Last night I visited Redmond Fire Department’s Station 12, on 148th NE, as I’m in Seattle this week on business meetings. A few minutes after arriving, and having exchanged a shirt and a patch with the guys, a call came in for medical aid. Paul and Eric, who were on duty with the ambulance, asked me if I wanted to ride along, and the whole evening turned really interesting. The call was for a male who had taken sleeping pills, and I rode back to the hospital with the medics and Paul. In all, it was a really good experience, from which I learned a lot. One is that they are running six studies on ambulances now, one of which is measuring the core temperature of cardiac patients after CPR, and the effects of lowering it with chilled saline. I also saw the “megamover” in action, which is basically a heavy-duty canvas stretcher meant for moving a patient around places where the rigid one won’t fit – a very good idea.
Stay safe brothers, and thank you!
There was some interesting stuff on Australian TV about cooling people down to prevent further damage after a serious injury.
I can’t find the exact link, but I think it was either on Catalyst or The New Inventors.
Not sure how much access people outside of Australia have to this site.