Posts Tagged ‘Emergency’

Emergency Dentist Care

August 15th, 2011

Many people do not realize just how important an emergency dentist is until they find that they need one. A lot of people associate dental professionals as practitioners whom they visit to maintain their teeth. In some cases where immediate action is needed, the urgent kind of oral health care practitioners are sought after.

These kinds of practitioners pass through the same education and training as general dentists. In fact, they can practice general dentistry when necessary and may actually do this when there are no emergency situations to deal with. Most graduates from dental school and their training programs often take on additional studies to specialize in certain dental fields, such as emergency situation and needs.

When to Seek Help

The gauge of when the need for an emergency dentist arises is basically dependent on the individual himself. Toothaches for some can be nagging but tolerable, while for others it can have the effect of a hammer pounding away at the tooth. If the individual can tolerate the ache and the pain, he can wait until a more suitable time until a consultation with his or her oral health care provider. In many cases, the person will take pain relievers to alleviate the pain and put off the visit to the dental professional when the pain subsides.

What he or she may not know is that ignoring the situation can aggravate it. There are grave consequences of not having the oral cavity maintained of checked at least twice a year. Among these consequences are deep decays which may eventually compromise the health of a group of teeth, gum disease, bad breath, serious infections and more expensive treatments, corrections and remedies which could have been avoided.

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History of Emergency Medical Services

August 11th, 2011

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) have only been around for the last 40 years. Before that hearses were used to transport injured and sick people to the hospital and deceased to the funeral home. Ambulance services were ran by the local funeral home and the attendants had very little to no first aid training. After WWII rescue squads and ambulance services began to emerge, but while their intentions were good they were untrained, unorganized, and poorly equipped to deal with emergency situations. At the time there were no training programs for even basic first aid skills and no standards for training. Therefor pre-hospital care was a group of uncoordinated, well intended efforts.

In 1965 more people died in auto related accidents (50,000) then what died in 8 years of the Vietnam war. In 1966 a report called the Accidental Death & Disability was released by the National Academy of Science. It vividly described the problems in pre-hospital care along with the magnitude of traffic related death and disabilities. Recommendations were made for ambulance standards, policies and regulations at a state level. The US Dept. of Transportation was also formed and became responsible for improving EMS education. As a result in 1967 the first well designed textbook for ems personnel was made.

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Emergency Medical Services – How to Become an Emergency Medical Technician

August 11th, 2011

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) – a qualified, licensed health care professional who generally provides pre-hospital emergency medical care to the ill or injured patient.

Working in the field of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) can be a very rewarding and challenging experience for those individuals who are committed to the safety and well being of their family, friends, neighbors, and more often complete strangers in the communities they serve.

General Pre-qualifications for most States:

o Applicant to an Accredited EMT Program must be at least 18 years old.

o The applicant must possess a High School Diploma or Equivalent.

o Some EMT programs may require a placement exam, i.e. colleges that require an entrance exam for all students.

EMT Programs in most states consist of approximately 110 hours of classroom and practical training and at least 24 hours of “hands on” clinical experience, usually at a local hospital and EMS Provider. Classes can be completed in as little as 14 days, although most programs meet once or twice a week for 3 to 4 hours over a 5 or 6 month period.

During the classroom and practical training sessions of the EMT program a variety of topics concerning pre-hospital patient care will be discussed. These topics are generally broken down into six to eight modules as I’ve listed below. Please keep in mind that some programs may differ slightly in the way or order the information is presented, but you can at least get a very good idea of what you will learn and need to accomplish to successfully complete the EMT program you choose to attend.

Module I:

This module is generally considered the preparatory portion of the EMT program in which the EMT student learns and participates in the discussion of such subjects as, Introduction to Emergency Medical Care, Protection Methods for the EMT, Legal and Ethical Issues, General Patient Anatomy and Physiology, and Lifting and Moving Patients.

Module II:

The Patient Airway Management and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) module. In this portion of the course you will learn in addition to CPR, skills such as additional airway management techniques, using airway adjuncts, and oxygen administration.

Module III:

The Patient Assessment Module is perhaps the most challenging part of the EMT Program consisting of, sizing up the medical or trauma scene, the initial or primary patient assessment of the medical and trauma patient, how to obtain a pertinent patient history, obtaining vital signs, the ongoing or secondary patient assessment, communicating your findings and proper patient documentation. Keep in mind that although we speak of the patient in general terms we are covering various age groups, including, pediatrics (newborns, infants, and toddlers, and children), adolescents (teenagers), adults, and geriatric (elderly) patients.

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