Double Edged Swords

A post at Paramedicine 101, by Medic999, raises some important questions. Chronicles of EMS - A double edged sword? This is what I think addresses the most important part of the way we do things and why we do them differently in different places.

Before all of this crazy show started, I lived and practiced in my own little bubble. I used to naively think that we were the best at what we can do.

That is the human thing to do, to assume that our leaders are making the right choices.

I take the opposite approach. I want our leaders to prove that what they are doing is good for patients. Not that their way is the best way, but that their way can be demonstrated to be good for patients.

Most of what we do in EMS fails that test.

Why should we continue to use these experimental treatments?

Why should we continue to we continue to be guided by ignorance?

Medic999 points out that he was unaware of some possible improvements to patient care. Now he wonders why his protocols do not include treatments like therapeutic hypothermia.

We often will dismiss something because it is a foreign idea. If you want to have a political idea ridiculed, one of the quickest ways is to suggest that it came from France, except if you are in France. As if the origin of an idea has anything to do with the quality of the idea.

There is nobody so perfect that he/she never produces a bad idea. Conversely, we should not assume that there is such a perfect fool, that he/she never produces a good idea. To assume that the origin of an idea is more important than the idea, is itself a bad idea.

Unfortunately, Not originated here means not used here is EMS dogma in many places.

We come up with excuses to avoid changing things.

We act as if our patients will be better served by avoiding improvements in EMS care.

If we are not here to provide the best care to our patients, shouldn't our patients be protected from us?

One objection that I repeatedly hear from EMS traditionalists is that, We have to be able to say that we did everything we could for the patient.

The parts they leave out are -

As long as the idea originated here!

As long as we don't have to change the way we do things!

As long as we don't have to sit in a classroom, or read, or do anything else that would be considered learning!

As long as the patient does not expect us to provide excellent patient care!

As long as we get to spend more time stroking our egos than we spend on improving patient care!





Chronicles of EMS is a double edged sword. Through Chronicles of EMS, Medic999 has more knowledge about what EMS does in other places. Now he is less satisfied with the way things are done where he works. His satisfaction level has decreased because his knowledge level has increased. This is where the term ignorance is bliss comes from. The more we know, the less satisfied we are with traditional solutions.

But this is not about satisfaction. The decrease in satisfaction is only due to looking at things the wrong way. With more knowledge we have the ability to make improvements that make things better for patients.

When we learn that most patients flown to trauma centers did not benefit from being flown, we realize that we are contributing to the excessive death rate among flight crews when we call for more flights, which leads to more helicopters, which also leads to a greater dilution of experience for flight crews. Tradition tells us to fly patients based on mechanism of injury. This allows the blissfully ignorant EMS personnel to think that they snatched the patient from the jaws of death.

When we learn that by rushing to perform ALS procedures during CPR, we have been neglecting the quality of chest compressions. When we improve the quality of chest compressions, we triple the survival rate - the real survival rate, not the misleading and short term return of a drug induced pulse. This is the first improvement in survival to discharge. This only came by discarding the traditional way of doing things.

When we learn that intubation is performed horribly in many places, some of us work to improve our intubation skill, some move to alternative airways much more quickly, some do both, while traditionalists just claim that it is more important for them to intubate, than to provide competent airway management.

Ignorance can be bliss. Tradition can be bliss. Both can also be deadly for our patients.

Knowledge is a double edged sword, but it is much better to provide excellent patient care than to hide behind That's the way we've always done things!

Medic999 is not suggesting that blissful ignorance is better. He is pointing out that the more he knows, the more problems he becomes aware of. This is not a bad thing.

If we are not aware of the problems, we will not correct the problems.

If we do not correct the problems, our patients suffer.

The more we know, the less satisfied we are with traditional solutions.

Our goal should be the protection of our patients by the destruction of our traditions.

.