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WELCOMEEMT-BA COURSE #BA54-01-11
•Website
•Syllabus
•Chapters 1 & 2
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITES OF THE EMT-BA
Professional Characteristics• Flexible: To meet demands of the ever-
changing emergency scene• Confident leader
Excellent judgment
Ability to prioritize decisions
Develop Rapport
Function independently at an optimum level
Relatively young, the field of emergency medicine is now recognized as a part of the health care system
As an EMT-BA YOUR ARE A TRUE HEALTH-CARE PROFESSIONAL
• You must follow codes of professional ethics and etiquette
The evolution of EMS
Ancient times
• Good Samaritan
• Book of wounds
• Code of Hammurabi
18th and 19th Centuries
• Napoleonic Wars
• Civil War
• First civilian ambulance service
• NYC Health Department Ambulance Service
• 20th Century
Roles and Responsibilities
• Evidence-Based MedicineBasic physical fitness• Strength and stamina on the jobBack Safety• Keep your back fit• Proper lifting techniques• Correct posture• Heed your own body signals
• Local protocols, policies and procedures
• Patient assessment
• Appropriate disposition
• Patient transfer
• Documentation
• Professionalism
Conduct or qualities that characterize a practitioner in a particular field or occupation
Professional attitude
• Patients
• Staff
• Co-workers
Professional attributes
• Self-confidence
• Established credibility
• Inner strength
• Ability to remain in control
• Ability to communicate
• Willingness to make decisions• Willingness to accept responsibility for the
consequences of the team’s actions
all leads to the attributes of. . . . .
L E A D E R S H I P
Professionalism also includes the qualities of………………………………………….
• Integrity• Empathy• Self-motivation• Appearance and personal hygiene• Communication• Time management• Teamwork and diplomacy• Respect• Patient advocacy• Careful delivery of services
Well-Being of the EMT-BA
Personal responsibilities• Self –examination
Stress and Stress Management• Eustress
Positive stress but can produce physiological and psychological signs and sx.
What is stress?...........
A hardship or strain; a physical or emotional response to a stimulus
Adapting to stress:• Defense strategiesHelpful in the short-term but denies and distorts
the reality of a stressful situation• CopingActive process. Confronts and changes or adjust
as necessary. May not be the best for the long-term
• Problem-solving skills: ability to analyze a problem and recognize multiple options and potential solutions
Healthiest approach to everyday concerns.
Mastery generally comes only as a result of extensive experience with similar situations
Stressors: Stimulus that causes stress
Administrative stressors
• Waiting for calls
• Loud pagers
• Inadequate pay
Scene-related stressors
• Violent and abusive people
• Flying debris
• Vomit
• Loud noises
• Chaos
Emotional and physical stressors• Fear• Demanding bystanders• Abusive patients• Frustration• Exhaustion• Hunger or thirst• Heavy objects
Environmental stress• Siren noise• Inclement weather• Confined work spaces• Difficult decision making
ALL can result in
• Can strain family relationships
• Can lead to conflicts with supervisors and co-workers
These added to common personality traits such as the need to be liked and unrealistically high self-expectations can lead to disturbing feelings of guilt or anxiety
You should be aware of
• Your personal stressors
• Amount of stress you can take before it becomes a problem
• Stress management strategies that work best for you
Three phases of stress response
Stage 1: Alarm
• “fight or flight”; the body physically prepares itself against a personal threat
• Pituitary releases adrenocortiotropic hormones which continue to flood the body via the autonomic nervous system coordinated by the hypothalimus
• Epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal glands increase heart rate
increase blood pressure
dilate pupils
increase blood sugar
slow digestion
relaxes the bronchial tree
The reaction ends when the situation is no longer perceived as dangerous
Stage II: Resistance
• Coping becoming desensitized or adapted to stressors
Stage III: Exhaustion
• Resistance to stressors declines
Signs of stress
• Physical
• Cognitive
• Emotional
• behavioral
Specific EMS stress:
Daily Stress
• Pay
• Working conditions
• Dealing with the public
• Administrative matters
• Other hassles of day-to-day living
Small incidents
• Incidents involving only one or two patients
Large incidents and disasters
MANAGING STRESS
Two main groups of defense mechanisms and techniques for managing stress
• Beneficial
• Detrimental
Detrimental• May provide temporary sense of relief but
does not cure the problem• They only make things worseIncludes• Substance abuse• Overeating or other compulsive behaviors• Chronic complaining
• Freezing out or cutting off others and the support they could give you
• Avoidance behaviors
• Dishonesty about your actual state of well-being- - - - “I’m just fine”
Beneficial
Controlled breathing
• Focus attention on your breathing
• Take in a deep breath through your nose
• Exhale forcefully but steadily through your nose so that you can hear the air rush out
• Press all the air out of your lungs with your abdomen
• Do this two or 3 times until you feel steadier
Why do this?
Helps to reduce your adrenaline levels and slows your heart rate
Reframe
• Mentally reframe interfering thoughts such as “I can’t do this” or “I’m scared”
These thoughts however must be dealt with at some point in time
For long-term
The best stress management technique is to
TAKE CARE OF YOUR SELF
Hence
THE WELL-BEING OF THE EMT-BA