Mchd Paramedic Podcast

Tranexamic Acid (TXA) has been a hot topic in emergency medicine over the past several years with increasing acceptance for use in patients with hemorrhagic shock. Casey Patrick and Jordan Anderson review the pharmacology of TXA, discuss the literature supporting its use, and close with MCHD’s TXA administration protocol. References 1. Gayet-Ageron A et al. Effect of Treatment Delay on the Effectiveness and Safety of Antifibrinolytics in Acute Severe Haemorrhage: A Meta-Analysis of Individual Patient-Level Data From 40138 Bleeding Patients. Lancet 2017. 2. Effects of Tranexamic Acid on Death, Vascular Occlusive Events, And Blood Transfusion in Trauma Patients With Significant Haemorrhage (CRASH-2): A Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Lancet 2010. 3. Effect of Early Tranexamic Acid Administration on Mortality, Hysterectomy, and Other Morbidities in Women with Post-Partum Haemorrhage (WOMAN): An International, Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Lancet 2017.

Dr. Dickson and Dr. Patrick take on one of our favorite topics here at MCHD - Ketamine and the agitated patient. Agitated patients come in a wide spectrum of severity. This discussion starts with a framework for stratifying agitated patients. We discuss the MCHD ketamine experience along with a less discussed patient population that may need ketamine control quicker than we often think. ***Remember that Ketamine is only to be used for patient protection and is never intended to be used out of convenience.*** References: 1. https://www.ems1.com/medical-clinical/articles/78100048-Ketamine-for-Excited-Delirium-Syndrome-Results-of-a-3-year-case-series/ 2. Green et al. Clinical Practice Guideline for Emergency Department Ketamine Dissociative Sedation. Ann Emerg Med. 2011; 57:449-61 3. Cole J et al. A prospective study of ketamine as primary therapy for prehospital profound agitation. Am J Emerg Med. October 2017 4. Parsch C et al. Ketamine reduces the need for intubation in patients with acute severe me

Concussions and management of mild head injury are topics that are rapidly evolving. Dr. Greg Faris joins Dr. Patrick to lend his pediatric emergency expertise on these important and commonly seen injuries. With youth and high school football season coming soon, get your concussion refresher now. References: CDC Heads up. www.cdc.gov/headsup Kupperman N, et al. Identification of children at very low risk of clinically-important brain injuries after head trauma: a prospective cohort study. Lancet 2009; 374: 1160-70. McCrory P, et al. Consensus statement on concussion in sport—the 5th international conference on concussion in sport held in Berlin, October 2016. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. Davis GA, et al. Sports Concussion Assessement Tool 5th Edition. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–8

Pregnancy complications make us all a little diaphoretic and tachycardic. On this episode, Dr. Patrick and Dr. Dickson break down the must know aspects of caring for the obstetric patient prior to delivery in the EMS setting. References: https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Task-Force-and-Work-Group-Reports/Hypertension-in-Pregnancy

Dr. Patrick is joined on this episode by Dr. Elizabeth Weinstein. Elizabeth is a dual trained in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, and she delivers clinical pearl after clinical pearl on how to recognize and manage non-accidental trauma in the prehospital environment. Resources: http://www.identifychildabuse.org

Join Dr. Patrick for a discussion of common drugs, both OTC and prescription, that can be deadly to our pediatric patients in doses as small as a single pill. This knowledge will allow us to properly educate families and know when to expect a potential crashing kid. References: Michael J.B., Sztajnkrycer M.D. Deadly pediatric poisons: Nine common agents that kill at low doses. (2004). Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, 22, 1019-1050.

Dr. Jerry Snow, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician from Phoenix joins the show for an interesting discussion about the opiate crisis facing America today, with a specific emphasis on fentanyl and its derivatives. We discuss EMS/first responder exposure risks and preventative measures along with patient care pearls when treating patients with fentanyl overdose. References: American Academy of Clinical Toxicology Statement on Fentanyl Exposure Risks - https://www.acmt.net/_Library/Fentanyl_Position/Fentanyl_PPE_Emergency_Responders_.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/key-issues/fentanyl/

Patients with acute pulmonary edema need rapid preload and afterload reduction and often their volume status is difficult to ascertain. Casey Patrick and Brad Ward discuss a novel approach to using our old friend nitroglycerin in these patients along with the other cornerstones of their care. References 1. Cotter G, Metzkor E, Kaluski E, et al. Randomised trial of high-dose isosorbide dinitrate plus low-dose furosemide versus high-dose furosemide plus low-dose isosorbide dinitrate in severe pulmonary oedema. Lancet. 1998;351(9100):389-93. 2. Levy P, Compton S, Welch R, et al. Treatment of severe decompensated heart failure with high-dose intravenous nitroglycerin: a feasibility and outcome analysis. Ann Emerg Med. 2007;50(2):144-52. 3. Wilson SS, Kwiatkowski GM, Millis SR, et al. Use of nitroglycerin by bolus prevents intensive care unit admission in patients with acute hypertensive heart failure. Am J Emerg Med. 2017;35(1):126-31. 4. Peacock WF et al. Morphine and Outcomes in Acute Decompensated Hear

CHF exacerbations are bread and butter emergency medicine. Casey Patrick and Brad Ward begin with some background physiology and review of CHF. They then move on to describing a more detailed framework than the typical “CHF exacerbation” that is commonly taught. You’ll finish this podcast and think you’re a plumber as opposed to a paramedic. References https://coreem.net/core/ape/

Today’s show is all about the changes in how we approach intubation in EMS. Dr. Jeff Jarvis will relate how he got interested in the topic of airway management and specifically the process of delayed sequence intubation. Dr. Jarvis is the EMS medical director for Williamson County Texas EMS. He will present data from the recent Annals of Emergency Medicine paper his group authored on the topic. MCHD quality lead, Kevin Crocker, will present our data following DSI Implementation in Montgomery County. Weingart Emcrit podcast and Annals of EM article https://emcrit.org/dsi/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2014.09.025 Jarvis Annals paper http://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(18)30071-4/abstract Wilco EMS: https://www.wilco.org/Departments/EMS 2017 SOCs DSI protocol DSI checklist for both WCEMS and Marble Falls Area EMS

Join Dr. Patrick and Ashton Herring our community outreach coordinator as we discuss adult and pediatric drowning emergencies and best practices in prevention.

With the blazing Texas summer just around the corner, we thought it would be appropriate to discuss heat related emergencies. Dr. Patrick leads a discussion of the various terminology, physical exam findings, differential diagnoses and pre-hospital treatments for heat-illness.

Dr. Jerry Snow, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician from Phoenix joins the show for a fact-filled and often hilarious talk on prehospital management of snakebites. This episode involves copperheads, water moccasins and even unsuccessful car battery therapy (yep, you read that correctly). Stay until the end - you won’t be sorry you did!

In the past 24 months, stroke care has evolved in the way we evaluate strokes in the pre-hospital space and how they are worked up and treated in the hospital. Large vessel Occlusion (LVO) stoke is a large caliber vessel clot causing stroke symptoms. New techniques and devices in endovascular retrieval of these clots along with intravenous Tpa has shown great success in five randomized trials published in 2015.(1) The number we need to treat for one improved neurologic outcome at 90 days according to data from these trials is 2.6 patients. This is a massive breakthrough in the way we approach acute stroke care. Improved outcomes in these trials are directly associated with times to reperfusion therapy and EMS must change the way we diagnose and rank stroke patients in order to get them an endovascular capable facility when appropriate. In the first podcast our team will review all of the pertinent data from these trials and suggest how EMS should approach this LVO stroke diagnosis. In the second part of our s

In the past 24 months, stroke care has evolved in the way we evaluate strokes in the pre-hospital space and how they are worked up and treated in the hospital. Large vessel Occlusion (LVO) stoke is a large caliber vessel clot causing stroke symptoms. New techniques and devices in endovascular retrieval of these clots along with intravenous Tpa has shown great success in five randomized trials published in 2015.(1) The number we need to treat for one improved neurologic outcome at 90 days according to data from these trials is 2.6 patients. This is a massive breakthrough in the way we approach acute stroke care. Improved outcomes in these trials are directly associated with times to reperfusion therapy and EMS must change the way we diagnose and rank stroke patients in order to get them an endovascular capable facility when appropriate. In the first podcast our team will review all of the pertinent data from these trials and suggest how EMS should approach this LVO stroke diagnosis. In the second part of our s

Anaphylaxis is a common life threatening disease that prehospital providers encounter on a regular basis. These patients are in need of early treatment with Epinephrine. In today’s episode Dr. Casey Patrick, along with Kevin Crocker and Ashton Herring, will be discussing MCHD’s deployment of Epinephrine to the Fire Departments within Montgomery County. This discussion will cover basic information on what anaphylaxis is and how to best treat it. We will also discuss how MCHD built Epi kits and how we trained the fire departments in how to safely and effectively manage these anaphylactic patients. References https://www.ems1.com/epinephrine/articles/381400048-Anaphylaxis-kits-Easy-epinephrine-deployment-for-first-on-scene/ https://www.dovepress.com/cr_data/article_fulltext/s121000/121733/img/DHPS_121733_F001.jpg

Join Dr. Casey Patrick and Brad Ward as they discuss a county wide initiative to expedite ROSC patients to definitive care in the cardiac cath lab. They will be discussing the literature and science on why these patients have better outcomes when they are quickly taken to the cath lab. They will also be addressing how MCHD has partnered with our hospitals to implement our new ROSC Cath Lab Activation. References AHA Updates http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/132/18_suppl_2/S465 Tanveer Rab, Karl B. Kern, Jacqueline E. Tamis-Holland, Timothy D. Henry, Michael McDaniel, Neal W. Dickert, Joaquin E. Cigarroa, Matthew Keadey, Stephen Ramee, Cardiac Arrest: A Treatment Algorithm for Emergent Invasive Cardiac Procedures in the Resuscitated Comatose Patient, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 66, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 62-73, ISSN 0735-1097, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2015.05.009.

It's Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas time here in Montgomery County, and our MCHD crews are preparing to staff the 140.6 mile triathlon. After fielding multiple questions about hyponatremia and hypothermia in ultra-endurance athletes, we decided that a podcast discussion was in order. The MCHD Paramedic Podcast crew were lucky enough to have Dr. Kevin Schulz, Medical Director for Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas, join us to talk Ironman medicine. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride...we promise it won't hurt as bad as 112 miles on a bike! References: Hew-Butler T, Rosner MH, et al. Statement of the Third International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus Development Conference, Carlsbad, California, 2015. Clin J Sport Med. 2015 Jul;25(4):303-20.

EMS implementation of Community Paramedicine and Mobile Integrated Health programs is exploding. Dr. Peter Antevy joins Dr. Dickson for an informative discussion surrounding the role of Community Paramedicine and Mobile Integrated Health in today’s EMS systems. Dr. Antevy has built an impressive CP program from the ground up in South Florida. He shares his experiences and thoughts on both the ideal role and future of CP.

Hyperkalemia can send our patients to cardiac arrest in an instant. Casey Patrick and Jordan Anderson begin with some background physiology review on the importance of potassium to cellular function. They then move on to describing specific patient characteristics and ECG findings found in patients with hyperkalemia, and close with MCHD’s current protocol to preemptively treat these patients en route to the hospital.