Shock and Hemorrhage
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The evaluation and treatment of shock in the prehospital environment presents unique challenges to the EMS physician. Decisions regarding the balance between sophisticated field treatment and…
Endocrine and Immunologic Emergencies
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen While endocrine and immunologic emergencies may not hold the dramatic appeal of a multiple trauma they are no less fatal and often are definitively treated by…
Decreased Consciousness and Severe Agitation
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen It is common for an EMS physician to encounter patients experiencing an alteration in their level of consciousness. This can present as a decrease in the…
Drowning, Hypothermia, and Hyperthermia
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Environmental exposures lead to numerous emergency calls throughout the United States and beyond each year and result in potentially devastating conditions. Appropriate prehospital care may make…
Neurological Emergencies
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Neurological problems represent a wide range of presentations. The complaint may be as vague as confusion or lethargy or as specific as hemiparesis or aphasia. The…
Scene Safety and Size-Up
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Practicing emergency medicine in the prehospital setting is rife with opportunities, special considerations, and perils not encountered routinely in the hospital emergency department. EMS physicians transport…
Cardiac Arrest
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen EMS medical care provided to cardiac arrest patients has changed dramatically over time. Ambulances initially functioned merely as transport vehicles, while today EMS is an integrated…
Roles and Responsibilities in the Field
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Traditional roles for the physician in EMS have involved quality improvement, protocol development, and provider education. In general, physicians do not typically provide routine EMS care…
Human Resources and Employee Relations
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Human resources (HR) deal with the hiring, training, compensating, managing, and unfortunately, at times the disciplining or terminating of employees. Human resources managers are expected to…
Measuring Performance
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Computer-aided dispatch (CAD), electronic patient care records (ePCR), patient satisfaction surveys, billing systems, medical devices, etc as data collection have become more prevalent in EMS agencies,…
