The February EMS Roundup
In the coldest February, as in every other month in every other year, the best thing to hold on to in this world is each other.
– Linda Ellerbee (American Journalist)
And what better way to bring the EMS world together than the Internet? February was full of news and fun at The Spot. I hid inside from the Colorado cold and wrote about how to set up an IV line firefighter style. I asked you if you knew what was in the last issue of Splatter. (If you subscribed you’d know!) We discussed tips for mastering the head-to-toe assessment and getting people to hang up their cell phones. The premier of The Chronicles of EMS was the coolest thing is the blogging world. And we explored credibility and redundancy before launching into two posts on hypothermia. (Specifically how to assess it and how to treat it.) Then we wrapped up with a few musings about what it means to be passionate and what it’s like to be a firefighter. My fingers bleed for you.
A bunch of other cool bloggers also joined it. Can you guess who talked about the difference between treating your patients and caring for them? Or things overheard on the ‘bolance, tips for attending EMS Today, ALS kills people, the shine factor, the need for evidence before assessing guilt, the telephone game, when did I start being dumb, responsibility and what is, what was and what should have been. What to know who said what? You’ll just have to click on the links and find out!
And I need to give a special welcome to two new(er) EMS blogs with a ton of potential. First, EMS twitter maven @MsParamedic launched a blog back in late 2009 that has really blossomed in the last few months. Check out Angle Wings (breathe deep first) and Medic Student: Lesson One. Not to be outdone, @Medic_Bella has a blog fresh out of the wrapper called Dirt Road Medic. Take a sample of This is Where I Come From. Nice work ladies.
In other EMS news, an Ohio police officers dash-cam provided startling proof of how careful you need to be working in traffic. A UK paramedic refused to resuscitate a patient and then told a series of lies to cover his tracks. A hero of a teacher tackled school-shooting gunman in Littleton CO within sight of Columbine High – Can Littleton schools get a break, please. A hearing was held for the Mass. responder being charged with vehicular homicide after failing to yield for a pedestrian. A Pa. man trapped by snow dialed 911 10 times over 30 hours before dying in his home. QA few NYC responders were forced to dodge bullets following an ambulance collision. A South Carolina firefighter-paramedic was fired over a video he posted on Facebook of an exchange between two cartoon characters at a hospital. And two former Rural Metro employees pled guilty to starting a fire in a vacant apartment building last spring while on duty.
And lets not leave out the podcasts. Will The GenMed Show ever produce another show? They say yes, but the jury is still out. Good luck on the coming conference tour guys. Medical Author Chat spoke with Maggie Dubris, the author of Skels: A Novel. Myself and the boys in The EMS Garage talked about a few of the stories mentioned above. The MedicCast dove into pediatric issues and The EMS Educast examined how to evaluate students in all three learning domains.
What a great month. Come back in March and see what cool stuff happens next. Thanks for stopping by.
Tags: EMS, ems roundup, roundup
Thank you for the blog plug.. and I’ll have you know that we recorded our 3rd episode of GenMed tonight- expect it in a day or two!!
Ya know, for such a short month, it sure was busy.
Love the monthly round-up as always!
Every month in your rounds I find something I miss or a new blog to follow. Thanks for doing this.