Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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While large-scale disasters are uncommon, our society relies on emergency personnel to be available to respond and act. Faith in their availability may lead to a false sense of security. Many emergency personnel obligate themselves to more than one agency and so may be overcommitted, leaving agencies with unfilled positions in a disaster. We sought to describe the frequency of overcommitment of emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in North Carolina. ⋯ Many EMS personnel have multiple EMS commitments. Disaster planners and emergency managers should consider overcommitment of emergency responders when calculating the work force on which they can rely.
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Although the epidemiology of civilian trauma is distinct from that encountered in combat, in both settings, extremity hemorrhage remains a major preventable cause of potential mortality. The current paper describes the largest case series in the literature in which police officers arriving prior to emergency medical services applied commercially available field tourniquets to civilian victims of violent trauma. ⋯ No patient had a tourniquet-related complication. This case series suggests that law enforcement officers can effectively identify indications for tourniquets and rapidly apply such life-saving interventions.
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High-risk neighborhoods can be identified as census tracts in which cardiac arrest incidence is high and bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) prevalence is low. However, little is known about how best to tailor community CPR training to high-risk neighborhood residents. The objective of this study was to identify factors integral to the design and implementation of community-based CPR intervention programs targeted to these areas. ⋯ Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a particular risk for minority and low-income communities. By working together with the community key factors integral to designing community-based CPR within these high-risk communities can be identified and implemented.
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We sought to categorize and characterize the utilization of statewide emergency medical services (EMS) protocols as well as state recognition of specialty receiving facilities for trauma and time-sensitive conditions in the United States. ⋯ Statewide mandated EMS treatment protocols exist in 21 states, and optional model protocol guidelines are provided by 17 states. There is wide variation in the format and characteristics of these protocols and the recognition of specialty receiving centers for patients with time-sensitive illnesses.
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A growing concern in emergency medical services (EMS) education is student attrition. Perchance, there is a population of nonmatriculate students lacking prerequisite academic skills or who are otherwise ill prepared for the unique requirements of the EMS profession. Consequently, addressing these issues could promote academic and occupational preparedness, thereby reducing emergency medical technician (EMT) course attrition. ⋯ Students who participated in an EMS preparatory course were 5 times more likely to achieve course completion and perform higher on most portions of the state exam; and the proportion of students that enrolled but never attended an EMT course was reduced. Unlike prior studies, we did not observe a paradoxical increase in other attrition categories after addressing academic preparedness. These findings may prove useful for EMS educators tasked with program planning.