Common Conditions Misdiagnosed as Asthma

Common Conditions Misdiagnosed as Asthma

By Dennis Edgerly, EMT-P | Paramedic Education Coordinator
As you enter the house your patient looks at you anxiously. He’s sitting upright, leaning forward. You note circumoral cyanosis and obvious respiratory distress as he attempts to speak. As you approach, you place him on oxygen with no relief. Upon auscultation of his chest, you note wheezing throughout his lung fields. You and your partner begin to administer a common bronchodilator albuterol when you remember — all that wheezes is not asthma.

Prehospital cricothyrotomies in a helicopter emergency medical service: analysis of 19,382 dispatches

Creating a patent airway by cricothyrotomy is the ultimate maneuver to allow oxygenation (and ventilation) of the patient. Given the rarity of airway management catastrophes necessitating cricothyrotomy, sufficiently sized prospective randomized trials are difficult to perform. Our Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) documents all cases electronically, allowing a retrospective analysis of a larger database for all cases of prehospital cricothyrotomy.

Mortality Reducing Effect of Rehabilitation for COPD

This large nationwide cohort study showed that rehabilitation indeed contributed to a reduction of in-hospital mortality. These findings underscore the importance of adopting rehabilitation as part of the treatment of COPD.

Prehospital Management of Difficult Airways

Prehospital Management of Difficult Airways

By Keith Widmeier, BA, NRP, FP C
A difficult airway is one in which the EMS provider identifies potential attributes of the patient that would make it difficult to utilize a bag-valve mask (BVM), insert an extraglottic airway, perform a laryngoscopy, and/or perform surgical airway interventions. It’s the ability to appropriately assess the patient’s airway that allows providers to predict which will be difficult, optimize their first attempt and ensure the highest likelihood of success when managing a patient’s airway. Thorough airway assessments help drive your clinical decision-making and help determine the tools you choose to wield when managing a particular airway.