Page 12 - Perth Emergency Services

MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
Perth County Paramedics Bring the Emergency Room to Your Living Room or the Roadside
Gone are the days where the ambulance arrived and solely
transported patients to hospitals. Perth County Paramedics are
highly skilled and trained medical providers who work autonomously
under a highly organized, patient centred system of oversight through
the Base Hospital Program at the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long
Term Care. They can start treatment as soon as they arrive. Not only is this
important in major emergencies, it saves lives every day.
Primary Care Paramedics undergo extensive education and training in anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and patient care in order to practice independently.
Accreditation takes a minimum of 2 years (2000 hours) to complete and requires every paramedic to pass a 6 hour provincial exam.
Ever wonder what Paramedics respond to?
Here is our TOP 10 from 2017
1. Short of Breath
2. Falls
3. Motor Vehicles Collisions
4. Weakness/Dizziness/Unwell 5. Chest Pain / heart attacks
6. Musculoskeletal injuries
7. Abdominal Pain
8. Strokes
9. Behavior/Psychiatric Crisis 10.Unconscious / Drug overdoes
The Primary Care Paramedic Skill
(PCP) includes:
• semi-automatic defibrillation
• blood glucose testing
• intra-muscular injections
• 12-Lead ECG acquisition
• pulse oxymetry monitoring
• administration of symptom relief medications such as
acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), epinephrine, glucagon. glucose gel, nitroglycerine spray, and salbutamol
Some PCPs may have enhanced training to include additional medications and/or skills such as:
• continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device application
• supra-glottic airway insertion
• taser probe removal
• peripheral IV initiation and fluid administration
• additional medications such as: dextrose (D50W),
dimenhydrinate (Gravol), diphenhydramine (Benedryl) , acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprophen (Advil), ketorolac (Torodol)
PORTER’S
Quality Precast Concrete Sewer/Water/Drainage/Septic Supplies Serving Southern Ontario for over 50 years
Lucknow Rockford Stratford
519-528-3537 519-372-1636 519-271-5554
RR#1 Lucknow RR#4 Owen Sound 2944 Hwy. 7&8
Division of
J.A. Porter Holdings (Lucknow) Ltd.
www.perthcounty.ca/paramedics
THE BEACON HERALD | 2018 PERTH COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT | PAGE 12