MCHD Paramedic Podcast

We've had continued rapid local and national developments over the past week surrounding COVID-19. On this special release, the podcast crew reconvenes to update our listeners on the most current evidence surrounding airway management in the era of COVID-19. REFERENCES 1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html 2. https://emcrit.org/emcrit/some-additional-covid-airway-management-thoug...

We've had rapid local and national developments over the past week surrounding COVID-19. On this special release, the podcast crew reconvenes to update our listeners on the most current evidence. REFERENCES 1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Choking babies, seizing kids, and floppy infants turning blue...all of these events are significantly anxiety inducing for both emergency providers and families alike. On this episode, Dr. Patrick is joined by Dr. Manish Shah, a pediatric emergency medicine physician and research expert from Texas Children's Hospital. The discussion will begin with the finer points of febrile seizures and then bra...

We all love cardiac arrest with VF as the presenting rhythm. These are the ones that walk out of the hospital. But, what happens when you shock, shock, shock and still VF? Today the podcast team addresses refractory ventricular fibrillation/electrical storm and specifically the role of esmolol in this condition. Esmolol is an emerging treatment for refractory VF that makes absolute physiologic sen...

A proper sleeping environment is vital for infant safety. On this episode Dr. Patrick is joined by two "safe sleep" experts - MCHD's own, Aston Herring and Dr. Lisa Owens from Texas Children's Hospital. After listening, you'll know how to recognize what exactly constitutes unsafe sleep and more importantly understand the impact that sleep environment can have on otherwise healthy infants. Join us...

Over the past week we’ve had several local false alarms with possible patients presenting with the 2019 Novel Coronovirus. On this special release, the podcast crew will discuss the impact of this worrisome viral infection on EMS providers. REFERENCES 1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/index.html 2. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/pages/jama-author-interviews

Tracheostomy patients can be intimidating and confusing with complex recent medical histories and unfamiliar terminology surrounding the surgical hole placed in their neck. Join Dr. Patrick as he attempts to demystify the tracheostomy tube and provide a framework to utilize when approaching the crashing trached patient. REFERENCES 1. http://www.tracheostomy.org.uk/storage/files/Patent%20Airway%20A...

While attending the 2019 Texas EMS Conference, Dr. Dickson and Chief Crocker were lucky enough to sit down with Dr. Jeff Jarvis from Williamson County EMS to discuss the background and evolution of the Texas CARES registry. We'll introduce the purpose of Texas CARES along with the ways in which it can benefit your service. REFERENCES 1. https://tx-cares.com

Join Dr. Dickson as he takes a trip down under to talk with Dr. Alastair Meyer about the often dreaded chief complaint of dizziness. Dr. Meyer is the Director of Emergency Medicine for Monash Health in Melbourne. The differential diagnosis for the commonly encountered dizzy patient is broad and consists of many non-emergent conditions along with deadly pathology as well. This combination can be a...

Continuing with the dizziness theme for the 2019 holiday season, Dr. Dickson is joined on episode 67 by Dr. Jeremiah Johnson. Dr. Johnson is a neurosurgeon here in Montgomery County where he's the Director of the Comprehensive Stroke program at CHI-St. Luke's Hospital in The Woodlands. We all recognize the combination of aphasia with face and extremity weakness that occurs in anterior circulation...

Our population is aging, and heart failure is only going to increase. This will inevitably lead to an increase of patients with left ventricular assist devices. New technology can be intimidating and confusing with complex recent medical histories and unfamiliar terminology surrounding the various LVAD brands. Join the podcast crew as we attempt to simply an EMS approach to the LVAD patient. REFER...

MCHD is excited for the county wide roll out of the PulsePoint app. Community Outreach Coordinator, Ashton Herring, joins Dr. Patrick to discuss the importance of bystander CPR in increasing survival in cardiac arrest patients. After listening, download PulsePoint and let’s get hands on chest as quickly as possible which we know is a recipe for saving lives. REFERENCES 1. https://apps.apple.com/us...

On this episode, Dr. Patrick and MCHD Paramedic Podcast toxicologist extraordinaire, Dr. Jerry Snow, pick up where they left off in our recent discussion of the classic toxidromes. We'll branch out into some topics that veer from the textbook such as the Alpha 2 agonists that can mimic opiate toxicity and why toxicologists fear methadone ingestions. We'll also touch on some "tox" current events su...

Dr. Patrick is joined by two medics on the MCHD recruitment committee, Megan Steely and Russell Carter, to discuss the components of the "next generation" medic. We also dive in to the nuts and bolts of the EMS service of the future as well. Schedule options, compensation issues, service offerings and atmosphere are all addressed during this wide ranging conversation. Only the surface is skimmed h...

We're excited to announce a new educational offering - MCHD Paramedic Podcast 360. There are many topics in paramedic/EMT education better taught with visual adjuncts that the podcast format cannot provide with audio alone. Podcast 360 will be hosted on the MCHD YouTube channel (see link below) and contain brief, high yield content similar to what you get here at the MCHD Paramedic Podcast. Please...

We’ve recently rolled out a new epistaxis treatment protocol here at MCHD. Join the podcast team as we discuss some nosebleed background information along with the classic and emerging treatment options. Did somebody say TXA?? Yep, we have TXA and this is a perfect opportunity introduce the MCHD epistaxis/TXA treatment protocol. It’s simple, cheap and minimally invasive. With rapidly accumulating...

This episode takes us back to the basics of toxic ingestions and poisonings to review the topic of toxidromes. Why do we look for specific patterns in poisonings and what are we looking for? Dr. Patrick and podcast toxicology expert, Dr. Jerry Snow, will take us through the major toxidrome groups and you’ll come out on the other side ready to sort through your next undifferentiated overdose patien...

On this episode, the medical directors are joined by the MCHD car seat guru, Ashton Herring. The leading cause of death in children is motor vehicle related trauma. We’ll start with some background of the car seat laws that exist here in Texas and how MCHD works in the local community to increase car seat awareness. Ashton will also educate us on some common errors that parents make when installin...

REBOA is a hot topic in the world of emergency medicine and prehospital trauma care. Join the medical directors for a review of “resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta.” We’ll discuss the basics, the anatomy, the complications and the evidence. Who is doing this in the EMS world and what are their results? We’ll answer that question along with looking to future possibilities as...

We’ve discussed airway management and our MCHD delayed sequence approach on past podcast episodes. On this episode, join the medical directors as they take a scenario based, deep dive into the finer points of tackling the difficult airway. REFERENCES: 1. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wVQFJR7qmrQ

The evolution of emergent stroke care has rapidly evolved over the past decade. With the increased emphasis on recognizing large vessel occlusion (LVO) strokes, communication and cooperation between EMS and our receiving hospitals has become vital. On this episode, Dr. Dickson is joined by an expert group of neurointerventionalists to discuss the current literature and guidelines shaping stroke ma...

Last year, we rolled out the MCHD “ROSC to Cath” protocol via the podcast. Recently, some compelling data from the COACT trial has led us to reassess and reconsider this protocol. On this episode, Dr. Patrick reviews COACT and discusses the MCHD changes coming as a result. REFERENCES: 1. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1816897 2. http://clinicaltrialresults.org/Slides/ACC2019/Lemkes_CO...

During a recent continuing education session at MCHD, one of the educational points of emphasis was recognizing and reporting human trafficking as a paramedic/first responder. The podcast crew was lucky enough to have Sarah Koransky, from United Against Human Trafficking (UAHT), join us to share some of the key points when encountering this vulnerable patient group. Sarah is knowledgable and passi...

Vital signs are called vital for a reason.  On this episode, Dr. Patrick takes us through a differential for the workup of sinus tachycardia.  This is a finding that we see daily in our practice, but often lack a step-wise approach when managing these patients. REFERENCES: 1. Bossart P, Fosnocht D, Swanson E. Changes in heart rate do not correlate with changes in pain intensity in emergency depart...

We've addressed the ten most commonly encountered medications seen in EMS on a prior podcast. In this episode, Brad Ward joins Dr. Patrick to focus on a less common, but often more impactful group of medications, the antiplatelets and anticoagulants. The combination of complex pharmacology and some relatively new drugs in both classes, make this an area prime for discussion and review. REFERENCES...