Quick reads with practical field wisdom from working paramedics. Free forever.
The 5-Minute Dementia Screen: Is This Confusion New or Baseline?
"She's always confused." The care aide says it with a shrug as you assess your 84-year-old patient. She is disoriented...
Read more →Naloxone Nuance: Why the Goal Is Breathing, Not Awake
You find him unresponsive in the bathroom stall. Pinpoint pupils, respiratory rate of 4, SpO2 in the 70s. Classic opioid...
Read more →The Sepsis Spot: Finding Sick Before the Blood Pressure Drops
The nursing home calls for "weakness." Your patient is an 82-year-old woman who has "been off" for a day or...
Read more →Handoff Roulette: The 30-Second Report That Actually Gets Heard
You have just given the most thorough handoff of your career. Detailed history, complete vitals trending, mechanism of injury, treatments...
Read more →Silent STEMIs: The Chest Pain Calls That Do Not Feel Like Chest Pain
The call comes in as "nausea and weakness." Your patient is a 67-year-old diabetic woman who swears it is not...
Read more →Rural Trauma Triage: Avoiding the Two Big Traps
The Two Big Traps in Rural Trauma It is 2 AM on a county road slick with rain. You are...
Read more →Airway Basics: BVM Is Your First Advanced Airway
BVM Is Your First Advanced Airway We have all felt it. The adrenaline surge on a critical call, the pressure...
Read more →Slow Is Smooth: Task Management Under Stress
Task Management Under Stress The tones drop. Multi-vehicle collision, highway, reports of multiple injuries, one person entrapped. You arrive to...
Read more →Hypoglycemia: The Stroke Mimic You’ll Miss at 3AM
The Stroke Mimic You Will Miss at 3 AM It is the 3 AM call for an "unresponsive person." You...
Read more →Pediatric Vitals: Why "Normal" Can Still Mean Sick
Why "Normal" Can Still Mean Sick There is nothing more terrifying for a medic than a sick kid. They are...
Read more →Multi-Patient Scenes: How to Not Lose Your Mind
MVI on Highway 1. Four patients. Two crews. It's 3am, raining, and everyone's looking at you because you're the senior...
Read more →CPAP Success: 5 Field-Tested Tips That Actually Work
I've put CPAP on probably 200+ patients at this point. Failed miserably on my first dozen. Now? Maybe 1 in...
Read more →Understanding MAP: Why Mean Arterial Pressure Matters in EMS
If you're still fixated on systolic blood pressure alone, you're missing half the clinical picture. Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) is...
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