Hi All,
In reply to Iain's query about the pronouncement of
death, in my Service paramedics can pronounce death
where after 15 mins of full ALS the patient remains in
asystole (as long as they are over 19, not pregnant
and the arrest is not due to trauma, drowning,
hypothermia etc). However, all front line staff (ie
non-paramedics) can also diagnose death if the patient
fulfils the criteria above (unless death is obvious ie
PM staining, rigor)if they are asystolic on the crews
arrival, with no signs of life or CPR in the previous
15 mins. This has made our job much easier, and
usually is kinder on the relatives who are not given
false hope. A very few patients do require transport
in arrest, I have never had to use single handed CPR
in these cases, even the non-intubated ones, as
sensible positioning at the head of the patient,
combined with a crewmate who appreciates the
situation, and therefore drives with extra care and
consideration! Often there is more to do in a serious
trauma case en-route to hospital than in an arrest,
but we wouldn't condone driving that forced us to hang
on for dear life in that situation, what's the
difference? Both are time critical patients.
Cheers all.
=====
Richard K Taffler
BSc(Hons)BEng
Paramedic
____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk
or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|