Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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To determine the effect of needle thoracostomy (NT) in the prehospital setting, its frequency of use, and its complication rate. ⋯ Prehospital NT is a procedure infrequently performed by paramedics, even in a busy urban area. While there is a risk of the procedure's being done without proper indication, NT may improve outcomes in a small subset of chest-injured patients.
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Comparative Study
A comparison of paramedic didactic training hours and NREMT-P examination performance.
The didactic hours required by paramedic training programs differ tremendously throughout the country. The authors hypothesized that a correlation exists between paramedic didactic training hours and pass/fail performance on the National Registry Examination. ⋯ There is no correlation between paramedic didactic training hours and pass/fail performance on the NREMT-P examination.
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To study the incidence and nature of injuries sustained by emergency medicine (EM) residents during EMS rotations, and steps taken at EM residency programs to increase resident safety during field activities. ⋯ Injuries sustained by EM residents during EMS rotations are uncommon but nontrivial, with several serious injuries and one fatality reported. The majority of EM residency programs have no formal safety training programs for EMS rotations.
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To describe the EMS response to a large-scale shooting incident involving military-style weapons. ⋯ Incidents involving military-style weapons pose a unique challenge for prehospital care providers who must care for injured civilians and law enforcement personnel while maintaining their own safety. Use of the Incident Command System, establishment of a liaison with law enforcement, and the provision of protective gear for EMS personnel are vital to effectively and safely manage these types of incidents.