I know what you are thinking! This site hasn’t had as many updates as I would like. The reason for this is due to my commitment to completing my EMT-P/ACP certification. Further to this I have been assisting with the set up of the Alberta Paramedic Association’s new website.

I am proud to say, that after much work, it is now released! With that, the General Membership has opened up to the public.

Check it out! These guys have their heads on straight (all starting with their low membership cost of $69.99!

I just added a new listing in the must have link list. I really need to refresh it, but if you haven’t checked it out yet, one of my good friends Roger the Rogie Tewson has reopened his blog. He shares his experiences with EMS and everything that effects us.

Rogie The Medic: http://rogiethemedic.dinstudio.com/

Meanwhile, take a look at the APA’s new website

Another round of guidelines are now on the table. For practitioners across Canada this may lead to a possible change in practice. Fortunately it seems, that the changes will not be drastic.

Some interesting things to note:

• In the absence of contraindications, it may be reasonable to administer morphine sulfate intravenously to patients with NSTE-ACS if there is continued ischemic chest pain despite treatment with maximally tolerated anti-ischemic medications (Class IIb LOE B)
• Measure serial cardiac troponin I or T at presentation and 3-6 hours after symptom onset in all patients with ACS symptoms. Additional troponin levels should be obtained beyond 6 hours in patients with normal troponin levels on serial examination when ECG changes clinical presentation confer an intermediate or high suspicion for ACS. (Class I LOE A)
• If the time of symptom onset is ambiguous, the time of presentation should be considered the time of onset for assessing troponin values (Class I LOE A).
  • Further reinforcing the need for a good history while on scene.
• With contemporary troponin assays, CK-MB and myoglobin are not useful for diagnosis of ACS. (Class III LOE A)
• A 12-lead ECG should be performed and interpreted within 10 minutes of the patient’s arrival at an emergency facility to assess for cardiac ischemia or injury
  • This protocol used to indicate an experienced physician to interpret the ECG. However that has been removed. This further reinforces the need for all practitioners to know their ECG’s!

Reference: Amsterdam A, et al. 2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Non-ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes Circulation, epub September 23, 2014.

Posted by Marilee Griffin-Florida on October 8, 2013

A dollop of peanut butter and a ruler might be a way to confirm a diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student in the McKnight Brain Institute Center for Smell and Taste and the University of Florida, came up with the idea of using peanut butter to test for smell sensitivity when she was working with Kenneth Heilman, a professor of neurology at the University of Florida.

Read More: http://www.futurity.org/can-peanut-butter-smell-test-confirm-alzheimers/
Original Study: http://www.jns-journal.com/article/S0022-510X(13)00311-0/abstract

Adults who do not have HIV but are at risk of getting the disease will now be able to take a drug to reduce their chance of getting infected. For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a drug for this use on Monday.

The drug is Truvada, an antiretroviral medication made by Gilead Sciences, Inc., which was already approved by the FDA in 2004 to help control HIV infection.

Truvada is a combination of two HIV medications – emtricitabine (Emtriva) andtenofovir (Viread) – into one pill that is taken once a day.  As a treatment for HIV, it is always used in combination with other HIV drugs.

Full Story

Post by: Saundra Young – CNN Medical Senior Producer

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/16/fda-approves-truvada-for-prevention-of-hivaids/?hpt=hp_bn12

RENATA D’ALIESIO
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 8:23PM EST