The EMT Spot » The June EMS Roundup

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The June EMS Roundup

“And what is so rare as a day in June. Then, if ever, come perfect days.”

James Russell Lowe, American Poet

Perfect days indeed. Though Colorado was hit with a rash of tornadoes, things were steady in cyberspace. If June is a month for growth we definitely experienced more of that here at The EMT Spot. We set new all time highs for daily traffic and monthly visitors. And just what was everyone here to see?

We started by asking the question, “Is What We Do A Science Or An Art?” followed by a recommendation to try The Face Flick technique to evaluate mental status. I wondered when we make the transition from Get To vs Have To and gave some advice on making Connections with your patients. We boned up on some knowledge points about The Functions of Abdominal Organs, The Duty to Act, and The Good Samaritan Act. I even got in a few rants about DCAPBTLS and The OSP Trooper vs Paramedic Circus.

In other places around the EMS blogsphere, The Happy Medic’s short, sweet homage to his father was the coolest thing I read on a blog this month. Nice writing Happy. The Handover Blog Carnival was hosted by BasicDoc with the subject “communication”. Micheal Morse of Rescuing Providence tells a story about a young trainee finding her voice in lessons. Greg Friese at Everyday EMS Tips hosted an article by Martha Bonnie pointing out 5 EMT web sites you should know about. Medic Seven got his acceptance to P-school, congrats seven. You’ll do great. New paramedic over at Adrenaline and Cyanide tells a story about the frequent misrepresentation of 911. Lastly – Kelly Grayson of EMS1 asks us to consider why we never do anything half way in Too Much Of A Good Thing.

In EMS news. The emergency service world seemed captivated with the Oklahoma roadside circus put on by an irate Oklahoma State Patrol officer and a local paramedic. The Denver Metro Airway Study Group published a major, multi-center, multi-agency airway study that reported (unfortunately) that we’re still not that great at intubation. JEMS connect created some controversy when they published a link to a photo of Michael Jackson during his resuscitation attempt. Were they being sensational? You be the judge.

Elsewhere in the U.S. we saw an unusual string of dynamic duos. Rural Metro EMTs seem to be stirring up trouble in several locations. First, a Buffalo area EMT is under investigation after allegedly lifting cash off of, not one, but twoseparate unconscious victims of car crashes. Then a pair of RMA EMTs from the same region got themselves in hot water after allegedly starting, not one, but twoseparate arson fires in the buffalo area … on duty no less. And lastly, in a stunning example of why we need to drive carefully, one Minniapolis ambulance was involved in a crash while it was responding to another ambulace involved in a crash.

If podcasts are your thing, yours truly got jiggy (yeah I said it) with the boys from EMS Educast. Will Dunn also waxed philosophic about creating good CE classes. The boys from EMS Garage fought it out over the role of media in EMS and running MCIs while the folks at the EMS Medicast looked at abdominal pain assessment. – An excellent complement to my abdominal organ review posted earlier this month. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear The EMS Professional devote a short podcast to commentary on my warning about acronyms. Great stuff.

What a month. I can’t wait to get started on July. I’m going to kick things off by asking the question, “What do EMS and the game I Spy have in common?” I’d better go get started on the answer. See you again soon.