Saturday 1 August 2015
Important EMT responsibilities
1. Is
this patient sick or not sick?
One of the most critical EMT responsibilities is assessing the
medical needs of the sick or injured. This must be done quickly and
efficiently, especially in serious life or death situations when a minute lost
can mean the difference between saving someone or not.
In order to provide an accurate assessment, an EMT must remain
composed enough to draw upon his or her training and experience. Sometimes
making an assessment is relatively easy. An example would be when a child has
fallen and broken their arm. The EMT stabilizes the broken bone, checks for
shock or any other injuries and transports the child to the hospital so the
bone can be x-rayed and set.
A more difficult assessment would be a car crash where multiple
people are injured. Then, the EMT must decide who is in the most dire need of
help and administer aid to save that person before responding to the others.
2. What
are the patient's vital signs?
Another one of the top EMT responsibilities involves taking
vital signs of the sick or injured. The first of the basic vital signs is level
of consciousness (LOC). Is the patient conscious or unconscious? Are they awake
and able to communicate? To they respond to physical stimulation? The second
vital sign is respiration. Are they breathing? If not, swift intervention must
occur to save them. Is their breathing weak or labored and rasping? This can
indicate their condition.
The next step is to take their pulse to see if their heart is
still pumping blood through their veins. If no pulse, immediate steps must be
taken to restart the heart beating. The condition of the patient's skin is
another vital sign. Color is important. Are they flushed, jaundiced, pale or
bluish? What is their skin temperature – hot, cold or clammy? Dry or heavily
perspiring? These can indicate their condition and guide the EMT toward a
medical assessment. Their pupils are another vital sign. Dilated or restricted?
How do they respond to light? Blood pressure is also a vital sign. If their
blood pressure is extremely high or low, measures must be taken to remediate.
3.
What is the patient's history?
Taking
a SAMPLE history is another of the top five important EMT responsibilities.
SAMPLE stands for:S – Signs and symptoms
A – Allergies
M – Medications
P – Pertinent past medical history
L – Last oral intake
E – Events leading to injury/illness
4. How are you going to move the
patient?
Properly moving patients is also one of the most important EMT
responsibilities. EMTs must always lift and carry patients in a manner that
insures their safety. They must also take steps to insure their own safety and
avoidance of injury. Proper lifting and moving methods include using at least
two people, making sure the patient is properly strapped into the stretcher,
coordinating movements with the coworker and using the correct lifting
techniques.
5. How
are you going to handle your stress?
Maintaining composure in critical and stressful situations in
another of the top EMT responsibilities. These can include mass casualty
incidents, emotionally charged situations, the death of injury of children,
incidents of violence or the death or injury of a friend, relative or coworker.
An EMT must also realize when their mental state is affected by job stress and
take appropriate actions to get help. Some of the indications of being overly
stressed are insomnia, nightmares, anger, disorientation, panic attacks,
depression, memory loss and increased alcohol use.
