Aftermarket Parts – BLS Care for Technology-Dependent Patients
Ostomies, ports, catheters and shunts can pose a daunting challenge to all EMS providers and most especially EMTs. Not only are the patients more fragile, but care for most of these patients wasn’t adequately covered in your initial education, making care of special-needs patients particularly stressful. Ultimately, though, they’re simply aftermarket parts designed to replace or augment an organ system you already know well. Join Kelly Grayson as he teaches you troubleshooting and treatment priorities for technology-dependent patients.
Objectives:
- Discuss the prevalence of technology-dependent patients in the home care setting.
- Recognize clinical complications that may arise from indwelling urinary catheters and provide BLS treatment and stabilization.
- Discuss and describe the procedure for troubleshooting, suctioning, cleaning and replacing tracheostomy cannulas.
- Recognize clinical complications that may arise from colostomies, ileostomies and PEG tubes and provide BLS treatment and stabilization.
- Troubleshoot complications of ventriculoperitoneal shunts, dialysis shunts and PICC lines.
- Understand the indications for calling for ALS intervention in the management of technology-dependent patients.