Then again, I have also heard the same about the Oral Station, KED, Dynamic, Static, IV, and Airway Management.
The trick to surviving the trauma PA station is this....
"BSI, Is the scene safe? What is my mechanism of injury? How many patients to I have? Do I foresee needing addition resources? My general impression is that this is a critical patient that will need rapid transport. I will have my partner maintain C-spine immobilization while I assess the patient's responsiveness and ABCs. Do I see any major bleeding as a approach the patient?"
If you don't know what any of that means, please go back and learn. Saying all of this stuff sets you up as a test-taker who knows what they are doing so the examiner is probably less apt to pay attention at this point.
Whenever I have an unresponsive trauma patient scenario (they ALWAYS seem to be unresponsive, or painfully responsive) I place an appropriately sized OPA and ventilate the patient on high flow oxygen with a BVM at a rate of 10-12 per minute, to chest rise.
I'm not sure how many folks fail this station on critical criteria or just fail because points. I'm guessing it has more to do with points than anything.
Lastly, make sure you know what you are going to do when you walk into the station and the patient is lying prone.
Please leave comments saying I'm full of bologna or whatever.
Obviously you are full of bologna:)
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to take a brief moment to tell you how much I have enjoyed your blog. I am currently about halfway through my own 16 month paramedic program and I have really appreciated your observations and have been encouraged by the experiences you have shared. I find myself frequently checking your blog to see if you have updated it, to the point of being disappointed if you haven't shared anything in a while (being in school I totally understand not having time for luxuries such as having a life, much less writing a blog.) Now that you are done with school I hope you will continue to share your experiences. I find that when I am feeling burned out or just plain tired of school or work there is something very refreshing and almost healing when I read about others' experiences. You have a gift to write and articulate what many of us feel but sometimes are unable to find voice to. I hope that you will continue to hone and invest in your talent. Anyway congratulations and thank you for taking the time to share something of yourself with the rest of us. Stay safe and God bless!
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