Chasing Numbers

Course overview

Objectives Explain why a value might be skewed rather than simply trying to make it fit into normal parameters Explain how long it took for the patient to exhibit this sign or symptom List what the patient needs to help determine where they should receive treatment Content In this episode, Steve, Dan, and Holly are joined by Dr Ramsey Selbak, EMTpreps Physician Advisor. Dr Ramsey discusses his background in emergency medicine and his experience and relationship with field providers. The team then delves into an age old rut into which many EMS providers fall, chasing numbers. What does this mean. Trying to correct specific lab values or vital signs without considering the entire patient. What does the patient look like. Why might a vital sign or value be skewed. How long did it take the patient to reach their current condition. And is the patient stable as they are now. Dr Ramsey provides several brief examples of situations where seemingly critical patients remain stable with limited intervention in the emergency department. This leads the group to discuss the role of EMS providers in the field and to reevaluate their responsibility to fix or reverse patients with advanced disease processes. Dan then presents a case study from earlier in his career involving a patient he treated aggressively who may have benefited more from a thorough history and rapid transport to the emergency department. Steve, Holly, and Dr Selbak walk through this case study with Dan and share their perspectives on where EMS providers can get tripped up and where they can excel in prehospital care and history taking.