December Meeting Date Changed (11/4/06)

The December meeting will be held on Monday, December 4, to allow members participating in the EMT-B course to attend. New officers will be voted in at the December meeting.

Flu Vaccinations (11/4/06)

All members can get flu vaccinations at the Northumberland County Health Dept. You need to call and make an appointment. Call Jeanette or Nancy at 580-3731 ext 10. Appointments are available on the morninig of November 16. Members are encouraged to call ASAP.

Dreaded AED Testing Suspended (11/4/06)

If you're working on your BLS certification, be sure to test as soon as you can. Beginning November 1, 2006, Virginia's Office of EMS has suspended AED testing during the practical evaluations you must take when you take your certification exams. The suspension will be in effect for up to one year. See the document under this link for the official word: 196k, 1p

Regional Protocols Update (11/4/06)

(From John Cooke, PEMS)

By now many of you should have already received your 2006 PEMS protocol updates.  If not, be assured they are on the way.  Distribution is expected to be complete by Friday afternoon.  Please update our protocol manual at your earliest convenience.  All updates must be complete by December 1, 2006.  Each agency also received training CD’s which are designed to assist you with the process of updating your manual and provide training on some of the specific changes.  If you need a copy of that CD, please contact the office or simply go to the PEMS website at www.peninsulas.vaems.org.  Thank you all for your participation and your patience during this process.  As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.  See you at symposium.

Medical Practitioner Signature on ALS PPCRs

The Virginia Emergency Medical Services Regulations 12 VAC 5-31-1140 B. Provision of patient care documentation, states:

“B. The signature of the medical practioner who assumes responsibility for the patient shall be included on the prehospital patient care report for an incident when a medication is administered, or self-administration is assisted (excluding oxygen), or an invasive procedure is performed. The medical practioner signature shall document that the physician has been notified of the medication administered and procedures performed by the EMS personnel. EMS personnel shall not infer that the medical practioner’s signature denotes approval, authorization or verification of compliance with protocol, standing orders or medical control orders.”

Recent legislation has resulted in a change in the language for the Code of Virginia which further defines “medical practioner.” The definition now allows for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to sign the prehospital patient care report.

Here's the bottom line for us: If your patient is being seen to at the hospital by a Nurse Practitioner NP) or a Physician Assistant (PA), the NP or PA can sign your PPCR. For more information, see this memo from the Regulation and Compliance Manager of the Virginia Department of Health: 198k, 2pp.

1/07/05
If You Love Mid-County Like We Love Mid-County

Food Lion has a program through which it donates a little money to designated organizations every time a customer makes a purchase and presents an MVP card. All you have to do is register your card. Click here for details.

11/28/03 - Chest Decompression Catheters

We have placed an additional type of 14-gauge catheter in the IV bags on the ambulances. Three reasons why you need to know about it:

It looks like a typical IV catheter. The new catheter is intended for chest decompression, not fluid administration. Both types of catheters are in the IV bag.

The most important difference is the length of the catheter needle. The IV catheter has a needle of 1-1/4". The chest decompression catheter has a needle of 2".

Don't grab the wrong catheter when you're working on fluid resuscitation for a trauma victim!

The purpose of the longer catheter is to remove air from a patient's chest in the case of pneumothorax. The longer catheter is harder to cannulate a vein with and delivers fluid more slowly than the shorter one.

Make sure you pick the right catheter for the job you're doing!

10/27/03 - Built-in Stylettes

We're now purchasing endotracheal tubes that have built-in stylettes. As we use up our current stores, we'll be putting the new ones into service. Here's what they look like in the package:

We'll still keep "loose" stylettes in the ET bags for use with tubes that don't have the built-in stylette.

Portable O2 regulators

Be careful when you switch an oxygen regulator from one portable tank to another.

Our regulators require a special "yoke washer seal." The hard plastic ones that come with the fresh oxygen tank DON'T WORK! Two expensive regulators had to be replaced recently as a result of using the plastic seal.

The regulators have a re-usable seal. There's never a need to take it off the regulator. Just double-check to make sure it's in place when you put the regulator on the fresh tank.

We keep a small stash of replacement seals on board each unit. The seals cost over a dollar each, by the way, so try not to lose them

For more information, click to Oxygen Regulator Seals.