When to Transfuse: Diagnostic Tools
The ability to transfuse critically ill patients before they even reach the hospital doors is becoming a reality for more programs every day. Over the past several years the tides have shifted to favor blood in for blood out, highlighting the importance this component plays in our normal physiology. There have been many attempts at […]
A Day in The Life of a Flight Nurse
My mind wanders as the hum of a far off helicopter waxes and wanes in the distance. The action is hard to make out from where I sit next to the water, a pale blue pool shrouded in snow, but the echo of rotor blades slapping against the thin air fills the expanse of the […]
Calculating Pediatric Maintenance Fluids (4:2:1 Rule)
Pediatrics, calculations, fluids, maintenance, hypotonic, isotonic?!?! These words bring on a new type of stress. This stress usually appears while you are handing over $300 and sitting down for your FP-C® Recertification Course | 100 Hour or CFRN board exam. Planning to take one of these certification tests? I can guarantee that you will have […]
Recertifying Your BCEN Certifications
Having an advanced certification in your specialty is a high accomplishment, and it probably took you quite a bit of studying, nail-biting, and nervous diarrhea to get through the exam. Don’t be a silly goose and wait until the eleventh hour to try to scrape together your CEUs to recertify, or worse, force yourself […]
NREMT Recertification Rodeo
NREMT Recertification. License Fees. Ugh. Just the thought of recertifying gives me a headache. But, if your work requires that certification, or if you want to transfer your license to another state easily, it is a necessary evil that occurs every two years at the end of March. NREMT actually has a pretty good website […]
A Tale of Two Flight Paramedics
I’d like to tell you a story of two Flight Paramedics who recently re-certified their FP-C. The story will revolve around two FP-C. Flight Paramedic one..who we will call FP1 and Flight Paramedic two…who we will call FP2. Here is what you need to re-cert your FP-C in a nutshell: Retake the written certification examination […]
Complacency 2.0…It’s Us
Fair warning – this might sting a little. First, here is a short summary. Say the words complacency in EMS, and most of us will nod in unison and conjure images of the “corner cutters” that work in the profession. These are the providers that know the policies and they know the protocols, but when […]
The Right Ventricle: The Big Breakup
Let’s pick up where we left off: RV failure caused by increased pulmonary vascular resistance. A sign she’s about to leave you: Right sided heart strain. When your girlfriend has had enough and she’s about to Dear John you, it’s called a crappy day. When the RV has had enough pressure and is about to throw in the […]