In my state, when paramedics pick up a patient, they need to call in report to the attending physician - usually the one at the hospital where they are dispatched from. If they are taking a patient to another hospital, that physician calls over to the other location to give report. Often the […]

Please, dear BLS personnel, try to use a little judgment when you evaluate people after an ultra-low speed- no damage- everyone ambulatory at the scene - accident. Not everyone has to be strapped onto a long board and put into a C-collar. It is even more important when all the patients are […]

You know there are some supratentorial issues going on when a patient arrives via EMS and the family that arrives with them is bordering on assaulting the medics. First, call the police. Second, figure out WTF is going on.
Turns out the medics were called because the patient was obtunded (a 68 […]

I have a pet peeve with EMS. Three words. Light and Sirens. (this applies to any one - police, fire, etc who uses a siren, although I imagine the firefighters have the most frequent need to use them legitimately). I get so annoyed when I see an ambulance tear-assing down the street […]

News flash. If you call an ambulance, it does not necessarily mean you will be seen faster once you arrive. Yes, you will be brought in to triage right away but if you are here for a minor or stable problem, you will likely be triaged back to the waiting room - or you […]

This is a brief rant about a thing that totally annoys the crap out of me about my job. One word. Telemetry. No, not the telemetry beds that patients go to when they have cardiac issues, I am talking about the telemetry where paramedics have to call the ER and we as docs have to […]

That whenever you have a really sick patient who needs transfer for a service not performed at our hospital (in this case, an angiogram to attempt to coil a bleeding berry aneurysm), that for some reason there are no paramedic units available? Either through our hospital or the receiving place???? WTF?!! I […]