EmergencyTech.org

Years ago I was fortunate enough to attend one of the first CONTOMS tactical medic classes in Bethesda, MD. Everything about the class was amazing and, surprisingly, the stuff that stuck with me the longest was some of the training that seemed most mundane at the time. Since the course, I’ve used skills learned there to treat a broken tooth, manage hydration, and even store pee in a ziploc bag.

You see, in CONTOMS they taught us that the best way to store urine is to put some silica gel (that stuff that comes in packages) in a ziploc bag. When you urinate into the bag, the gel solidifies the urine and you can store it for later disposal. This is invaluable when you’re on a long deployment and can’t just sneak off into the bushes to do your business.

A German company has developed a commercial version of this idea with their new roadbag device. Designed for long car trips (as far as can be gleaned from the Google translation), perfect for long hours spent at a corner post with no bathroom (as nearly every EMT understands) this is exactly what every EMT-T should have come up with during class.

Via Medgaget.

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After the 2004 beating of suspect Stanley Miller by an LAPD officer wielding an 18-inch long flashlight, public outcry led the department to work with vendors to develop a replacement duty light.

A mere three years later we have the 7060 LED flashlight from Pelican. The light, which will be available to all of us non-LAPD types in June, promises two modes (tactical and patrol or, presumably, the ability to flash the light quickly or switch it on for longer periods), two switches (top and on the endcap), long batter life and blinding brightness.

The unprecedented partnership between Pelican and the LAPD kicked off two years of research and development. While the 7060’s features were determined by the specific needs of the LAPD, new technology was developed by Pelican and further improvements were made based on direct input from the Los Angeles Police Protective League. The result is a unique flashlight that is tremendously brighter than previous LAPD-issued lights, allowing officers to better establish if a suspect several feet away has a gun or other weapon in their hand. The LED lamp is extremely durable and never needs replacing — exceeding 10,000 hours of use, unlike conventional lamps, which fail after 30 hours of use. And the 7060’s 90 minutes of continuous battery life - with no loss in intensity compared to current flashlights that dim as the charge depletes - ensures police officers cover their beat armed with a powerful and long-lasting flashlight.

I think this kind of thinking is really valuable and, ultimately, that it leads to better products. We’ve all seen what a 3-D Maglite can do to someone and, well, it’s not pretty. This little beastie of a light, however, looks pretty bad ass.

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Oh, those Canadians are at it again with all of their inventing and politeness. Well, this has nothing to do with politeness, unless your idea of “polite” is ensuring effective chest compression rate and depth during CPR.

Two engineering students from McMaster University have invented what they believe is the solution: the CPR Glove. They have entered a prototype of their innovative device in this year’s Ontario Engineering Competition for university students being held in Ottawa from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. They are part of a 17-member team competing from McMaster.

The black, one-size-fits-all CPR Glove features a series of sensors and chips that measure the frequency and depth of compressions being administered during CPR and outputs the data to a digital display.

To be effective, compressions must be given at the rate of 100 per minute and at a depth of four to five centimeters.

A study measuring retention of CPR training published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that 59 per cent of the time, compressions were applied at the rate of only 80 per minute. Thirty-seven per cent of the time, the compressions were too shallow. CPR administered at these levels is not likely to save a person in cardiac arrest.

What I find particularly interesting about this is that it seems effective in many different ways: as a training adjunct, as a real-time indicator of compression effectiveness, and as an interface device for AEDs designed for bystander-use. Think of the effectiveness of cues like “deeper” or “harder” . . . well, you get the point.

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I know this is a bit dated, but I’m cleaning out the old “Stuff to Blog” folder.

Two rocket scientists EMS workers over at the London Ambulance Service have, rightly, become laughing stocks after their recent attempt at circumnavigating the British Isles because their on-board GPS moving map display told them to:

The crew had been tasked with taking the male patient 12 miles across Essex from King George Hospital in Ilford to Mascalls Park Hospital near Brentwood - a 12 mile journey which should have taken about 30 minutes.

But a fault in the ambulance’s on-board satellite navigation system sent the London Ambulance Service crew on an eight-hour round trip to Manchester.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said the crew set off in the early hours of Tuesday morning. They didn’t reach Mascalls Park Hospital until the early afternoon.

He said the crew hadn’t been to Mascalls Park before and only realised they were heading in the wrong direction when they reached the outskirts of Manchester.

Sure, the crew blames it on a problem with the technology, but we all know what really happened. Didn’t these fine fellows ever learn the old saw, “treat the patient, not the monitor?” And, if so, don’t they think that the same might hold true for other pieces of equipment?

(Reminds me of the old “Mondi Map Display” I used to have when I worked in Cheektowaga. -ed.)

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We all have a few electronic devices around that we’re not using anymore. No, I’m not talking about those LifePak 5’s collecting dust in the back of the equipment room; I mean cell phones, PDAs, ink and toner cartridges, iPods, and just about anything else.

Instead of trashing these relics and leaving them to (not) rot in a landfill somewhere you can donate them to Recycling for Charities and even select the charity you would like to benefit from your donation or apply to have your charity benefit from donations. So instead of shifting that old brick of a cell phone around in the junk drawer why not donate it? It’s free and only takes a minute. Or, even better, organize your own recycling drive at your agency. It’s good PR, for sure, and they’ll even help you out. I know I’m bringing this up when I talk to the boss next.

Via Lifehacker

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