Tim Nowak, AAS, BS, NRP, CCEMTP, SPO, MPO, CADS EMS1.com Columnists Teach EMS providers the benefits of waveform capnography in cases involving dyspnea and altered mental status, and before performing advanced airway management Likely one of the top five advancements in EMS within the past decade or two has got to be the introduction and…

EMS1.com Columnists Win the airway with prehospital video laryngoscopy for first attempt intubation By Will Dunn In the prehospital environment, it is time to pronounce direct laryngoscopy dead. And video killed it. We knew direct laryngoscopy, commonly referred to as DL, was sick a decade ago when the foremost authority on airway management in emergency medicine,…

Rom Duckworth, BS, LP EMS1.com Columnists The “set-up, size-up, scope, secure” mindset of the 1st and TEN approach to intubation may help improve first-pass success This article was originally posted June 20, 2017. It has been updated. Taking the time to prepare for intubation success on the first pass and following the Tongue, Epiglottis and arytenoid Notch landmarks will stack…

MCHD Montgomery County Hospital District EMS is using a low-cost approach to administer albuterol via metered-dose inhaler, reducing viral spread without compromising patient care The COVID-19 pandemic has forced EMS and all emergency providers to reassess our approach to airway management and treatment. This is especially true when we must care for patients with cough,…

Tim Nowak, AAS, BS, NRP, CCEMTP, SPO, MPO, CADS EMS1.com Columnists In some cases, our medical monitoring equipment alert is the precursor to a rapidly deteriorating patient who appears normal We’ve all heard the saying “treat the patient, not the monitor.” Well, that might be true in most instances, but there are certainly times where…

Jonathan Lee EMS1.com Columnists Learn what the guidelines say about titration, selecting a sedation agent and monitoring sedation A number of agencies have published sedation best practice guidelines [1-3]. With the exception of the NAEMSP statement on drug-assisted airway management, none of these are prehospital specific [4]. Adverse events have been reported in 10% of…

EMS1.com Columnists Understand how monitoring tools can be used to guide treatment for COPD exacerbations By Bob Sullivan Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affects approximately 32 million Americans, and it is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. COPD includes a group of degenerative conditions that impair airflow through the lungs. Cigarette smoking…

Tim Nowak, AAS, BS, NRP, CCEMTP, SPO, MPO, CADS EMS1.com Columnists Design your training scenario to include increasingly complicated sepsis symptoms to test EMS providers’ differential diagnosis skills This article was originally posted here on Bound Tree University. Sepsis, or septic shock, can manifest through a number of infection-driven disease processes – and it can…

NAEMSP EMS1.com Columnists The NAEMSP Discussion Forum debates EMT training, capnography considerations By EMS MEd Editor, Maia Dorsett, MD, PhD, FAEMS, FACEP, @maiadorsett In February, we posted the following Discussion Forum stem: EMS is dispatched to a cardiac arrest at a residence with bystander CPR in progress. The paramedic and EMT partners arrive on scene…

EMS1.com Columnists Learn the signs and symptoms for this significant pediatric airway and ventilation emergency By Christopher Kroboth Asthma is a condition in which lower airways narrow and swell and produce extra mucus. This can make breathing difficult and trigger coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath [1]. The CDC reports that 8.3 percent of the…