There are many portable suction devices on the market today, and you want to be sure to make an informed decision before purchasing. To aid in this process, utilize your sales rep!

Working in healthcare, we have a lot of tools and technology at our disposal. And thank goodness we do! With every new medical advancement, we are able to improve our delivery of safe and efficient patient care.

Working in a hospital, you probably rely on in-wall suction for most of your patient care needs. But no system is completely foolproof, and back-up plans are necessary when patients’ lives are in your hands. That’s why you have your emergency aspirator available.

As a first responder, you are used to making rapid decisions, acting quickly, and treating the acute symptoms of your patient’s illness or injury. Though your fast action is necessary, do you ever stop and think about your patient’s long term outlook? You should. Your actions in the present can affect your patient’s future prognosis.

As an emergency responder, you know what a vital role training plays in job preparedness. You can’t predict what the next call will be, so you had better be ready for anything your community throws at you. Some calls are standard: the unresponsive patient, the elderly person having chest pain, or the child who fell off his bike, breaking his arm. These types of calls come in with such frequency, that training for them can seem redundant and unnecessary.

As a paramedic, you have a lot of responsibility. You administer life-saving medications, restart damaged hearts, deliver squirming newborns, and manage mass casualty situations. And it’s not like you get to do all of this in the controlled setting of an emergency room. No, you are expected to function at three a.m. in the midst of a raging blizzard among the tangled wreckage of a ten-car pileup. It’s not an easy job.

The man had been mowing the lawn when he collapsed under the intense, midday sun. You arrive on scene to find an elderly man, pulseless and apneic, in the front yard of a small house. The neighbors have gathered in a worried huddle, dogs are barking from behind a nearby fence, and all eyes are on you to immediately remedy the situation.

Today’s emergency responders have a wealth of technology available to them, enabling them to provide the highest level of service to their patients. Cardiac monitors not only assess heart rhythms and rates, but also gauge a patient’s blood pressure and oxygen saturation; airway adjuncts that can administer 100% oxygen to those suffering from trauma or hypoxia; and an array of medications to treat just about any type of medical emergency.

Have you ever needed to clear a patient’s airway in a location where in-wall suction was not available? If so, you definitely recognize the importance of having a reliable portable suction unit. Not only do you want your unit to be lightweight and deliver appropriate suction, you want to be assured that your rechargeable battery is not going to fizzle out on you at a critical time.

We have previously discussed the importance of evaluating your hospital’s Emergency Operations Plan. Through a series of exercises that gradually increase in complexity, strengths and weaknesses of the plan can be identified.