1st Responsibilty
If you ask me, the most important thing you need to be able to do when working in the ER as a doctor or a nurse (and to only a slightly lesser extent, as a tech or a respiratory therapist), is to be able to recognize when someone is in cardiac arrest.
Sounds pretty basic, right? Then how can some people who should know better (ie BLS/ACLS trained) not realise that a pt who becomes unresponsive is in fact pulseless and apnoeic!
Come on people, feel for a pulse and check for respirations!
Friday, March 15th 2013 at 8:11 am |
The problem for me would be I didn’t know pulseless was a word and I don’t know what apnoeic means. I always just check the person’s carotid and stick my hand under their nostrils. They’re usually just really drunk, though.
Tuesday, March 26th 2013 at 3:37 am |
Apnoeic is “not breathing”. I always get called for the patient who’s short of breath, but won’t hang up the cell phone so I can give them a treatment.
Friday, March 15th 2013 at 10:04 am |
Well, I would, but they need to learn to show me their insurance card first.
Friday, March 15th 2013 at 2:52 pm |
FTW