Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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Practice Guideline
EMS spinal precautions and the use of the long backboard.
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The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress among a cohort of nationally certified emergency medical services (EMS) professionals. The secondary objective was to determine whether there were differences between individuals who were experiencing depression, anxiety, or stress and those who were not. ⋯ This study was able to estimate the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among a large cohort of nationally certified EMS professionals and identified statistically significant demographic and work-life characteristics that predicted depression, anxiety, and stress. Future research should attempt to follow EMS professionals prospectively to determine specific characteristics associated with occupational traumatic exposure and the development of depression, anxiety, and stress.
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Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning poses danger to both patients and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel, as its symptoms are nonspecific and EMS is currently not equipped to detect CO in ambient air. ⋯ Carbon monoxide poisoning was found to be a significant matter for a high-volume EMS system. Handheld CO detectors helped in identifying those cases. Key words: carbon monoxide; emergency care, prehospital; equipment and supplies; poisoning.
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We evaluated gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) decontamination of an ambulance using a variety of bacterial biological agents. ⋯ Up to 10-log reductions were achieved in an ambulance interior following exposure to ClO2, indicating that gas concentrations needed to mitigate biological agent contamination can be achieved and maintained safely in an ambulance. Future studies are ongoing to evaluate gaseous ClO2 in other environments contaminated with biological agents of health care concern.
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Our objective was to determine whether there is an association between a patient's impression of his or her overall quality of care and his or her satisfaction with the pain management provided. We hypothesized that satisfaction with pain management would show a significant positive association with a patient's impression of overall quality of care. ⋯ Our model indicated that pain management was associated with increased perception of overall quality of care only when EMS providers explained the medications provided and their potential side effects.