Thankfully, new EMS gadgets and gizmos punctuated 2013, because if all I had to highlight were the plethora of fluorescent running shoes that seem to be everywhere, we’d all need emesis bags.
Nearly every prediction I made at the end of 2012 reached the market during 2013. The FDA approved Physio-Control’s roll-out of their TrueCPR™ coaching device, and Masimo evolved their newly acquired EMMA™ end-tidal CO2 device from a capnometer to a full-fledged, tiny little capnograph (yup, that means waveform).
The answer to every ALS instructor’s prayer crossed the pond from Australia and hit the U.S. running during September: the ALSi program by iSimulate that runs on an iPad platform. Also, at the top of the “fascinating” list is the iTClamp hemorrhage control device by iTrauma Care, which received FDA approval during 2013 for marketing in the states. It’s unclear if this trend will replace Velcro® and orange, but it seems like the letter “i” has become a marker for innovation in EMS.
Better treatment guidelines
Thanks to the addition of EMT use of pulse oximetry in the new EMS Educational Standards, EMS hurt significantly fewer patients with unnecessary oxygen. Paula Deen got tossed out of the kitchen, Aaron Hernandez got tossed into prison, and backboards got tossed out of our EMS protocols.
If Obamacare has you wondering what costs you can cut in 2014, consider selling your refrigerators and ice chests. Breaking news from the American Heart Association meetings: prehospital therapeutic hypothermia post cardiac arrest apparently adds no outcomes value for patients.
In 2014, we hope to see Ferno EMS finally roll out their much hyped “INx” stretcher. And perhaps the FDA will finally get a handle on our drug shortages — and, speaking of shortages, bullets for the .380 Auto, .45ACP, and .40 S&W have been scarce following an order for 1.6 billion rounds placed in early 2013 by the Department of Homeland Security.
Danger and loss
There’s been no apparent effect on the number of active shooter incidents, which continue to increase every year. If you haven’t read the Hartford Consensus, published in June 2013, and the Hartford Consensus II, published in September 2013, you should. That’s my next prediction for 2014: your EMS system will need to determine how to place medics inside the warm zone of an active shooter event.
We were painfully reminded in 2013 of the dangers we face day in and day out serving the public. The largest single loss of firefighters since the World Trade Center terrorist attack happened in Yarnell, Arizona, where 19 wildland firefighters died on June 30. A chemical plant explosion in West, Texas killed 12 firefighters on April 17. The job you do every day is meaningful, desperately needed, and very dangerous.
EMS lost an icon in 2013 with the sudden death of Mike Smith, paramedic program director at Washington’s Tacoma Community College. Godspeed to our good friend.
Disease and transport
While we’re still waiting for Mother Nature to unleash this season’s flu viruses, she certainly wreaked worldwide havoc in 2013 with flooding and weather. Hopefully, she’ll back off a bit on the weather in 2014.
While they probably won’t be required to float, ambulances have been a hot item since the release of the NFPA 1917 Standard for Automotive Ambulances. That committee has been hard at work, meeting once again as I write this column to continue revisions on the controversial standard for expected publication in 2015.
Heart attack row
The American Heart Association, ILCOR, and pretty much everyone who writes curriculum and teaches Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC) got a little egg on their faces in 2013 when data analyses from the Get With The Guidelines — Resuscitation database, the first comprehensive in-hospital cardiac arrest registry, were compared to out-of-hospital databases (like the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium). Lo and behold, it now appears that at least the same number, if not more, cardiac arrests occur in-hospital as in the community. Kind of embarrassing when we’ve spent years of effort and countless dollars on community ECC, believing that’s where most people drop.
You probably noticed a sudden emphasis from the AHA on in-hospital ECC. That will continue, and here’s another prediction for 2014: Hospitals are going to be coming to you, the EMS experts, for assistance in improving their resuscitation processes. Pay attention, though: one strong recommendation is that hospitals begin publicly reporting their resuscitation outcomes. When that happens, EMS will not be too far behind. Time to start taking a close look at how you actually fare.
Social media barrels on
In 2013, Internet searches on Miley Cyrus beat out Kim Kardashian; poor Justin Bieber was outranked by the iPhone 5. Social media is likely to see a shift as users look to make their communication (and in the case of businesses, their marketing) more effective. Yes, Google continues to grow; Facebook bought Instagram, and both seem to be thriving. Twitter got a boost when Apple added them into the iPhone operating system. Even LinkedIn went for a big makeover during 2013.
Truth be told, a lot of shiny social media toys are seriously distracting us from building real content. That’s my final prediction for 2014: you will find new and more meaningful ways to use technology and the Internet to actually help you provide better EMS to your community.
Thank you for everything you do. The public depends on the special skills and problem solving capabilities you deliver, one patient at a time. Live well and be brave in the New Year.
