Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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Drowning following a fall from a bridge can lead to cardiac arrest caused by hypoxia, hypothermia, or severe traumatic injury. Every year patients are brought to our hospital who have nearly drowned in the local river after a jump from a bridge (approximate height 16-22 meters). We report traumatic injuries in patients admitted to our hospital for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to drowning. ⋯ Patients found nearly drowned in a river spanned by a medium-height bridge should undergo spinal immobilization and complete radiologic examination as soon as possible.
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The Broselow tape is widely used to rapidly estimate weight and facilitate proper medication dosing in pediatric patients. ⋯ Paramedic Broselow weight correlates well with scale weight and ED Broselow weight. Paramedics can use the Broselow tape to accurately determine weight for pediatric patients in the prehospital setting.
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We aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) examinations when used by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to detect the presence of free abdominal fluid. ⋯ EMTs in Korea showed a high diagnostic performance that was comparable to that of surgeons and physicians when detecting peritoneal cavity free fluid in a Korean emergency department setting. The validity of FAST examinations in prehospital care situations should be investigated further.
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On September 23, 2010, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) approved emergency medical services (EMS) as a subspecialty of emergency medicine. As a result, the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) is planning to award the first certificates in EMS medicine in the fall of 2013. The purpose of subspecialty certification in EMS, as defined by ABEM, is to standardize physician training and qualifications for EMS practice, to improve patient safety and enhance the quality of emergency medical care provided to patients in the prehospital environment, and to facilitate integration of prehospital patient treatment into the continuum of patient care. ⋯ The Core Content defines the training parameters, resources, and knowledge of the treatment of prehospital patients necessary to practice EMS medicine. Additionally, it is intended to inform fellowship directors and candidates for certification of the full range of content that might appear on the examinations. This article describes the development of the Core Content and presents the Core Content in its entirety.