is a major issue right now.  Fat kids grow up to become fat adults with all of the health issues and problems that we see every day.

A study from the U.K.  was recently released in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Here’s the link to the article.

The researchers at St. George’s University of London, England looked at 2000 people between the ages of 4 and 18 who participated in a 1998 dietary survey. They found a decrease of 1 gram of salt matched with a decrease of 100 mL of fluid intake. The authors of the study concluded that by cutting average salt intake in half, children would consume 2 fewer sweetened soft drinks per week.  This would mean a decrease in total weekly calories of only 250 kCal.  Not much but significant over the course of many years.

Less obesity + less hypertension + less diabetes = healthier patients (and fewer ambulance transports)

Welcome to Episode 105

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

Right Click here to download (Macs Ctrl Click)

Subscribe with iTunes here!

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

Fill out the New Survey!

—————————-

Sponsored by the New MedicCast Store –

Get your own limited edition MedicCast T-Shirts and Polycarbonate Water Bottles — Still with free shipping through February 15th

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: Peter Canning’s “Streetwatch: Notes of a Paramedic Blog”

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News:

Georgia Refinery Blast Aftereffects

Rescued Tornado Baby

Overused Trauma Centers

Mock CPR Codes Reveal Areas for Change

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Tip/Trick of the Week — Interview with the Burn Doc

Dr. Jeffrey Guy — of the PHTLS and the ICU Rounds podcasts

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Comment or share ideas at the MedicCast Forums forums.mediccast.com

Rate the podcast at iTunes and help others find the MedicCast

Visit the MedicCast Store

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

Other Podcasts:

• MedicCast News
• MedicCast Live
• Headliner News Roundup
• The Nursing Show (coming soon, visit the blog now!)

Contact Me!

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

email me at podmedic@mac.com

————————————————

Great Podsafe Music from the PMN:

Brakelazy — with “Tricks” check out the band’s page and tell them you heard their song here on the MedicCast. Click the song link above to buy at iTunes or click the link below.

Click here to get Songs from the MedicCast at the iTunes Store.

————————————–

Until next time, Scene safety, BSI!

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

The CDC released a report about the effectiveness of this year’s flu vaccine stating that the vaccine may not cover two of the three most prevalent strains of the flu virus in the wild this year.

Every year the flu vaccine is a crap shoot. The experts at the Centers for Disease Control and similar agencies worldwide look at the evidence about the upcoming flu season and make educated guesses about which varieties of flu causing viruses for which to create a vaccine.

This year is one of the years when they guessed wrong and missed with 2 of the three selections. Does this mean that the flu shots are useless?

The CDC report says no. Anyone who received the flu shot this year and later becomes infected with one of the less covered strains of the flu will likely have a much milder case than if they hadn’t had any protection.

Of greater concern in this report is the statement that 4.5% of the circulating strains (all H1N1 versions of the virus) are resistant to Tamiflu. Tamiflu is one of the two antiviral medications that helps reduce the severity of influenza when administered to patients early in their illness.

The other antiviral treatment, Relenza, is still effective and shows no signs of viral resistance at this time.

Researchers at Rutgers University have created a liquid bandage for use in the field and say that it is appropriate for use in combat situations.  The FDA released the product for marketing and called it similar to other liquid bandage products on the market.

Read the article here.

The University’s Center for Military Biomedical Research  has partnered with Georgia company BioCure to produce and market the product.  The spray on bandage consists of two polymers that combine in the spray to form a gel over the wound area.  It will be called GelSpray Liquid Bandage.

Last night’s MedicCast Live discussion was a lot of fun as well as being a great learning experience for the panelists and listeners alike! If you subscribe, I’ll be adding it to the feed tomorrow. You can listen now by clicking the link below.

Right Click here to download (Macs Ctrl Click)

A special thank you to the special guests of last night’s show, Amy Davis and Joanne Russotti, for sharing their insights on living with an EMS provider. Thank you Ladies!

Also thanks to Rick Russotti who helped out in the chat room while Joanne joined the show on the phone.

And a special thanks to Shirley, Kelly, and Texas Paramedic (whoever you are) for your insightful comments in the chat room and contributions to the show.

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Links from the show:

General Marriage and Divorce Stats

Balancing Life and Work

Caring for the Caregiver

Myths About Divorce by Profession

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I closed out the show with a great podsafe song by artist Carrie Cunningham. This song makes me think about the people at home who care about me.

Music from the Podsafe Music Network by Carrie Cunningham — “Smile Again”

Click here to get other Songs from the MedicCast at the iTunes Store.

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Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 10 PM ET

The next episode of the MedicCast Live!:

EMS Education: Tips to make a great EMS student from basic to advanced classes.

Get a chance to pick the brains of some of the leading EMS minds tonight.

When?

Tonight, February 12, 2008 at 10 PM ET, The MedicCast Live is hosting a discussion on:

Living with the EMS Provider: Getting along with your family and home stress.

The phone and chat lines will be open for your comments and questions. So head on over to Talkshoe.com and check out the show.

Tune it tonight and you will get information on how to enter for a New MedicCast T-Shirt or Water Bottle! Just for listening!

———————————-

When: Tonight! Tuesday 2/12/08 @ 2200 (10 PM) ET

Where: Talkshoe.com

How: Register for free

1. Visit Talkshoe.com and click on the “Live Now” button at the top of the screen
2. Select the MedicCast Live! tonight at 10 PM ET
3. Listen live, chat live or –
4. Call in LIVE!
5. Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
6. Talkcast ID: 18174
7. Enter your Talkshoe Pin number

I am looking forward to talking with you all tonight on the talkcast!

Jamie

the Podmedic

Welcome to Episode 104

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

Right Click here to download (Macs Ctrl Click)

Subscribe with iTunes here!

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

Fill out the New Survey!

—————————-

Sponsored by the New MedicCast Store –

Get your own limited edition MedicCast T-Shirts and Polycarbonate Water Bottles — Still with free shipping through February 15th

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: Upcoming MedicCast Live episode on EMS in 2008!

Tuesday, February 12 2008 at 10 PM ET

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News:

Naps boost memory

Mild versus Severe Asthma

Infants Clear Mercury From System Quickly

Doctor’s Group Call for U.S. Universal Insurance Coverage

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Tip/Trick of the Week — Cranial Nerve Review

Neuroscience for Kids Site (good for adults, too)

Wikipedia article on Cranial Nerves

Intracranial Pressure:

NIH MedlinePlus links on ICP:

ICP Defined

———————————–

Comment or share ideas at the MedicCast Forums forums.mediccast.com

Rate the podcast at iTunes and help others find the MedicCast

Visit the MedicCast Store

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

Other Podcasts:

• MedicCast News
• MedicCast Live
• Headliner News Roundup
• The Nursing Show (coming soon, visit the blog now!)

Contact Me!

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

email me at podmedic@mac.com

————————————————

Great Podsafe Music from the PMN:

This week another from Matthew Ebel with the song “Downtown”

Check out Matthew’s songs on iTunes

Click here to get Songs from the MedicCast at the iTunes Store.

————————————–

Until next time, Scene safety, BSI!

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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