Avoiding Common Prehospital Errors

Description

Avoiding Common Prehospital Errors, will help you develop the deep understanding of common patient presentations necessary to prevent diagnostic and treatment errors and to improve outcomes. Providing effective emergency care in the field is among the most challenging tasks in medicine. You must be able to make clinically vital decisions quickly, and perform a wide range of procedures, often under volatile conditions.

Written specifically for the prehospital emergency team, this essential volume in the Avoiding Common Errors Seriescombines evidence-based practice with well-earned experience and best practices opinion to help you avoid common errors of prehospital care.

Look inside and discover…

• Concise descriptions of each error are followed by insightful analysis of the “hows” and “whys” underlying the mistake, and clear descriptions of ways to avoid such errors in the future.

• “Pearls” highlighted in the text offer quick vital tips on error avoidance based on years of clinical and field experience.

• Focused content emphasizes "high impact" areas of prehospital medicine, including airway management, cardiac arrest, and respiratory and traumatic emergencies.

About the Author(s)

Benjamin J Lawner DO, EMT-P
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency MedicineUniversity of Maryland School of MedicineDeputy Medical Director, Baltimore City Fire DepartmentBaltimore, Maryland</

Corey M Slovis MD, FACP, FACEP
Professor and Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Raymond Fowler MD, FACEP
Professor of Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Health Professions, and Emergency Medical EducationUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterAttending Emergency Medicine Faculty, Parkland Memorial Hospital

Paul Pepe MD, MPH, MACP, FCCM, FACE
Professor of the Division of Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Public HealthRiggs Family Chair in Emergency MedicineUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medica

Amal Mattu MD
Professor and Vice ChairDepartment of Emergency MedicineUniversity of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimore, Maryland

Table of Contents

Section I Airway Management

1 Don’t Have a Failed Airway Because You Failed to Prepare –
Marianne Gausche-Hill
2 Don’t Forget to Properly Position the Patient Prior to Attempting Intubation! -Christopher Touzeau and Benjamin Kaufman
3 Which Patients Should Undergo RSI? It’s Not Just About the Clenched Jaw! –
Benjamin Kaufman and Christopher Touzeau
4 If a Non-rebreather Is Not Cutting It, Slap on the PAP. Use Noninvasive Positive Pressure in Patients in Moderate to Severe Respiratory Distress –
Steven Barmach
5 Cannulas Aren’t Just for Supplemental Oxygen Anymore: Use EtCO2 for Differentiating Causes of Respiratory Distress –
Jonathan Wendell
6 Errors in Difficult Airway Assessment: Always Assess the Anatomy First –
Jonathan Wenk
7 Problems Encountered with Movement and Airway Management: Confirm and Reconfirm Endotracheal Intubation –
Scott H. Wheatley
8 High Pressure Airway? Lay Off the Cricoid! –
Benjamin Lawner
9 Don’t Be So Quick to Throw Your Battery-Operated Laryngoscope Away! –
Benjamin Lawner
10 Drop That Tube! –
Stephen C. Andrews
11 It’s Not All About Intubation: New Perspectives on Prehospital Airway Management - Kevin G. Seaman
12 GCS Less Than 8? Don’t Automatically Intubate! –
Benjamin Lawner
13 I Can’t See Cords! What to Do When You’re Already in Too Deep –
Benjamin Lawner
14 Pediatric Airway Management: Don’t Underestimate the Value of a Stepwise Approach - Spencer C. Smith
15 Practice Makes Perfect: There’s Never Enough Practice –
Jessica Manka and Cynthia Shen
16 RSI Without Paralytics? Just Don’t Do It –
Benjamin Lawner
17 Tantalizingly Tangible Techniques for Telegraphing the Tough Tube –
P. Marc Fischer and Kevin G. Seaman

Section II Respiratory Emergencies

18 Avoid Becoming a Patient When Transporting One –
Jeremy Brywczynski and Jared McKinney
19 Avoid Hyperventilation and Know the Downfalls of Positive Pressure in the Intubated Patient –
Jeffrey M. Goodloe
20 Be Careful of Just a Little Blood! –
Benjamin W. Webster
21 Fear the Tracheostomy Patient! –
Christopher B. Colwell
22 Common Pitfalls in the Use of Pulse Oximetry –
Karen Wanger
23 Beware the Intubated Patient! –
Jared McKinney and Jeremy Brywczynski
24 Don’t Underestimate Waveform Capnography in the Intubated Patient –
Jeffrey M. Goodloe
25 The Dos and Don’ts of Nitroglycerin in Acute Respiratory Distress –
James V. Dunford
26 Fear the Elderly Patient With New Onset Wheezing –
Marc Eckstein
27 The Perils and Pitfalls of Needle Decompression –
Jullette M. Saussy
28 Don’t Forget CPAP in Prehospital Respiratory Distress –
Kathleen Schrank
29 Use Caution With Morphine in Treatment of Acute Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema - Neal Richmond and Jesse Yarbrough
30 To PE or Not to PE? Don’t Forget Embolism in the Patient With Shortness of Breath! -Neal Richmond and Jesse Yarbrough
31 Avoid Inappropriate Administration of Furosemide –
Jullette M. Saussy
32 Shortness of Breath: It’s Not Always the Lungs –
Corey M. Slovis
33 Adults Get Stridor Too –
Jeff Beeson
34 The Perils of Treating a Patient in Status Asthmaticus –
John P. Freese
35 Toxic Inhalation Pitfalls –
J. Brent Meyers
36 Don’t Administer Too Much or Too Little Oxygen to the COPD Patient –
Terence Valenzuela and Jarrod Mosier

Section III Cardiac Emergencies and ECG

37 Don’t Fail to Interpret Tachycardia –
Sean Covant and Ray Fowler
38 Don’t Fail to Interpret Bradycardia –
Sean Covant and Ray Fowler
39 Don’t Be Fooled by These ECG Mimics –
Sean Covant
40 Don’t Forget That There Are Many Causes of Chest Pain –
David Lehrfeld
41 Don’t Forget to Analyze Wide Complex Tachycardias –
David Lehrfeld
42 Don’t Miss the Subtle ECG Findings of STEMI -
A. J. Kirk

Section IV Management of Cardiac Arrest

43 Don’t Overlook the Role of Hands-Only CPR in Community-Based Strategies for Survival - Jennifer Triaca
44 Don’t Overlook the Uses of Capnography in Cardiac Arrest –
Max Patterson and Jonathan C. Wendell
45 Do Not Interrupt CPR for More Than 10 Seconds: It Can Be the Difference Between Staying Alive and Biting the Dust –
Jonathan Wenk
46 Pay Close Attention to BLS Intervention! –
Joel Higuchi
47 Refer Your Patients With ROSC to the Most Appropriate Facility –
Bruce G. VanHoy
48 It’s a Cold Day on the Horizon: Chill Your ROSC Patients Out! –
Rick Leonard and Kevin G. Seaman
49 Chest Compressions Are Your Most “Advanced” BLS Technique –
Gregory R. Valcourt and Kevin G. Seaman
50 CPR Devices: Don’t Believe Everything You Hear –
Sam Matta
51 Confirmation Is About More Than Direct Visualization, Especially in Cardiac Arrest -Scott H. Wheatley and Elizabeth Moye
52 Know When to Say “When!”: Termination of Resuscitation Efforts in Cardiac Arrest - Thomas G. Chiccone
53 Noninvasive Airway Management in Cardiac Arrest: Think Beyond Intubation - Alexander J. Perricone
54 Do Not Fail to Ensure Quality Chest Compressions! –
Cerisa C. Speight and Dale E. Becker
55 Involve Your Community in Cardiac Arrest: Together You Can Make a Difference - Cassandra M. Chiras and Kevin G. Seaman
56 Teamwork in Cardiac Arrest: No One Codes Alone –
Elizabeth L. Seaman and Kevin G. Seaman
57 Think About Where to Begin Your Resuscitation! –
Gregory R. Valcourt and Kevin G. Seaman

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