Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice (v. 1-5) [Hardcover]

Bryan E. Bledsoe (Author), Robert S. Porter (Author), Richard A. Cherry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2001 | ISBN-10: 0130727040 | ISBN-13: 978-0130727046

Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice is the first text program to take the student beyond the skills necessary to practice as a paramedic and into the underlying principles upon which those practices are based. Correlated to the U.S. Department of Transportation's 1998 National Standard Curriculum for EMT--Paramedic, this series of textbooks provides all the background content and skills coverage required for paramedic education. The series, comprised of five books, covers all eight modules of the new curriculum: Volume 1: Introduction to Advanced Prehospital Care (includes Airway Management) Volume 2: Patient Assessment Volume 3: Medical Emergencies Volume 4: Trauma Emergencies Volume 5: Special Considerations / Operations (includes Assessment-Based Management) Dr. Bryan E. Bledsoe, lead author of the classic pre-'98 curriculum text Paramedic Emergency Care, along with co-authors Robert Porter and Richard Cherry, has woven together contributions from field experts to provide detailed, yet student-friendly texts that will set the standard for paramedic education for years to come. In developing this series to meet the new curriculum, the goals were threefold: * Comprehensive coverage. The program includes all materials required for the new U.S. DOT curriculum and, where appropriate, expanded information. * Accuracy. The material reflects the best and latest in scientific and medical practice, written and reviewed by experts. * Appropriate level. Concepts and terminology are clearly explained. Beginning at the level of the new student and progressing through the development of new and advanced concepts, this series will provide the student with a broad background of knowledge and a firm grasp of how to apply it to paramedic emergency care.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

BRYAN E. BLEDSOE, D.O., F.A.C.E.P., F.A.A.E.M., F.A.E.P., EMT-P is an emergency physician with special interest in prehospital care. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and received his medical degree from the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center / Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his internship at Texas Tech University and residency training at Scott and White Memorial Hospital / Texas A&M College of Medicine. Dr. Bledsoe is board-certified in emergency medicine and family practice. He is presently a Ph.D. candidate at Charles Sturt University at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Bledsoe worked as an EMT, paramedic, and paramedic instructor. He completed EMT training in 1974 and paramedic training in 1976, and worked for 6 years as a field paramedic in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1979, he joined the faculty of the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center and served as coordinator of EMT and paramedic education programs at the university. Dr. Bledsoe is active in emergency medicine and serves as medical director for several EMS agencies and educational programs.Dr. Bledsoe has authored several EMS books published by Brady including paramedic Emergency Care, Intermediate Emergency Care, Atlas of Paramedic Skills, Prehospital Emergency Pharmacology, and Pocket Reference for EMTs and Paramedics. He is married to Emma Bledsoe. They have two children, Bryan and Andrea, and live in Midlothian, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. He enjoys salt-water fishing and listening to Jimmy Buffett.ROBERT S. PORTER, M.A., NREMT-P has been teaching in Emergency Medical Services for 25 years and currently serves as the Senior Advanced Life Support Educator for Madison County, New York, and as a Flight Paramedic with the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department helicopter service, AirOne. Mr. Porter is a Wisconsin native and received his Bachelor's degree in education from the University of Wisconsin. He completed his Paramedic training at Northeast Wisconsin Technical Institute in 1978 and earned a Master's Degree in Health Education at Central Michigan University in 1990.Mr. Porter has been an EMT and EMS educator and administrator since 1973 and obtained his National Registration as an EMT-Paramedic in 1978. He has taught both basic and advanced level EMS courses in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. Mr. Porter served for more than ten years as a paramedic program accreditation-site evaluator for the American Medical Association and is a past chair of the National Society of EMT Instructor/Coordinators. He has published numerous articles in EMS periodicals and has authored Brady's Paramedic Emergency Care, Intermediate Emergency Care, Tactical Emergency Care, and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Emergency Care as well as the workbooks accompanying this text, Paramedic Emergency Care, and Intermediate Emergency Care. When not writing or teaching, Mr. Porter enjoys offshore sailboat racing, historic home restoration, and listening to Dr. Bryan Bledsoe complain about the Texas heat.RICHARD A CHERRY, M.S., NREMT-P is Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Paramedic Training at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. His experience includes years of classroom teaching and emergency fieldwork. A native of Buffalo, Mr. Cherry earned his Bachelor's degree and teaching certificate at nearby St. Bonaventure University in 1972. He taught high school for the next 10 years while he earned his Master's degree in Education from Oswego State University in 1977. He holds a permanent teaching license in New York State.Mr. Cherry entered the emergency medical service field in 1974 with the DeWitt Volunteer Fire Department where he served his community as a firefighter and EMS provider for over 15 years. He took his first EMT course in 1977 and became an ALS provider two years later. He earned his paramedic certificate in 1985 as a member of the area's first paramedic class. He still answers emergency calls for Brewerton Ambulance.Mr. Cherry has authored several books for Brady. Most notable is EMT Teaching: A Common Sense Approach. He has made presentations at many state, national, and international EMS conferences on a variety of teaching topics. In addition to his paramedic teaching, he is course director, instructor, and instructor trainer for ACLS, PALS, and PHTLS courses conducted for physicians, residents, nurses, medical students, and other house staff. He lives in Parish, New York with his wife Sue, a paramedic with Rural-Metro Medical Services, their children, and many pets. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Series Preface

Congratulations on your decision to further your EMS career by undertaking the course of education required for certification as an Emergency Medical TechnicianParamedic! The world of paramedic emergency care is one that you will find both challenging and rewarding. Whether you will be working as a volunteer or paid paramedic, you will find the field of advanced prehospital care very interesting.

This textbook will serve as your guide and reference to advanced out-of-hospital care. It is based upon the 1998 United States Department of Transportation EMT Paramedic National Standard Curriculum and is divided into five volumes. The first volume is entitled Introduction to Advanced Prehospital Care and addresses the fundamentals of paramedic practice, including pathophysiology, pharmacology, medication administration and advanced airway management. The second volume, Patient Assessment, builds on the assessment skills of the basic EMT with special emphasis on advanced patient assessment at the scene. The third volume of the series, Medical Emergencies, is the most extensive and addresses paramedic level care of medical emergencies. Particular emphasis is placed upon the most common medical problems; respiratory and cardiovascular emergencies. Trauma Emergencies, the fourth volume of the text, discusses advanced prehospital care from the mechanism of injury analysis to shock/trauma resuscitation. The last volume in the series addresses Special Considerations/Operations including neonatal, pediatric, geriatric, home health care, and specially challenged patients, and incident command, ambulance service, rescue, hazardous material, and crime scene operations. These five volumes will help prepare you for the challenges of prehospital care.

SKILLS

The psychomotor skills of fluid and medication administration, advanced airway care, ECG monitoring and defibrillation, and advanced medical and trauma patient care are best learned in the classroom, skills laboratory, and then the clinical and field setting. Common advanced prehospital skills are discussed in the text as well as outlined in the accompanying procedure sheets. Review these before and while practicing the skill. It is important to point out that this or any other text cannot teach skills. Care skills are only learned under the watchful eye of a paramedic instructor and perfected during your clinical and field internship.

HOW TO USE THIS TEXTBOOK

Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice is designed to accompany a paramedic education program that follows the 1998 United States Department of Transportation Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic: National Standard Curriculum. The education program should include ample classroom, practical labratory, in-hospital clinical, and prehospital field experience. These educational experiences must be guided by instructors and preceptors with special training `.and experience in their areas of participation in your program.

It is intended that your program coordinator will assign reading from Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice in preparation for each classroom lecture and discussion section. The knowledge gained from reading this text will form the foundation of the information you will need in order to function effectively as a paramedic in your EMS system. Your instructors will build upon this information to strengthen your knowledge and understanding of advanced prehospital care so that you may apply it in your practice. The in-hospital clinical and prehospital field experiences will further refine your knowledge and skills under the watchful eyes of your preceptors.

In preparing for each classroom session, read the assigned chapter carefully. First, review the chapter objectives. They will identify important concepts to be learned from the reading. Read the Case Study to get a feeling of why a chapter is important and how the knowledge it contains can be applied in the field. Read the chapter content carefully, while keeping the chapter objectives in mind. Read the You Make the Call feature and answer the questions to assure you understand the application of the knowledge presented in the chapter. Last, re-read the chapter objectives and be sure that you are able to answer each one completely. If you cannot, reread the section of the chapter to which the objective relates. If you still do not understand the objective or any portion of what you have read, ask your instructor to explain it at your next class session.

Ideally, you should read this entire text series at least three times. The volume chapter should be read in preparation for the class session, the entire volume should be read before the division or course test, and the entire text series should be reread before the program final exam and/or certification testing. While this might seem like a lot of reading, it will improve your classroom performance, your knowledge of emergency care, and ultimately, the care you provide to emergency patients.

The workbook that accompanies this text can also assist in improving classroom performance. It contains information, sample test questions, and exercises designed to assist learning. Its use can be very helpful in identifying the important elements of paramedic education, in exercising the knowledge of prehospital care, and in helping you self-test your knowledge.

Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice presents the knowledge of emergency care in as accurate, standardized, and clear a manner as is possible. However, each EMS system is uniquely different, and it is beyond the scope of this text to address all differences. You must count heavily on your instructors, the program coordinator, and ultimately the program medical director to identify how specific emergency care procedures are applied in your system.

Preface to Volume 2, Patient Assesment

The authors of the 1998 U.S. DOT EMT-Paramedic National Standard Curriculum have made one thing perfectly clear. They are no longer interested in training programs that prepare technicians, or skilled tradesmen, at the paramedic level. Twenty-first century paramedics are practitioners of emergency field medicine and professional health care clinicians. The expanded curriculum provides both a broad-based medical education and a specific, intensive training program. They designed it to prepare paramedics to perform their traditional role as providers of emergency field medicine. They also have provided a much broader foundation in anatomy and physiology, patient assessment, pathophysiology of disease, and pharmacology. This dual-purpose curriculum will allow paramedics to expand their roles in the health care industry. This change in philosophy marks a new ' beginning for the paramedic field. Patient Assessment reflects that philosophy.

This book provides paramedic students with the principles of patient assessment. The first two chapters present the techniques of conducting a comprehensive history and physical exam. The remaining chapters discuss ways to integrate the techniques learned in the first two chapters to real patient situations. Like the entire curriculum, this book is both broad-based and specific.

Chapter 1 "The History" provides the basic components of a complete health history. The components include the chief complaint, the present history, the past history, the current health status, and the review of systems. It is comprehensive and not meant to be used in its entirety in emergency field situations. It also discusses how to effectively conduct an interview and use nonverbal communication skills to elicit vital information from your patients. In addition, it t, provides suggestions for communicating with difficult patients, hostile patients, and patients with language barriers.

Chapter 2 "Physical Exam Techniques" presents the techniques of conducting a comprehensive physical exam. Like the history, it is complete and not intended for all situations. With time and clinical experience you will learn which . components of the history and physical exam are appropriate to assess and man„ age your particular situation. If you are hired to conduct pre-employment physical exams, you may use the history and physical exam in its entirety. If you are assessing and managing a critical patient in the field, you will select those components most appropriate for your situation. Topics in this chapter include assessing the skin; the head; the neck; the chest along with the respiratory and care diovascular systems; the abdomen and digestive system; the extremities and musculoskeletal system; the peripheral vascular system; and how to conduct a comprehensive neurological exam. With each section is a review of the anatomy and physiology of the areas you are examining.

Chapter 3 "Patient Assessment in the Field" offers a practical approach to conducting problem-oriented history and physical exams. It deals with ways to use your new skills to assess patients in the field. With time and clinical experience, you will learn which components are appropriate for different situations. Topics include scene safety; the initial as --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Health (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130727040
• ISBN-13: 978-0130727046
• Product Dimensions: 20 x 12.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 16 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,029,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for advanced prehospital care providers!, July 24, 2000

By 

Alpha Charlie "AC" (Marquette, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice: Patient Assessment (Hardcover)

Although DeGowin & DeGowin is the gold standard of physical examination texts, Bledsoe provides the paramedic student with an excellent background in patient assessment. Most one-volume paramedic texts are somewhat skimpy when it comes to the topic of physical examination techniques. This book is an excellent supplement. It also makes lesson planning easy since it follows the National Curriculum nearly to the letter. I currently use it as a resource for lecture material on the relevant topics for the paramedic and CE courses I teach. There is an incredibly thorough section on physical examination techniques, broken down by body system. It is quite in-depth, even covering ophthalmoscopic, otoscopic, ROM, and advanced neurological exams. Even though the aforementioned techniques are infrequently used in the field, it provides an excellent springboard for paramedics that work in the Emergency Department, as well as those that may wish to pursue the up-and-coming "paramedic practitioner" program that is now on the drawing board at the national level. After presenting physical exam techniques, they are brought together into complete assessments, with rationales presented for each component. This book also includes the standard communication and documentation sections. This book comes highly recommended, as well as volume one of this series. If volumes 3, 4 and 5 continue the tradition, the textbooks will most likely become the premier advanced prehospital education series.

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, February 21, 2012

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caleight - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice Vols 1-5 PKG (Hardcover)

I purchased these books "new" and they came with dents and dings in them from what looked like careless packaging. These books cost $231. This does not make me happy. I only gave this a two rating because of the speed in which they came. Very unhappy

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paramedic Care Principles & Practice, April 18, 2011

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Jesse Weigel (RHINELANDER, WI, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice Vols 1-5 PKG (Hardcover)

This series of all 5 books was necessary and very helpful in becoming a Paramedic! Our family purchases all the time through Amazon.com, and now want to share these books with others, as we continue on with our schooling.