The Skeptics' Guide to EM

JANUARY 19, 2019

The EMS crew observes drug paraphernalia and suspect an intravenous (IV) opioid overdose. Background: There have been close to 400,000 deaths from an overdose involving any opioid (prescription and illicit opioids) between 1999 and 2017. [1] Wave 2: Rapid increase in overdose deaths involving heroin starting in 2010.

Naloxone 130

Naloxone Overdose Emergency Medical Services Emergency Department 130

FOAMfrat

JUNE 3, 2024

It’s a Fall night in the middle of nowhere, you’re staffing a Paramedic Ambulance in a combination system. Right as you’re making your bunk you get dispatched for a reported overdose with police enroute, no further information. You’re on a 24hr shift and getting ready for bed, already drowsy and ready for a nap.

Overdose 98

Overdose Ambulance First Responder ALS 98

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Paramedic

MARCH 1, 2021

An accidental opioid overdose and its nemesis, naloxone. With experience, plenty of ambulance personnel develop a habit of drafting an extrication plan while walking into every situation, depending on the level of chaos that greets us. Some start to sink in right from the early days of education.

Ambulance 52

Ambulance Paramedic Naloxone First Responder 52

Peter Canning

JANUARY 15, 2024

They treated me like s**t the time I overdosed. One day I was dispatched to an overdose. I was in the paramedic fly car and a BLS crew was in the ambulance. I have done many overdoses like this one of people who were in fact down alleys and behind dumpsters. You have just overdosed. But she’d just shake her head.

Overdose 52

Overdose BLS EMT EMT 52

Paramedic Training Spot

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

In fact, in 1927, the town of Belmar was one of the the first established volunteer ambulance services in the nation. The number of patients suffering harm from calling an ambulance greatly decreased, as did the number of fatalities.

EMT 52

EMT EMT EMR Emergency Medical Technician 52