Posted in Roy on Rescue

I’m Going To Eat This If It’s The Last Thing I Do!

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Ever think to yourself, “I’m just a bacon cheeseburger away from a heart attack?” Well you might just be. Newer research is showing that high saturated fat and unhealthy foods effect our overall health more than we realize. In fact, those who have cardio-vascular disease could determine if they are going to have a heart attack today or tomorrow simply based on what they decide to have for supper!

Author Bonnie Liebman wrote an article where it said; New research suggests that if your arteries are partially clogged with plaques–and if one of those plaques happens to rupture several hours later, that fatty meal could be your last.

“Hours after a fat-rich meal, an individual is at a higher risk of a fatal heart attack than at other times,” says researcher George Miller of the Medical College of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

Remember, the signs of heart related chest pain can be similar to pains you’ve felt in the past. But if you are experiencing pain in your chest, radiating up into your neck or down one or both arms, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, weakness and sweating, you may be having a life threatening heart attack. Don’t drive yourself into the hospital. Call 911 or have someone call 911, sit in a position of comfort, try and relax and let the paramedics treat you while you’re on your way to the hospital. Paramedics can give medications such as; aspirin if you haven’t already taken one before they arrive, nitroglycerin, morphine, and in some regions of the world maybe even blood clot dissolving medications. Either way, the ambulance knows the secret in getting you seen very fast and not having to stop at the front desk. In fact, in many cases the paramedics bring heart attack patients who have already been confirmed with certain 12 lead ECG results right into the Cardiac Cath Lab. This time savings could mean the difference between life and death. Time is heart muscle when it’s starving of oxygen due to a blocked artery.

Please don’t try to dismiss it as heart burn or gas. Chest pain should always be investigated and if it’s not something that you can 100% say is a pulled muscle, you should get evaluated by medical professionals.

The heart is a wonderful muscle and it works every second of every minute of our whole lives. Let’s not kill ourselves one bite at a time. In fact as I write this blog, I’ve decided to do something a little special to try and get healthy myself.

Cheers,

Roy Shaw, EMT-Paramedic
RoyOnRescue.com
Tweet me your comments: @royonrescue

For Full Article mentioned in blog go to:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0813/is_n4_v21/ai_15224643/

P.S. I’m sharing a great video by the British Heart Foundation. My good friend and business partner introduced this to me. Please feel free to send the video to anyone you think might be at risk for a heart attack and is too stubborn to listen to the symptoms.

Posted in Roy on Rescue • Accidents • Concussions • Head Injuries

What To Do If A Person Falls and Hits Their Head

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A concerned Good Samaritan(G.S.) wrote me a question and I thought it would be good to share it with you on RoyOnRescue(ROR).

G.S.: “In my scenario, the person fell down hit their head twice and then fell onto the floor face down. I am now wondering if we did the right thing. We picked the person up and carried her outside for fresh air where she revived immediately. We  then monitored the person but nothing else seemed to be wrong with her.”

ROR:  It sounds like the story ends well regardless of the treatment given which is always great!  There may be a few things that we cold improve upon for the future. Let’s analyze what happened and what we might be able to do differently next time to protect and help the fall victim even more.

Whenever a person falls, there is a risk for head and neck injury. As stated in your scenario, this particular person did  hit their head… twice.  This would be enough mechanism of injury that instead of moving the person right away, we would want to minimize movement while assessing the person for any signs or symptoms of other injuries.  We can minimize movement by softly but confidently speaking to the patient who is either conscious or unconscious and place one hand carefully on the victims forehead to help remind them and us not to move their head and neck.   Try to find out  if the person is breathing on their own and if their skin color is somewhat normal while they are lying in the position found. If they are breathing and skin color is good, we do not have to move the person before Emergency Medical Services arrive.

If assessing the person’s airway is impossible in this position,(face down) we may need to carefully roll the person over onto their back even if we suspect that there may be a serious neck or back injury.  We do not move spinal chord injury patients unless they need cpr, their airway is compromised or they are in danger due to the environment.

If we determine that we must roll, or move a person with a suspected spinal chord injury, utilize several people if available,  in order to minimization spinal movement.  If you are the only person, then do the job the best way you can and follow the “Life Over Limb” philosophy.  If the person wakes and is not complaining of any pain or numbness and they don’t allow you to minimize movement because they want to get up, they should be allowed to do so.  It is not wise to hold the person down as this can complicate injuries the patient already sustained trying to wrestle.  Keep encouraging the person to stay still until help arrives by the ambulance service. Keep the person in a position of comfort with confident words of encouragement like, you are in good hands, I’m going to take good care of you and help is on the way.  If they still refuse treatment, there is little you can do at that point other than inform  911 of what has happened.

It sounds as though you did the best you could for this person at the time.  Remember,  most people don’t even get involved when someone needs help.  The fact that you did get involved and tried to help makes you a natural rescuer!

I thought a video clip of all different fainting episodes would not only get my point across that falls can cause injuries to the person even if the fainting spell or the reason they fell wasn’t serious. I hope you don’t feel faint watching others faint but if you want to see what happens to people when they fall from standing up, take a look at the clip below.

P.S. One of the most effective rescue moves for a person who is starting to faint, is to simply help them to the floor before they fall!

Best Wishes,

Roy On Rescue

Posted in Roy on Rescue • Sports Related

Olympic Luger Dies in 90 MPH Crash

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Today during the Olympic Luge Practice, a Luger lost control and crashed at over 90 miles per hour into a steel pole.  Roy Shaw, Paramedic, talks about the potential injuries associated with such a crash and why people can die so suddenly after an accident such as this.  This Olympiad lost his life, though CPR was attempted.  Let us keep him and his family in our Prayers.

Click on the following link for the full report from NBC.  http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-features/news/newsid=412058.html#rogge+very+day

Posted in Roy on Rescue • CPR for Providers

What if Someone Passes Out? What Do I Do Next?

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Ever wonder why someone passes out unexpectedly?   More importantly, ever wonder what to do if someone passes out?  Today, Roy Shaw, EMT-Paramedic answers a question that was sent to him where someone who really cares about rescue asks, “How do I handle a situation where someone has passed out?”  Roy explains what is happening when someone passes out and how to apply basic first aid in order to help.  So, the next time someone goes unconscious for any reason, you may know what to do.

Posted in Roy on Rescue • CPR for Providers

Tragic Comedies, Why Some People Die and Others Don’t After Accidents

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Ever wonder why some people die after an accident that should have never killed them, while others survive accidents that you know should have resulted in death?  So does Roy Shaw, EMT-Paramedic, and in this video blog Roy takes a look at how to handle these situations from a rescuer standpoint and how to prepare ourselves in case an emergency does arise.  Roy believes that when it comes to providing life saving CPR, a pound of prevention is worth a ton of cure!  Roy continues to urge everyone to take a CPR training before an emergency arises, so that you might know what to do in order to give the victim the best chance at survival.  The only thing tragic about CPR is when one takes it for a joke.

Watch the second very interesting video which shows a professional skydiver who survives a parachute failure and a 12,000 foot fall and lives to tell about it!  For more on injuries from falling out of bed, click this link.  http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/bedfalls.shtml

Posted in Roy on Rescue • CPR for Instructors

Let’s Focus on Your Strengths, Not Your Weakness.

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Ever dread going to work in the morning?   Ever feel like you were being put down or made to feel less talented  for things that don’t seem to come easy or naturally?

In this video blog, Roy promotes a book called StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath, Number 2 best selling book by Wallstreet Journal, where the book interacts with a test online in order to  help one describe their  top five strengths that can be used to their fullest at home, at play and in your professional life.

Too many times, people allow others to make them feel inadequate or less talented than another simply because of a mismatch of natural and acquired strengths.  Watch this video for a short promotion of this very helpful new book.

Posted in Roy on Rescue • CPR for Providers

Does CPR Save Lives?

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Roy Shaw, Paramedic and Trainer explains how CPR works in detail and how it can help save lives. Many people think that CPR saves lives by keeping people alive artificially. Roy helps to clarify what is really happening when you begin CPR.

Many people think that if I keep doing cpr the person will stay alive. The fact is, the person is already dead if they need CPR and even cpr done less than by the book will give the person a better chance at survival. In this video Blog, Roy explains that people don’t die from poorly done cpr, people die because CPR is never started. If you don’t want to be another one of those people who misunderstands how CPR works and how you can make a difference by trying to help, you may want to watch the video now!

 

Posted in Roy on Rescue • Training Questions • CPR for Instructors

Classroom is Cure for Insomnia

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Ever wish you didn’t have to go to another CPR classroom?   Ever wonder why after sitting through 4 to 8 hours of training you can only really remember the first 5 to 10 minutes?  In this video blog, Roy Shaw, Paramedic Instructor explains the negatives of a traditional classroom CPR course compared to the benefits of self paced Online CPR training.  Roy caught a cold and it reminded him of how much he hated having to go to class, or teach a class when he was sick.  With eLearning, you’ll never have to worry about going to another boring class.   In fact, if you take CPR with ProCPR, you may be able to drink your favorite beverage while wearing your bunny slippers!

Posted in CPR for Instructors • CPR for Providers

Person Dying and You Can Help, So What’s Stopping You?

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An estimated 294,851 emergency medical services-treated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States each year.(http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4741)
And only 10% of people do something to help.  What stops people from providing life saving techniques during a tragedy?  In this video podcast Roy Shaw, Paramedic  and BLS/ACLS/PALS instructor gets to the bottom of why people don’t get involved and what can be done increase the survival rate from cardiac arrest, regardless of what causes it.