You can tell a lot in the first few seconds of patient contact. Your initial survey begins the moment you step on scene. For example, there’s that “difficulty breathing” call that comes in the wee hours of the morning to an assisted-living residence you’ve responded to on countless occasions.

Few EMS procedures are as important as tracheal intubation. However, this procedure can also be challenging, and not just for novice providers. If skills are not initially mastered and frequently practiced, intubation success rates plummet, and placement of an advanced airway doesn't occur.

During a code, knowing where your supplies are located on your crash cart is just as important as having everything necessary. Navigating your way through a hectic code is much easier when you have the right items and an organized system for your crash cart. Here are some tips.

Every good nurse knows that the job involves much more than simply treating the patient’s current illness or injury. Instead, nurses should try to anticipate potential complications that could arise for their patients and implement measures to prevent them from happening.

You are called to a residence in the middle of the night. A frantic father meets you at the door and ushers you upstairs to his son’s room, where you find a four-year-old boy perched anxiously on the side of his bed. He is braced in a tripod position, his small arms rigidly fixed by his side as he leans forward, drooling into a puddle on the floor. The father noticed a fever last night when he put the boy to bed but is astounded by the child’s rapid deterioration.

Asthma is a common affliction, affecting 8% to 10% e of the population. Many childhood asthmatics grow out of the disorder in adulthood, so a disproportionate percentage of people with asthma are children. For most people, asthma is a minor inconvenience akin to – and often associated with – seasonal allergies. An unlucky fraction of asthmatics, however, have a more severe form of the illness.

As an EMS professional, one of the most critical decisions you will make is when to secure an advanced airway. Airway decisions are crucial: they must be expedient, effective, and appropriate.

Compared to some complicated or invasive patient procedures that you perform, nasotracheal suctioning may not seem like a big deal. However, there are risks involved, and proper technique and patient monitoring are crucial.

In 2021, fires killed 4,316 Americans, and over the past 10 years, fire deaths have increased by almost 18%. Most die not from burns but from oxygen deprivation caused by smoke inhalation. Immediate survivors of the blaze are not out of the woods. The consequences of smoke inhalation can show up hours or even days later. Healthy people can die even when they seem able to breathe. When treating smoke inhalation, here’s what not to do—and what you must do instead.

Nasopharyngeal and nasotracheal suctioning are safe, effective alternatives to oral suctioning, especially for patients with oral obstructions such as loose dentures or patients who are unable to cooperate with oral suctioning. Though the procedures are similar, nasotracheal suctioning requires deeper penetration. Here’s what you need to know about these two important interventions.