The problem of measuring a pulse. A heart rate is the rate at which a heart beats. A pulse rate is the actual count of that heartbeat creating an actual, physically determinable felt pulse. Electrical heart rate and peripheral pulse are not always the same. Measuring a physical pulse can give us important information about the health of a patient, such as signaling that a person has an infection or is dehydrated. For emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs) in particular, the pulse rate can tell us about the potential severity of the patient’s condition and what type of prehospital help is needed...
Chaplain Russell Myers, Allina Health EMS, talks about the role of chaplains in EMS and emergency dispatch. He discusses research he's conducted about the most stressful EMS calls as well as things to consider when deciding whether to bring a chaplain into your center...
Kim Ruether, founder of Project Brock, gives some background on "Brock's Law" and Project Brock, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing sudden cardiac arrest in young people through awareness, education, and action...
Andre Jones, Assistant Executive Director of Communications and Control Centers for Hamad Medical Corporation, talks about what it's like being in emergency communications in Qatar and dispenses some leadership best practices...
Captain Kevin Haight, Commander of Statewide Emergency Communications in Idaho, talks about his master's thesis on the reclassification of emergency dispatchers, including why the current classification is a problem and what steps need to be taken to fix it...
Jennifer Chap, co-founder of BuddyCPR and StrataVerve, discusses sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) from a caller's perspective. She talks about the experience she had when her husband went into SCA and shares the findings of her research and work to improve public awareness and understanding of this topic...
DOES USE OF THE COMPRESSIONS MONITOR DIAGNOSTIC TOOL BY EMDs ENHANCE THE ABILITY OF CALLERS TO PERFORM CPR? Yes! When used with Pre-Arrival Instructions, the Tool significantly improves callers' ability to achieve high-performance CPR compression rates. The earlier, the better. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is both pervasive and deadly. The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates more than 356,000 OHCAs occur in the United States per year. Of these cases, about 90% are fatal. Bystander CPR can save the life of an OHCA patient—however, time is of the essence. It has been said that...
Dr. Dan Cox, Board President of the Utah Chapter of the American Heart Association (AHA), discusses the AHA's objectives, how community outreach can still function during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether compressions-only CPR is effective...
Brett Patterson, Chair of the Medical Council of Standards for the IAED, discusses Proposals for Change (PFCs), a key part of the process of protocol evolution that keeps it as up-to-date as possible. He explains how PFCs came about, what makes a compelling proposal, and some common mistakes made when submitting one...
Adrianne Miller, QA/QI and ETC instructor for Ford County 911 Communications, discusses dealing with suicide calls in rural areas, whether from the callers themselves or from people reporting the aftermath. She talks about her own personal experiences with these calls and the resources emergency dispatchers can use...
