15 Things to Know Before Your Next Obstetrical Call

There’s something about the patient in labor that makes my palms sweat. I’m not alone. Most of us EMS folks get a little anxious at the idea of delivering a baby. Obstetrical calls can go very right and they can go very wrong. The stakes are high.

Here are a few things to consider before you run your next obstetrical call.

1) At full term, pregnant females have a heart rate 10-15 beats per minute faster than when they were prepartum. (Psst…Before they were pregnant.) They also have 25%-30% higher stroke volume and 30%-50% higher cardiac output.

2) Pregnant females will tolerate significant blood loss before they become symptomatic. Once they are symptomatic, they will decompensate rapidly.

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Assessing Dehydration

Dehydration can be a real concern with our infant patients and the signs can often be subtle, like dry mucosal membranes and a lack of tears while crying. One reliable indicator of the progresson of

dehydration in infants is urine output. While urine output in children and adults can vary significantly, infants can be relied on to produce 4 – 10 wet diapers per day. Ask the parents and check the diaper pail. An infant that comes up short on the diaper count should be cause for concern.