Re: Re: Study suggests paramedics may often take unresponsive ca...

July 2, 2009

one of the responses I have gotten in the past from field medical crews has

been to the effect of " Doc, we wanted the family to feel that everything

had been done for the patient, and that meant bringing the patient to you

for final evaluation. Besides, you can do a better job of giving the bad news

to the family than we can. "

I've also had problems with crews running RLS on cases where the patient

was stable AND a known DNR, especially in questionable weather. I've been

hauled on the carpet for questioning such actions, although I will admit that

when that has happened, I was rather emphatic about questioning the need

for speed in bad weather.

ck

S. Krin, DO

In a message dated 7/2/2009 06:33:20 Central Standard Time,

phillipsdo@... writes:

Tradition is another problem that we just can't break. As hard as I try to

get my crews to change, the older guys have problems due to " We've always

done it this way " -itis. It also makes them very uncomfortable to tell

family members they failed.

Now we all know on a head level that it is not the crew's failure, heck

the mortality rate for everyone that is alive is 100%. But this is a new

discomfort for everyone. Perhaps there is a need for training in how to deliver

bad news for EMS professionals?

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