This past weekend, four members of Brown EMS attended the 17th annual National Collegiate EMS Foundation conference in Baltimore, MD. In addition to meeting other students from all over the US and Canada, they attended lectures on topics ranging from how to run a successful training program to addressing controversies in spinal immobilization. Most importantly, they came in second place in the BLS division of the skills competition! Congratulations guys! Check out pictures from their trip to the right.

Thursday Feb. 18th 7pm

Wilson 102

Ken Williams, MD

After a brief hiatus, brownems.org is back online. And as bad @** as ever.

Stay tuned. . .

What patient transport device would you use for the following situation? 22-year-old female c/o extreme pain to left shin, ankle, and foot following a fall. Pt is unable to bear weight on foot. Patient is located on a steep, wet, grassy hill, and is 200 feet from a concrete walkway. After reaching the walkway there is a large staircase down to the ground level. Stair chair is useless because of the lawn and the patients need to have their left leg extended. No other trauma is suspected.

In my opinion, this is a great time to deploy the Reeves. It works perfectly in this situation, allowing the EMT’s to safely transport the women off the grass and down the stairs safely and quickly. Now, I know that I have already lost you RI trained EMT’s who have no idea what I am talking about. I consider this to be a gross miscarriage of the EMT-B scope of practice. So, let this article serve as notice, to all of the uninitiated, of the great importance of the Reeves brand flexible stretcher.  It is so important to us New Jerseyans that it is a mandatory piece of equipment.

8:40-6.8 Patient transport devices

(a) Each BLS ambulance shall be equipped with:

…

2. A portable stretcher for the safe transport of stretcher-bound patients up and down flights of stairs. Reeves®-type stretchers are required on BLS ambulances utilized to provide emergency response;

It is basically a soft stretcher with embedded wooden slats for rigidity. It is used to move unconscious patients or otherwise supine patients who don’t require a board and collar. It works perfectly for patients who are supine and unconscious because it can be rolled up next to the patient, and then the patient can be rolled on top of the Reeves. Its 3 buckles are then secured. There is no imbalance or danger of tipping, such as seen when transporting patients on a board or scoop. The lift handles are above the patient’s center of mass instead of below it. It is also more comfortable for patients as they are in a rubberized cocoon instead of on a slab of plastic (see previous article on backboards).

The often-mocked “Cranston Device” is basically an old military style pole stretcher. I see it used all the time at RIH, especially with elderly patients. The Reeves is basically the modern and far more convenient version of a pole stretcher.

I think for around $350, a Reeves-type, stretcher would be perfect for Brown EMS. We are often called on to extract very drunk, sometimes unconscious, students from dorms. As it stands now, one of us lugs up the stair chair, and we play a balancing game of keeping the student in the chair as we slowly make our way down and out of the building. Instead we could use the Reeves. We place the patient in it…and off we go.

We usually only ask for 1-hour shifts, so the time commitment isn’t even that big.  If interested, please contact myself or Amy via email.

Thanks,

Brendan

Note: Do not miss your shifts or risk public humiliation via listserv postings. Case in point:

If you are Chris Canary, YOU are supposed to be at EMS now.  I need a driver for the rescue truck until Chris shows up or until 7pm.  Call the Office if you can help.

I’m from central New Jersey; you can see lower Manhattan from the hills in my town. As you can imagine, a lot of us lost people we cared for on that terrible day.

I just wanted to write this to remind everyone who now works at Brown EMS to take a minute today and reflect on our brothers and sisters who died that day doing the very same jobs we do everyday. The Fire Department of the City of New York lost 343 members that day, 2 of them were FDNY paramedics. An additional 8 EMT’s and paramedics from private companies were killed as they helped people to escape.  As is often the case, they were running in as civilians were running out.

It takes a very special person to do what we do. So to the supervisors and volunteers of Brown EMS:

Thank you.

Stay safe out there. Let’s make it another semester where everybody goes home.

Timothy Satty

FALL SCHEDULING MEETING:

WHEN:   At 6pm, Wednesday, September 9
WHERE: BioMed 291 (Eddy Auditorium, to the left of the purple palace)

Please make every effort to be there for updates on a few items and briefings on campus plans for dealing with H1N1 concerns.

Additionally, the Annual Forms are now online to be filled out and turned in by SEPTEMBER 16. You can find them on the Training Page. All personnel, new or returning must complete these forms before working.

Four choice run reports, collected from the summer class. Enjoy your future partners’ narrative writing abilities, creativity.

“TREATMENT: Kick to Posterior”

“Upon inspection of genitalia, fetus runs out of vagina and slaps me…runs away”

“Roommate states ‘That’s what she said’”

The reports in full, after the jump: