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Respect the lift assist

Warning signs and a checklist for evaluating patients after a lift assist

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Photo/Indianapolis EMS

In this episode of the MCHD Paramedic Podcast, join the podcast crew and Dr. Taylor Ratcliff as they discuss the dangers of lift assist calls in EMS. These responses can be under-appreciated with hidden diagnoses such as sepsis, GI bleeding and even fractures [1].

Up for discussion:

  • How can we better create checklists to better assess these calls?
  • What are the warning signs in these patients?
  • Do lift assists even require an ALS evaluation?

Listen and get these answers and more!


References

1. Leggatt L, Van Aarsen K, Columbus M, et al. Morbidity and mortality associated with pre-hospital “Lift-Assist.” Prehosp Emerg Care. 2017;21(5):556-562.


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Listen for more:

Rethinking lift-assist calls with Maia Dorsett

The clinical, cognitive and potential risk considerations in lift-assists, which are more complex than we realize

The MCHD Paramedic Podcast was launched in early 2018 in an effort to provide easily consumable core-content EMS education and insights from prehospital care thought leaders. The Clinical Services Department of The Montgomery County Hospital District EMS service developed the podcast as a tool to better engage and disseminate continuing education to our MCHD medics as well as first responders and EMS professionals nationwide.

Dr. Casey Patrick is the assistant medical director for Montgomery County Hospital District EMS and is a practicing emergency physician in multiple community emergency departments across Greater Houston. His EMS educational focus is on innovative paramedic teaching via the MCHD Paramedic Podcast. Dr. Patrick’s prehospital clinical research involves the investigation of paramedic use of bolus dose intravenous nitroglycerin for acute pulmonary edema and the implementation of lung protective ventilation strategies for intubated EMS patients. Casey and his wife, Alyssa, work and live in Conroe, Texas, and Spokane, Washington. Together they have five children: Mia, Ainsley, Brock, Dean and Will.

Dr. Dickson graduated with honors from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 2001 and completed emergency medicine training at Indiana University in 2004. He serves as the EMS medical director at Montgomery County Hospital District EMS and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His academic interests include systems of care in stroke and other time-sensitive emergencies, neurologic emergencies and education. He is board certified in emergency medicine in both the U.S. and Australasia, and has subspecialty board certification in EMS medicine. He has authored multiple professional articles and presented at regional, national and international conferences on emergency medicine and EMS topics.