You’ve responded to the same nightclub three times this month. Every call is the same: a young adult found unresponsive, most likely the result of an overdose on heroin. The patient is a male in his mid-twenties, pupils pinpoint, he’s barely breathing and showing the early signs of cyanosis. You load him onto the stretcher, place him in your unit, and race to the nearest hospital.

 

The call came in as a patient being unresponsive. You arrive on scene to find an elderly woman, hunched in her wheelchair, semiconscious, with labored breathing. She has a history of stroke, and by the drooping appearance of her left side, which her family states is not normal, it appears she has had another.

Suctioning a patient’s airway is not a “one size fits all” procedure. Whether to clear secretions that the patient cannot mobilize, remove vomitus or foreign materials from the pharynx or trachea, or to maintain the patency of an artificial airway, some suction strategies will work better than others for a particular situation.  

Hypercapnia, also known as hypercarbia or carbon dioxide toxicity, causes dangerous levels of CO2 in the blood. In most cases, it signals a respiratory problem such as poor lung function, but it can also happen among deep divers, particularly when they do not breathe adequately, or have contaminated oxygen supplies. 

 

Knowing the signs and symptoms of carbon dioxide toxicity can save lives and equip medical personnel and first responders to act quickly.

The majority of portable suction devices are powered by sealed lead acid batteries. While this type of battery uses stable and reliable chemistry, it can lose capacity over time and require replacement. When buying a replacement battery for your portable suction device, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

You are about to head out on a call for a 65-year old man who is reported to be suffering from sudden respiratory distress. Few details are known about this man’s medical history, so you aren’t entirely sure what you are about to encounter. You grab your First-In bag, knowing that your airway management tools make you well prepared for any airway emergency.

Emergency medical responders are responsible for saving lives every day. Their knowledge and skills enable them to quickly assess and treat patients who may be unconscious, unable to communicate or located in remote terrain.

Portable suction is not utilized in the field on every call, and not on an everyday basis. However, when it is needed, it can make the difference between a patient that leaves the hospital and one who dies of aspiration pneumonia after a successful resuscitation.

Emergency medical nursing equipment isn’t just for nurses working in emergency rooms or on ambulances. A pediatric nurse working at a sleepy family practice may suddenly be confronted with a choking patient. A midwife at a birthing center may have to revive a neonate or treat a catastrophic hemorrhage.