A Guest Post By: Jimmy Futrelle
The EMT Spot would like to welcome Jimmy Futrelle to our guest post roster. Jimmy s a Paramedic hailing from Scurry County Texas. Jimmy has been 
responding on calls long enough to remember the Lifepack 5 and using D50 as a diagnostic tool. His unique background working for private and public EMS as well as for local law enforcement makes him uniquely qualified to teach on the subject of sexual assault.
This detailed guide to responding to these challenging calls is well worth reading. I sincerely thank him for this contribution.
Responding To Sexual Assault
Introduction
Sexual assault is possibly the most devastating form of assault perpetrated on another human being. The legal definition of sexual assault is “any genital, anal or oral penetration by a part of the accused’s body or by an object, using force or without the victim’s consent.”
The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey reports that over 500,000 women and approximately 49,000 men report being sexually assaulted each year. It is estimated that 1 in 5 women will victims of rape by the time they are 21 years of age. 61% of reported rape victims are less than 18 years old. 1 in 7 women will be raped by their partners. Only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police.
Let us not confuse sexual assault with sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is repeated instances of sexual assault occurring over a period of time, generally by a person familiar to the victim. Whereas this crime is no less devastating, we are going to focus on the act of sexual assault.
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By now, you’ve most likely heard the reports of a possible swine flu pandemic and maybe you’ve even fielded a few questions from concerned friends and neighbors. As always, The EMT Spot aims to keep you updated on what you need to know to do your job safely.
The latest strain of swine flu is an influenza type A virus. (H1N1) These viruses emerge from 
the shared pool of influenza viruses that occasionally transfer from birds (avian flu), to humans (common flu), to pigs (swine flu). Each time we trade these viruses back and forth between humans and animals, the viruses have an opportunity to mutate. The new strains may be more contagious than the last and may respond differently to antivirals. (But not necessarily.) Currenty the CDC is recomending Oseltamivir and Zanamivir for this strain of virus.
As of today the virus has killed 68 people in Mexico and sickened over one thousand more. Now the illness has jumped the boarder and appears to be spreading fairly rapidly across the U.S. At the time of this writing 20 cases have been confirmed by the CDC within the U.S. starting in California and moving to Texas. The list of confirmed cases now includes New York, Kansas and Ohio.
What to look for in your patients
Swine flu presents like a common respiratory influenza. Patients will present with common flu symptoms that can vary significantly in severity from one person to the next. Look for productive or dry cough, fever, chills, body aches, sore throat and fatigue. There have been some reports of GI symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea.
Swine flu may precipitate significant respiratory distress, especially in patients with underlying respiratory conditions or those with compromised immune systems like HIV patients and patients receiving chemotherapy.
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