There’s a secret behind this job. You go to work. You run the calls: the boring, the exciting, the obnoxious, the weird. Occasionally, the terrible. You see, you do, you move on. Like everythin...
I admit that I’m a sucker for a good quote. Truth be told, medicine is exactly the type of enterprise that needs quotes. It’s a basically noble endeavor that’s nevertheless rife with the...
Of all the skills we’re called upon to wield without adequate training, care for psychiatric complaints tops the list. In particular, it’s a rare shift when you don’t handle a person —...
https://emsbasics.com/2013/06/12/glass-houses-suicide-in-both-seats/
Leave paperwork face-up on the dashboard or front seat. Leave your computer unsecured wherever the hell you please. Tweet a picture of the badass MVA you just did, with a victim obviously identif...
https://emsbasics.com/2013/01/18/the-10-easiest-ways-to-violate-hipaa/
One more post about glucometry is pending, but for now, something lighter. Decades of medical interns have been raised on the Laws of the House of God. The House of God was a cynical and dark lo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pO2mdVpN20 We rarely think about it. If we did, we’d probably lose our marbles. But it’s true. The universe doesn’t care. We are born, we live for a little w...
https://emsbasics.com/2012/01/07/because-its-cold-out-there/
I’ve never been to nursing school. But I like to imagine it goes something like this: On the first day, you walk into class, surrounded by other bright-eyed, eager young students ready to le...
Previously part 1 and part 2 Being reluctant to force Joe into an undesired ambulance ride, the crew contacted their supervisor. He arrived, evaluated the patient, agreed with their conclusions, ...
https://emsbasics.com/2011/10/03/live-from-prospect-st-the-reluctant-tumble-conclusion/
You kneel beside Joe and ask, “So, would you like to go to the hospital?” “No!” he vociferously replies — a theme that will be repeated often over the next few minutes. You explain the ...
https://emsbasics.com/2011/09/27/live-from-prospect-st-the-reluctant-tumble-part-2/
Following up on our previous post where we discussed patient refusals, it behooves us to say a few things about risk. The culture of “everyone goes to the ED” is not writ in stone, and in som...