Giving Report to Medics... What do they know?

[casi]

I am currently working in a TCU and managed to send out two people within 30mins of each other last night. While giving report to the medics I found myself wondering if it was too much or not enough and what exactly they learn in training.

When I give report I find myself talking to the medic like I would another nurse or MD. Situation, variations in vitals, most recent labs, and diagnosis.

I am curious though when I tell a medic that I guiaced the patients vomit and it was positive and the hgb drawn today was 8.2 and their UA/UC was clean... if they know what the heck I am talking about.

Could some of the people here who are paramedics give me a heads up on what kind of report you need and what kind of training you have regarding diagnosis and labs are?

[FFtaz71]

i was an emt and i understood most of those terms as an emt. if a nurse ever told me something i wasnt familiar with i would ask because not knowing could cost the pt their life possibly..

as a basic emt i went to school for 6 months and had to recertify every 3 yrs. there were also some requirements that had to be taken care of on an annual basis.

the paramedics in my state went to school almost a year, if not a year, and had far more training.

then again, i also noticed that through the years, they "dumbed down" the emt course so im not sure what the new emts are being taught either. i was trained to know 6 different kinds of shock, cardiac tamponade, pneumo/hemothorax etc....yet after my original course i really never saw those conditions again.

[GreyGull]

this is dangerous. I understand altering your report when they ask you questions, but you should always give the same report to make sure nothing is skipped. I always listen first then ask questions. IE, get full report then questions about vent settings, drips, sats, ins and outs...

as to the post about CA training, yes the state minimum is still 450 but that is not acceptable for NREMT testing so that is a null and void point. as for AMRs school, NCTI, I went there and it was 690 hours classroom and the process was well over a year from start to finish, please verify your information before posting or we may start to think you are TRAUMASURFER in disguise. your area may not have paramedic CCTs, if so where are your geting your information/experience with us... in states other than California, such as the last state I worked in, i could transport almost any medication that had been previously started on the patient, the only med i needed DC'd was crofab. in a physician delegation state a paramedic can do anything the physician orders, ie RSI, pressers, inotropes, chronotropes, nitrates, antibiotics...the list goes on. your local paramedics will gladly take you on a ridealong and answer all your questions about local scope if you would like.

back to the OP, if you call for a BLS amblam basic reports are best, "where their going, what there DX is, what TX has been done, last VS and trends" for ALS give the same, just more in depth. they will clarify if needed, most medics aren't shy.

Akulahawk, nice to see you here too.

this is getting way off topic, socal is out.

No I am not a trauma junker or trauma surfer. I've just been around the ICUs and EDs a long time. I also know a little bit about the NREMT since nurses can challenge it here in California. The NREMT does not set the minimum amount of hours. That is up to the state and I think akulahawk may have already pointed that out. There are Paramedic students who do come into the ED for rotations which gives us a good idea about their skills and knowledge. If I ride in an ambulance it will not be as a Paramedic. So do not assume nurses are not aware of what Paramedics are and can do. If I want to ride on an ambulance, I have my own scope of practice and protocol set.

I will stand by my original post that for the safety of a patient you should not assume someone a med student or a PA just working as an EMT. Unless they show through interaction with appropriate questions you should not assume they know how to use a PA catheter or the various other ports of access. If they ask to borrow your equipment, you may need to ask if they are familiar with it. I do not see why Paramedics should take offense to that and they should be glad someone is taking the time to explain something to them. It is much more dangerous to give a report they may not understand and to assume they do.

Everyone here has been respectful of the Paramedics and you really should not be offended.

[FFtaz71]

Grey Im not sure the other person was referring to you as a traumasurfer.

If you asnwer the basic questions of where they are going, what the problem is, what treatments have been done, what is normal for this patient, meds etc then there really is no need to alter what you tell a medic (EMT or otherwise). You dont have to assume they wont understand and theres no risk of offense on anyones part. If a medic needs more information they will ask.

The information they NEED from the nurses doesnt really differ that much from information that would be elicited from the patient being transported from home to a hospital...the main differences are that A) you are giving the patient info vs the patient and B) there will have been treatments done already.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Thanks to everyone for all your incite.

Heh .