Mentorship

Tomorrow I get up bright and early to begin a shift in the OR at one of the hospitals. I'm doing a mentorship there with a friend, so it should be fun. I'm looking forward to it and I get to wear scrubs!!! Thanks Emily, see you tomorrow!

I have rescue squad duty Thursday, so I'll keep you posted on that too. Last duty I bagged someone all the way to the ER. We were dispatched for a "difficulty breathing," patient was on a ventilator, had CHF, and I disconnected his ventilator for two reasons: a) you can't transport the ventilator with him and b) the reason we were dispatched in the first place was because the ventilator was no longer adequately ventilating him. So I connected the BVM (bag valve mask) directly to his tracheostomy tube. Everything turned out well, his O2 sats went from 78% to 88%, a pretty significant increase.

As for the anonymous poster that has kept me updated on the Intermediate class at UVA, I thank you for the information. I'll be sure to check it out when I get there. The sites were very helpful. I appreciate it.

I was looking at my site statistics and someone came to my blog looking for the nine abdominal quadrants. Its probably too late for them but here it goes anyway:

Superior row: right hypochondriac, epigastric, left hypochondriac
Middle row: right lumbar, umbilical, left lumbar
Inferior row: right inguinal, hypogastric, left inguinal

Other News:

Deaths From Heart Attacks & Strokes Could Be Significantly Reduced With New Guidelines, UK

'Deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD), which kills nearly 250,000 people every year in the UK1, will be significantly reduced if the tougher cholesterol and blood pressure targets of 4.0 and 2.0 mmol/L and 140/85 mm Hg, outlined in guidelines published today2, are followed. The new guidelines will also decrease patients' likelihood of experiencing severely debilitating non-fatal CVD events. For the first time, UK practice in this area will be ahead of Europe as a result of the Joint British Societies' Guidelines on Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Clinical Practice (JBS2), developed by doctors from the leading professional societies in the field including The Primary Care Cardiovascular Society. If implemented, the guidelines will significantly improve the way people with and at risk of developing CVD are treated in this country, resulting in thousands of lives being saved and disabilities avoided.'

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Strong Link Between Tooth Loss And Heart Disease

'There is a strong, progressive association between tooth loss and heart disease, researchers report in a study published in the latest issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Heart disease was present in 4.7 percent of those without tooth loss, 5.7 percent of those with 1 to 5 missing teeth, 7.5 percent of those with 6 to 31 missing teeth, and 8.5 percent of those with total tooth loss, reports lead investigator Catherine Okoro, epidemiologist in the Division of Adult and Community Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.'

That makes sense...but I really don't believe what they're trying to say. Statistically it's horrible....too many confounding and lurking variables. There's also the nonresponse and response bias since it was conducted over a phone.

Stay safe everyone,
Bravomedic out.