Episode 112 - Field Training and Evaluation Program

Episode 112 - Field Training and Evaluation Program

Hosts:  Bradley Dean, Eric McCullough, David Blevins
Guests:  Skip Kirkwood

Leaving school doesn't mean the learning process stops. On this week's episode, Skip Kirkwood, a passionate advocate for EMS Training and developer of the Field Training and Evaluation Program, joins the gang to discuss the impact of field training and the impact it has on raising the standards for those just entering the field and those who've been in for a while.

Locally known and nationally recognized, Mr. Kirkwood, MS, JD. EMT-P, EFO, CEMSO,  has an extensive history in EMS having served as frontline paramedic to Chief of the Emergency Medical Services Division in Wake County, NC and past president of the National EMS Management Association. He currently serves as the director of Durham County (NC) EMS and on the editorial advisory board for EMS World.

Links and Resources

EMS- FTEP


Durham County Names Howard 'Skip' Kirkwood as New EMS Director

"Beyond the Classroom"

Episode 111 - EMS Administration and Medical Direction (pt1)

 Episode 111 - EMS Administration and Medical Direction (part 1)

For this week Bradley, Eric, and David would like to focus on some things that EVERY administrator and Medical Director should know about their EMS System.  This will give every day EMS providers an insight into what Administration looks at whenever something new comes out and a snapshot of what an administrator does…..  Next week we will look at the new hire and training…..

 

1.       Community
2.       Purpose/Goal
3.       The System
4.       Diversion vs. EMTALA
5.       Medical Community

 

Episode 110 - FD-CPR

 

  

It has been another great week, and we are delighted to have Michael Herbert and Christopher Watford joining us for the Tuesday EMS Tidbits Podcast to discuss ‘Firefighter Down: CPR’.

 

Why FD-CPR? (information below is in part/whole/paraphrased or just plain copied from www.fd-cpr.com)

When the unthinkable happens, and a firefighter collapses on an emergency scene, we need to be prepared to provide the highest level of care possible.  We know that good neurological outcomes can be had in out of hospital cardiac arrest provided high quality chest compressions are initiated early.  Unfortunately, the resuscitation of a downed firefighter presents a special concern: they’re in full turn out gear with an SCBA!

 

In essence we have an access issue.  Before we can initiate chest compressions we must extricate the fallen firefighter from their gear.  Undirected attempts at removal of turnout gear is time consuming and chaotic.  Therefore, we have developed a simple technique to doff the gear from an unresponsive firefighter which requires minimal training and no additional equipment.

 

Michael Herbert, BS, NRP

Michael is a Clinical Educator with Advanced Circulatory and a FireFighter/Paramedic with Leland Volunteer Fire/Rescue Department, Inc.  He has worked all sides of Fire and EMS, from a tailboard rookie up to a line officer.  He is a two-time State of North Carolina champion paramedic, an enthusiastic educator, a physiology nut, and a lifelong learner.

 

Christopher Watford, BS, NRP

Christopher is a Lead Software Engineer with Global Nuclear Fuels, a part-time paramedic with New Hanover Regional EMS, and a volunteer paramedic / EMS Lieutenant with Leland Volunteer Fire/Rescue Department, Inc.  He is a senior editor with the EMS 12-Lead Blog and Podcast, and also a two-time State of North Carolina champion paramedic.  Christopher is an ECG fanatic, a devourer of research, and enjoys mixing software with medicine.

 

As part of the podcast we will want to discuss their material, and how other people can access/download and use their material.  They have licensed their material in a manner which means that anyone can use this for your own training.  You can share it with other people, take what you need out, and put in your own material.  All they ask is that you provide attribution for the material used.  The material is licensed via Creative Commons Share Alike.

Firefighter Down: CPR

Episode 109 - Pain Management

Episode 109 - Pain Management

Pain Management and Prescription Drugs

Another ‘Hot Topics’ in EMS is Prehospital Pain Management.  I can not count the number of times that I have heard providers say “If it doesn’t hurt me, I am not giving them pain medicine”, or “if they don’t look like they hurt, I am not giving them pain medicine”.  There are many other things that should be debunked, or dismissed as part of our assessment.  Most medical conditions or injuries cause pain, and pain is often the marker that initiates the patient to seek care. 

 

The role of providers is to help alleviate pain and provide comfort for the patient.  This can be done in a number of ways to alleviate pain, but many providers are afraid of administering the medication or do not want to do the extra paperwork.  While analgesic practices vary widely across the nation, I believe that it will be worth while to discuss the pathophysiology and physical need for pain management.  The 5 or 6 different opiate receptor sites, why people become addicted, how other medications are often prescribed to begin weaning patients off of harsher narcotics, etc.

 

As a provider it was not until a few years ago that I began to truly understand the need and different aspects of pain relieve, why some people become addicted to narcotics and some do not.  Analgesia is not equally provided to those in need, and this is a discussion that we need to put out there for the prehospital community to encourage them to examine their practice more closely.

 

http://www.naemsp.org/Pages/dialogPrehospitalPainManagement.aspx

 

http://www.naemsp.org/Documents/Topic004-NAEMSP-PosPaperOnPainMgmntanagement.pdf

 

http://www.summa-ems.org/file.php/1/PROTOCOLS/Pain%20Management.pdf

 

https://www.jsomonline.org/Publications/20081111McManus.pdf

 

http://www.amr.net/About-AMR/AMR-Medicine/Clinical-Quality-Initiatives/The-Things-that-Matter/pain-attitudes--2013.aspx

 

http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10903127.2013.844873

Episode 108 - Flipping the EMT...classroom!

Flipping the EMT...classroom!

Scott Snyder will be joining us to talk about some educational theory in the EMS Classroom.  One of the hot topics over the last few years has been “Flipping the Classroom”, which has become something of a buzzword that has been driven by high profile publications in The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/us/25iht-educside25.html?_r=0); The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com/article/How-Flipping-the-Classroom/130857/); and other publications.  The material presentation occurs outside of class through reading or lecture videos, and then the class time is used to do the harder work of assimilating the knowledge, through problem-solving discussions, or debates.