I'm preparing for an EMS conference presentation and I need some help. I'm hoping to make my talk as relevant to prehospital personnel as I possibly can. That's where you guys come in.
If you're an EMT or paramedic and you were attending a talk on infant resuscitation, what questions do you have that you might want me to address? I'm also interested in questions from physicians, nurses, students and others - particularly those who do not regularly provide care to critical infants.
If you ask a great question, I might address it here on Uncompromised Airways in addition to covering it in my presentation. Just email me or leave a comment. Thanks everyone!
I'm a student EMT, how helpful/not is skin to skin contact with a newborn premie in managing temperature? Is it best to bundle baby on mom's chest skin to skin and transport or bundle baby and mom hold the blankets (and baby!) and transport?
ReplyDeleteDoes kangaroo care play any part in prehospital care?
Thx for writing.
1. The best way to stabilize a preterm infant and a term infant pre-hospital.
ReplyDelete2. Differences in resuscitation of a neonate vs an adult.
3. To cut the cord or not cut the cord?
Namaste,
ReplyDeleteYou've hit on one of the most critical concepts when faced with prehospital delivery. Temperature is always a major concern with field delivery because ambulances do not have the luxury of radiant warmers. When you're resuscitating a baby, you can bag till your hand falls off and give every bit of epi in the rig, but the baby won't respond appropriately unless promptly warmed/dried.
Here's what PEPP recommends for temp control in the field with the newly born:
- After the breathing is adequate, place the baby directly skin-to-skin with mother and cover both of them with a blanket.
- Turn on the heat in the back of the unit, even if it's uncomfortable for the mother or the crew.
- Consider carrying small knit hats in your OB or pedi kits to minimize the newborn's heat loss through the head.
One critical, oft-overlooked detail: When you're doing your initial drying/stimulating of the baby with towels, you must toss the wet towels aside. Leaving a baby in contact with a wet surface is absolutely counterproductive to your efforts.
AYC, always thought-provoking questions. I might address them in a series of posts to give more complete answers.
Thanks!
I'm not an EMT or paramedic, I even like Grey's Anatomy so that pretty much qualifies me as a non-medical-health-personnel, but I just wanted you to know that I fixed your link on my blog.
ReplyDelete