head injury

The C-Spine / Helmet Issue

April 3, 2010 by Steve Whitehead 11 Comments

running away from the crowd by fabiana zonca flickr

The good news in the world of head trauma and brain injury is that we're seeing a lot more folks putting on helmets before they go out and do potentially dangerous, head crushing stuff. The good/bad … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Skills Tagged With: c-spine, EMT, emt assessment, emt skill, head injuries, head injury, helmet, helmet removal, immobilization

Treatment of Head Injury

July 16, 2009 by Steve Whitehead 3 Comments

aledged-dui-results-by-vikisuzan-flickr

Part three of a three part series In our last two installments we looked at the way heads get injured and the various ways the brain tends to bleed. In this, our last installment in the head injury … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Knowledge Tagged With: airway, capnography, closed head injury, constricted pupils, glasgow, head injuries, head injury, trauma treatment, treatment, trismus, unconsciousness, ventilation

Types of Brain Hemorrhage

July 13, 2009 by Steve Whitehead 2 Comments

meninges-by-adam

Part two of a three part series In our last post (part one) we introduced the subject of head injuries with an overview of trauma patterns typically found in head injury patients. Today let's talk … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Knowledge Tagged With: arachnoid layer, brain hemorrhage, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebrospinal fluid, closed head injury, dura mater, epidural, epidural bleed, head injury, intracranial hemorrhage, intraparenchymal hemorrhage, lucid interval, meningeal layers, meninges, pia mater, subarachnoid bleed, subdural, subdural bleed, subdural hamatoma, talk and die syndrome

Responding to Head Injuries

July 11, 2009 by Steve Whitehead 9 Comments

ryan-ready-with-ski-patrol-by-flyinace2000-flickr

Part one of a three part series. It seems that after the tragic deaths of both Natasha Richardson and Billy Mays, head injuries have been getting a lot of play time in the media. Richardson died of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Knowledge Tagged With: axonal injuries, axonal injury, basilar skull fracture, cerebellum, cerebrospinal fluid, cerebrum, closed head injury, contusions, coup-contra-coup, depressed skull fracture, EMT, head injury, hypothalamus, intracranial hemorrhage, medulla, midbrain, petechial hemorrhaging, pons, skull fracture, thalamus, unconsciousness

Understanding Combative Head Injuries

March 7, 2009 by Steve Whitehead 12 Comments

us-army-medic-by-jamesdale10-flickr

Big biker dude strained against the double layers on tape across his forehead and it occurred to me that the act of c-spine seemed pointless if the patient insisted on fighting violently against the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Assessment Tagged With: ALS, ambulance, BLS, closed head injury, combative, combative head injury, EMS, EMT, head injury, prehospital, sedation, trauma, trauma treatment, treatment