Lung Regeneration Closer to Reality

Study’s authors show blood vessels support lung regeneration and their findings could potentially open the door to therapy for lung disorders…
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Toxidromes

As first responders and paramedics, we run into a seemingly endless variety of toxicological emergencies in the field.  Many of these emergencies are drug related, either due to misuse of prescription medication, or recreational drug use…
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Introduction to Hypertension

Blood pressure is defined as the pressure exerted by the blood against the artery walls.
Hypertension is one of the risk factors that has been correlated to and causative of many other human diseases…
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The Future of EMSstudent.ca

EMSstudent started as a fairly straightforward project.  A few classmates and I realized early into our education that there were a lot of online resources available for paramedic students, but they were scattered all over the Internet.   Even more importantly, very few students knew they existed, so they were largely (in our opinion) underutilized…
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Brrrr That’s Cold! Therapeutic Hypothermia for Post Arrest Patients

For a cardiac arrest patient to survive, many things need to be done quickly and correctly.  While I could have written about good quality CPR, defibrillation, ALS etc. (which I might save for another digest), I thought I would talk about something a little more sexy and novel….
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The Science of Anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis is classified as an Immediate Hypersensitivity Reaction (Class 1).

The exact reason why someone becomes hypersensitive to a particular antigen is currently unknown, but research has shown that hypersensitivity occurs after an initial exposure to the antigen…
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Light at the End of the Tunnel

Although it’s a bit esoteric, I figured between the 3^rd semester students starting your fall rideouts, and some groups finishing up their in-class training, it was worth doing another (final) article about preceptorship.  Having now finished my time on the road, there were a few more things I wanted to add to my original update in Digest #1.
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Canadian C-Spine Rule (CCR)

The Canadian C-Spine Rule was created in response to increased costs associated with non-essential radiography (98%) and increased patient wait times while immobilized to back boards. This month’s article will review the research and findings associated with the Canadian C-Spine Rule (CCR) and relate them to EMS practices.
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Acetaminophen Overdose – What Pre-Hospital Providers Should Know

Acetaminiphen is an analgesic which is a common component in over the counter and prescription medications. Preparations such as Tylenol, Tylenol #3, Tempra, Percocet, Robaxacet as well as many other pharmaceuticals all contain varying quantities of acetaminophen. Acetaminophen is perceived by many as a benign medication. However, accidental and intentional overdose account for significant morbidity and mortality primarily due to liver damage and fulminate liver failure.
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How did we get to 30:2?

Over the past 75 years, there have been numerous advances in prehospital emergency care. The paramedic scope of practice has grown from providing simple first aid to performing highly skilled procedures and interventions. Transport medicine is now used as a method of providing care to patients in the most rural of settings. But we have also seen advances in the science…
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Scenario Tips for the Road

Some things that I have found to be good practice in getting more comfortable with all aspects of being a paramedic. Through and through, the bottom of the line is to train in as realistic of circumstances as possible. Below is a small list of things that I tried to do during my practice sessions
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EMS honors Officer Styles

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to be part of the funeral precession for Constable Garrett Styles. When I started writing this article, I struggled with a way to word that first sentence that would adequately capture what the experience meant for me…and “privileged” seemed like the closest description, but even it falls short. For those who don’t know, Constable Styles was a York Region Police officer killed in the line of duty last month.
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Cardio Cerebral Resuscitation

Continuous compressions may be implemented in Ontario services, it is currently being tested in Peel region. This article details the physiological and theoretical information supporting the use of continuous compressions in what is known as “Cardiocerebral Resuscitation – CCR”.
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First steps into preceptorship

One of our original plans when we started EMSstudent.ca was to create a journal of our experiences during the preceptorship portion of our training. Although in retrospect, an entry a day was a bit of a lofty goal, every digest, I’ll try to include some personal thoughts, advice and interesting experiences that have happened over the previous month.
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MCI Brings Training to Life

York Region MedVents and St John Ambulance hosted a Multiple Casualty Incident exercise this month in conjunction with the York Region Police Venturers and Fire Venturers. MedVents is a section of Boy Scouts Canada which focuses on first aid training up to the First Responder Level. The event took place on 11 June 2011 at Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area in Stouffville. Scenarios challenged first aid, leadership and teamwork skills.
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