Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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Delays in reperfusion treatment in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients leads to higher morbidity and mortality. Previous reports for Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) suggests a 10-minute skid-to-skid (arrival to departure) time to achieve appropriate reperfusion times. However, there is no published data on whether this goal is achievable for a HEMS service. This study aims to see if a midwestern critical care service can consistently achieve a 10-minute helicopter skid-to-skid time or ground critical care service arrival to departure time. Further, comparing this metric between ground and helicopter transportations will help evaluate the ideal transportation method to optimize time to percutaneous intervention (PCI). ⋯ Our study found that a median EMS arrival to departure time of 10 min to transport STEMI patients was not consistently achieved via either helicopter or ground transportation.
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Clinical judgment (CJ) encompasses clinical reasoning (process of evaluating a problem) and clinical decision-making (choice made). A theoretical model to better define emergency medical services (EMS) CJ has been developed but its use has not been evaluated in EMS training and assessments. Our objective was to evaluate the performance of this EMS CJ model to assess clinical reasoning and decision-making in a simulated environment. ⋯ An objective evaluation of CJ decisions using a rubric derived from an EMS CJ theoretical framework demonstrated high concordance to subjective evaluations of CJ made by EMS MDs. This approach may allow for reproducible and objective CJ evaluations that could be used for competency assessment in EMS.
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The delta shock index (ΔSI), defined as the change in shock index (SI) over time, is associated with hospital morbidity and mortality, but prehospital studies about ΔSI are limited. We investigate the association of prehospital ΔSI with mortality and resource utilization, hypothesizing that increases in SI among field trauma patients are associated with increased mortality and blood product transfusion. ⋯ An increase of greater than 0.1 in the ΔSI was associated with increased 28-day mortality; increased days in hospital, in ICU, and on ventilator; and increased need for blood product transfusion within 4 hours of ED arrival. This association held true for initially normotensive patients. Validation and implementation are needed to incorporate ΔSI into prehospital and ED triage.
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One of the primary concerns associated with open fractures is the development of a fracture-related infection (FRI). To minimize the risk of developing an FRI and subsequent morbidity, prophylactic antibiotics should be administered to patients with open fractures as soon as possible. While the antibiotic recommendations for severe open fractures are somewhat debatable, the use of a cephalosporin remains a mainstay of prophylactic treatment. ⋯ This intervention should not delay transport. In a responsive patient with a documented penicillin allergy, the administration by EMS of a 1st generation cephalosporin should be performed with close monitoring after the management of life-threats. This intervention should not delay transport.
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Our study details Online medical consultation (OLMC) usage for Pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (P-OHCA), including proportion of P-OHCA utilizing OLMC, the characteristics of cases using OLMC, the types of information exchanged during OLMC calls, and the outcomes in patients where Emergency Medical Services (EMS) contacted OLMC. ⋯ Pediatric-OHCA cases with OLMC tend to contact OLMC late in the resuscitation, have poor prognostic factors, and have poor survival outcomes. The information exchanged during OLMC calls was highly variable, representing a clear opportunity for improvement. Future studies should explore the potential effect of early OLMC contact on patient outcomes and if a standardized template for OLMC data exchange improves consistency in recommendations for P-OHCA.