wee woo

Ask an EMT! This blog is for educational purposes so people can make their stories/characters injuries and problems more accurate, or just to learn! Mosi (she/her)

[ask-an-emt]

FYI

I don't know when, but some time soon I will be leaving for about 2 months to work in a medical setting. In this setting I will not have much access to the internet.

Having said that, if you think that you might need some future medical knowledge, I'd get it out now before you have to wait for two months. Once I know when I'm leaving I will give all you lovely people a heads up :))))

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Fun Fact

One of the first variations of immunizations was done in ancient China, where people would scrape off the scabs of someone with small pox, dry the scabs out, grind them up, and then snort the powder.

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Say goodbye to my old name, imma change it to fit the blog a bit more (it’s gonna be a boring name)

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Why did I become an EMT? Easy. I wanna make myself a valuable asset to my team when the zombie apocalypse comes.

[not-glitchtrap-bitches]

what the FUCK do you mean WHEN

[ask-an-emt]

@not-glitchtrap-bitches don’t worry, I’ll be on your team :)

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Why did I become an EMT? Easy. I wanna make myself a valuable asset to my team when the zombie apocalypse comes.

[ask-an-emt]

Here is what I’d put in my first aid kit

My first aid kit is made as someone who expects to help other people outside of work, and also as someone who goes camping a lot, so keep that in mind. Other than that, these are all things I have in my first aid kit.

You can always buy a premade one, but personally I think it's nicer to have one that you can make yourself and know all the materials are decent without the risk of buying a bunch of crappy materials.

Basics

Band aids, of course. It doesn't need to be name brand, plenty of clinics and hospitals and whatnot don't use name brand. I personally like the fabric band aids, because they mold to you better, but it's up to you. Make sure you get a bunch of different shapes and sizes.

Alcohol wipes. Good for cleaning areas and also disinfecting wounds. If you got a pretty clean cut, though, just use water to clean it please.

Butterfly bandages. These are great for holding closed wounds that may need stitching later, and just holding closed wounds in general.

Wound glue. This plus butterfly bandages are perfect for wounds that may need stitching.

Gauze pads. Usually you'd use this for larger wounds that a bandage can't cover, or more serious wounds. Always good to have.

Gauze rolls. Same thing as above.

Burn cream.

Medical tape.

Tweezers.

A blanket.

Those funky hot and cold packs that activate when you pop and shake them

Some form of painkiller

What I Carry Around Also Because Why Not

Coband. I find I have to use this very often to keep a wound extra clean. It also holds band aids and gauze in place wonderfully, but don't get if you're allergic to latex.

Splints!!! Finger splints, leg splints, arm splints. I have a medical grade splint called the Sam Splint, but really you can make a splint out of anything that is stiff.

Sling and swath. These are great for stabilizing arm fractures or shoulder dislocations. You can get a really big bandana and use a gauze wrap for this!!

Gloves!!! Personal Protective Equipment is SOOOOO important. I carry some on me at all times.

Trauma shears. You never know when you might need to cut off some clothes to reach a wound.

My basic vitals kit. I do have a fancy stethoscope, but I carry a cheap one, plus a BP cuff and an SpO2 monitor around as well.

Aaaaand thats all I can think of

[ask-an-emt]

What would the damage and treatment be if someone were to have their hand and forearm completely on fire for a good five to ten seconds? The character in question is able to achieve this with magic, so there’s no added fuel such as gasoline to consider (it’s pure willpower, adrenaline, and desperation), but they don’t have any sort of resistance to fire. The fire is about the same temp you’d find in a bonfire and it’s completely normal other than being magically conjured :)

Hahaha this happened to me once, minus the magic part.

I'd say a decent first and second degree burns, with a smattering of third degree burns in there, so major blistering. I talk about burns a bit in an older post if you wanna try and find it, but think mostly red and charred skin (the fire definitely burned away a few layers) and white, yellowish blisters that you DON'T wanna pop. If you would like me to draw a picture so you can get an accurate idea, feel free to let me know. I'm very good at drawing injuries!!!

As for treatments, no submerging it in water. That's the number one thing NOT to do. If you need to relieve immediate pain, some clean gauze wetted with saline or water (room temp) can be placed over it, but for no longer than 10 minutes at most. Other than that, if there is no skin grafting needed, which is needed for large area burns and ones that are worse in degree, burn cream and keeping it covered is the key, as well as changing the bandage. I had to change my bandage at least three times a day.

Burns are both complicated and simple. What it really comes down to is the area of the burn, which in this case would only be 2.25% (in EMS we separate the body in sections and percentages to help gage the severity of a burn). Anyways, with this level of a burn, the treatment isn't gonna be much. Pro tip, though, if it's a child who got the burn, their scarring isn't going to be as intense as an adult getting burned, because their skin is "newer". Scarring wise, for an adult after maybe a month or two of healing, will be raised red blotches that look leathery.

Lemme know if you want a lil drawing!!!!!

[ask-an-emt]

Sometimes I go back to where I trained to be a live patient for the new AEMTs and EMTs in training. We do scenarios and I try to be a very accurate patient and lemme tell you it is exhausting.

I was faking not being able to breathe so good to the point where when they helped stand me up I would’ve actually passed out had they not helped me. My LIPS were CYANOTIC.

[ask-an-emt]

POOKIE I HAVES A QUESTION

Being someone who has never passed out, (idk how to feel about that) what are some possible things that would lead up to that, and how might it feel for the person passing out?

i feel like this is a pretty common one, so if you've already answered it, I'm sorry!!

as always, love YOUUUU

Be happy that you've never passed out my love.

But oh my there are SO many things that could lead up to someone passing out. Like, so many I probably can't even name or think of them all. I'll talk in depth about some of the more common ones, then just make a list of any other ones I can think of lol.

Passing out can happen on levels as well. Some people pass out cold, and others go in and out of consiousness.

HYPOTENSION

This one is the one I deal with the most were I currently work. Hypotension means low blood pressure, and low blood pressure is what happens anyways when you're dying. ANYWAYS, the perfect blood pressure someone can have is 120/80 mmHg, but healthy ranges vary for everyone. I don't wanna see a blood pressure any lower than 90/60, though. It means that you don't have enough blood flow throughout your body. With this people will usually feel faint, lightheaded, dizzy, like they're seeing stars, nausea, some vomit, and they're very hot and sweaty and weak.

HYPOVOLEMIA

This can LEAD to hypotension, which leads to passing out. Basically, this means that you're losing fluids. Fluids can mean blood, sweat, tears, urine, diarrhea, plasma, and such. This will feel similar to the hypotension depending on the situation and cause.

SHOCK

Blah blah hypovolemia is a type of shock whatever. Any type of shock will lead to hypotension, which leads to people passing out. How it feels depends on the shock. Like septic shock is due to infection, so that's gonna feel different than bleeding out.

SYNCOPE

Syncope literally means fainting, but I didn't wanna put down psychogenic shock for this because the origins of it are iffy. So, syncope is my placeholder for the type of fainting you see in the movies. Shock factor, being scared or surprised and stuff like that. This kind of fainting is usually because of shocks to the system, and your body freaks out and you faint. Expect hot flashes and dizziness and "seeing stars".

TRAUMA

This is gonna be any sort of head trauma. Depending on how hard the hit is or where, the passing out part could be prolonged, or could happen instantly. Dizziness, memory problems, unable to focus or be coherent, "seeing stars".

OTHER CAUSES

Heat exhaustion Heat Stroke Seizures Iron deficiency Orthostatic hypotension Citrate Reactions And a billion medical conditions can cause it

Something important to note is that everyone reacts to things differently. I can see blood and be perfectly fine, and someone else can see it and pass out or throw up. I can handle a blood draw and a needle, someone else who's body isn't used to it can freak out and have a major reaction.

Anyways, I hope at lease some of that made sense.

[chronicallylaconic]

Ive got a whole slew of medical conditions and have passed out from multiple causes. I figured I'd throw my hat in from the perspective of a very non-professional person who has ✨️experience✨️ and explain how it felt each time so you can better describe it from your character's perspective.

Note: My experience will be different from other people's. Don't take my word for gospel.

TW for talks of blood, hospitals, car accidents, and other related topics.

Heat Exhaustion

This was the first time I ever passed out (8 years ago) and is the furthest from my memory. I remember being out in the sun for about 12 hours that day, drinking very little water (I hated the taste of the available water), in direct sunlight, in a black wool hoodie. The weather was about 95(f) / 35(c) degrees. The first thing I remember feeling was fatigue and a headache. My feet were tingling and focusing was hard. Everything was loud and I kept trying to lay down because everything was spinning. Eventually, I stopped feeling hot and just became cold. A 20 minute drive home (I was not driving) felt like 5 because of the daze I was in (I was drifting in and out). I don't remember much past this point, just flashes of laying on the tile floor and shivering. I properly came to in my bed a few hours later with a migraine that didn't go away for days. I was sick for a day or so after.

Blood Loss / Hypovolemia

The first time I experienced blood loss, I had lost approx. 2 liters of blood over the course of two weeks (the duration changes how your body responds to it.) Due to my age (12 at the time) and lack of communication with my parents or doctors (I hid things from my parents, couldn't talk with doctors while drifting), Hypovolemia was not considered until I vaginally passed a blood clot roughly the size of a soft ball about 40 minutes after entering the ER and going on fluids.

During the days leading up to it, I was exhausted and unable to leave my room for long durations of time. Could not hold food down. Hallucinating. Trembling and cold. Cold not stay awake for longer than five hours at a time. My eyes would vibrate rapidly. I couldn't focus on anything. Days felt like hours. I cant remember most of this time.

The day of, I felt disconnected from my body and like I was detached from it. When I passed out, I hadn't even realized it happened. I didn't feel anything. I hit the floor and was "drifting" (in and out of consciousness) for about 40 minutes. I thought I was talking to my parents, but I wasn't. I was hallucinating and seeing stars.

20 minutes into this, the paramedics arrived and smelling salts were snapped under my nose (HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE). I regained consciousness enough to blink at the paras and my parents, but I couldnt hear what they were talking about. Everything was light and fluffy. I was hoisted up and made to walk (Re: dragged) to the stretcher. When the angle changed, I lost full consciousness until I was strapped in and laying down again. I remember vague flashed of the ambulance ride and only properly came back to myself enough to register my surroundings when I had fluids and the doctors started replenishing my iron (I was treated for anemia before we realized it was hypovolemia).

During my two week stay at the hospital, I had passed out multiple times again. I was hallucinating, unable to properly hear things, not weight bearing, had extremely low blood pressure, lethargic, weak, struggling to move my mouth enough to speak, unable to focus, and incredibly emotional (though that couldve been stress??), and couldn't hold down much food.

Anemia

This has happened to me a few times over the years since my hypovolemic event. My body struggled to keep the iron, hemoglobin, PLT, and white blood cell counts high enough to do many impact activities without this risk.

Passing out from anemia was the quickest to recover from. I was typically able to tell before I had an episode (I felt disconnected from myself and had a sense of dread overcome me), so I was able to jerk myself onto the floor before I hit the ground. Usually.

These episodes lasted anywheres from 5 seconds to a few minutes. Sometimes I could be upright, gone for a few seconds, and then jerk back to awareness as I'm falling. Other times, I had lost minutes of time and someone was elevating my feet and timing me. I always felt tired and lightheaded afterwards, but resting for 10-20 minutes brought me back to about 70% energy.

Trauma

Due to all of the above, my blood does not like me (shocker). I am highly susceptible to brain bleeds, passing out, internal bleeding, ect.

I got into a car accident a few years ago and bashed my head back against the headrest. I was diagnosed with a mild concussion and lost consciousness immediately after impact. I was out for about thirty seconds before I started drifting in and out. I couldn't feel my arms or focus on anything being said. I didnt have the strength to open the door. A nurse pulled me out of the wreck and helped me during it. I dont remember much of this. I only remember flashes of light, being yelled at, hands on me, being pulled onto a stretcher, then waking in the hospital to my Mom talking to the nurses. I had a headache, but a lot less weakness then I was used to. I struggled to focus and wasn't allowed on my phone. For the next few days I had a hard time remembering things. Long term, I still struggle with remembering little details, but everything is cleared up now. No lasting damage.

I hope this can help any aspiring writers. Please dont forget that my experience is not universal. Feel free to ask questions

[ask-an-emt]

@chronicallylaconic Thank you for your input and stories!!! I can only help people so far from the perspective of a medical worker, so thank you for sharing your experiences to help people have a better understanding of what it may feel like.

Also, I would like to apologize on behalf of EMS workers (I have never been called a para before hehe) for your experience, cuz it doesn’t sound too pleasant. I try my hardest to help my patients feel comfortable during a scary moment, and I’m truly sorry you didn’t seem to get that grace.

[ask-an-emt]

Fun fact

If you dissect the eyeball, the retina looks similar in color to a mussel shell you’d find at a beach.

[ask-an-emt]

Have I talked about the different types of needles? If I have I’m talking about them again. Warning for needles with pictures

There are so many types of needles that I probably can’t get to all of them, but here are the ones I’m very familiar with.

First, let’s talk about the shape, or hub, of needles. It’s important to know that with these, it’s just the shape, and not actually the needle.

Butterfly

This is a butterfly hub. This is just one version, sometimes the wings have extra stuff on it and sometimes they don’t. These provide more stability when we tape the needle down, so it’s good for more fragile veins like with younger and older people.

Straight

I personally prefer a straight needle hub, since it’s much easier to insert and see flash (blood inside the hub that knows we hit the vein). They aren’t as stable as a butterfly, but they’re a lot easier to use.

And now, the actual needle itself

Once again, there are so many different types. The most common ones we see are catheter needles and stainless steel needles.

Catheter

These are usually used for administering medications, not drawing blood. As you can see in the picture, there’s a little plastic straw thingy. That straw sits over the needle and is inserted into the vein, and then the needle retracts while the straw stays in. So you don’t have a needle sitting in your arm.

Stainless Steel Needle

This baby is used for blood draws and plasma stuff. This is where there is no catheter and it’s just the needle, so when it’s inserted you’re sitting with the actual needle in your arm.

And now, needle sizes

We call these gauges, and it’s sort of weird. The smaller the number, the bigger the needle and vice versa. They’re also color coded!!! Feel free to look up a little chart, but one of the smallest needle size is a 27 and and one of the biggest is a 14, which I’d say is maybe slightly bigger than a capri sun straw. The ones used in EMS most often are a 20 gauge and an 18 gauge needle.

Honorable mentions

Intramuscular needle. Think epi pens and flu shots. These are thin and short, straight and stainless steel.

Intraosseous needle. These get drilled into bones. They’re usually short and thick, straight and stainless steel

Needle decompression needles. These are the needles that you poke into people’s ribs to release unwanted air. These are long and thick. I hate when movies show them using a straw.

All other needles in existence

[ask-an-emt]

HAPPY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY 🎉🎈🎁🎂

I didn’t even realize this blog is a whole year old until tumblr told me lol. Thank you to everyone who has stuck around and to those who ask questions, it truly fills me with joy. At first this was a study aid for me, and now it’s become a wonderful place where I can share my information to people who are curious and need help with their amazing stories.

I wanna do something special, but honestly I don’t know what to do. I’ll think of something, don’t worry haha.

BUT I LOVE YOU ALL AND AM SO GLAD YOU EXIST AND TAKE THE TIME OF YOUR AMAZING EXISTENCE TO INTERACT WITH ME <3333333333

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Y’all better tell me if I’m giving too much information :( I get a little excited and tend to info dump

[ask-an-emt]

Thank you for freely offering your knowledge! I've been lurking on your blog and greatly enjoy reading your responses. SO informative!

I have questions about a collapsed lung from a gunshot wound - clean through. I've completed some research on my own, but wanted to get verification. 😊

I found that it's survivable if swiftly triaged and if follow up care is good and happens quickly.

I know there are a lot of variables based on the person's overall health, size, and so forth, as well as other factors like the size of the bullet. So, I'm just looking for averages.

If quickly and effectively triaged in the field, how long would someone have before needing proper care?

Would surgery always be needed?

What are some potential complications during surgery/treatment?

What would be an estimated recovery time?

What are potential side effects after recovery?

What might be long-term or permanent issues?

Sorry for so many questions. Any information you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm honestly baffled that people even care about my nerdy crap, so thank YOU for taking the time to read through!!!!

It's also nice to see people checking all their resources! Lungs are definitely one of my favorite body structures, so this will be fun :)))

I'm first gonna go over what would be happening in the body, just so we're all on the same page, then answer your bullet points.

OH NO YOU GOT SHOT!!!! Guess what? The lungs aren't as hollow as you think. There are structures within the lungs that are also being affected (side note the actual lung itself is like a sponge, it's always super cool to hold them). Inside the lungs you also have the main bronchi stems, the bronchioles, and the alveoli. All incredibly important in the breathing process (specifically the alveoli as that is the vessel where oxygen is transferred onto our blood cells). Keep that in mind.

Additionally, when we're talking about a collapsed lung, we are usually referring to some sort of pneumothorax. This one would specifically be called, since blood from the bullet wound is involved, a hemopneumothorax, which broken down means "blood, air, lung". I've talked about it before, but to refresh the lung has an outer lining surrounding it. With a bullet wound, both air and blood would be filling in between the lung and that outer lining, causing the lining to fill and pressure the lung into "shrinking".

Alright, I think that's pretty good there so on to the bullet points.

If quickly and effectively triaged in the field, how long would someone have before needing proper care?

Just to clarify for other people, triage for me and triage for people who work in hospitals looks a bit different. My version of triage is quickly going from person to person, checking their ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) and getting them stable enough and to the hospital as fast as possible. Their triaging has more in depth care. For this guy? I'd say 30 minutes at most before he needs care. He quite literally cannot breath, and shot to the lungs are very fatal. 30 minutes AT MOST. Maybe more like 20 minutes.

Would surgery always be needed?

Yes. Like any gunshot wound, you need stitches. The same goes for the lungs, especially with the lung being collapsed and there being "shrinkage" and all the structures inside of the lungs. These lungs need to be drained of air and blood. In the field as we are going to the hospital, I would do something called a needle decompression with this patient to get that draining process started. Needle decompression, in short, is where we stick a HUGE needle in between their ribs to drain out blood and fluid. That crap they do on TV with straws? NEVER do that.

What are some potential complications during surgery/treatment?

Now from here on, this is the stuff that I don't know a whole lot about, since I am an advanced EMT and not a surgeon or nurse, so be careful here.

Some complications in the field are that we miss the needle decompression, or the patient dies. In the surgery, one big one is also that the patient dies. An educated guess I have is that they will put this patient on some sort of ventilator to aid in breathing while they operate. Their main focus is gonna be closing any leaks and draining the blood and air out of that pleural space so that the lung can then inflate itself. Infection is also a HUGE one. There's probably more specific things, but like I said that is not my field of medicine.

What would be an estimated recovery time?

That one I cannot tell you, it all depends on the patient, as well as how fast they were able to get treatment. I'd say maybe a year to heal as much as they can? They'll always have problems with their lungs after this, though.

Long term/permenant issues and side effects?

I'm gonna combine this one since it's sort of the same. Like I said before, I am not a nurse and only deal with emergencies, not so much long term stuff. One thing that I can think of is that they might need some sort of long term oxygen? They might not breath all that well, and their lungs will definitely be weaker. Weaker lungs, especially in the area of that bullet wound, make them at risk for a tension pneumothorax, which is the collapse of a lung due to weak lung tissue. That's about all i can give with out questioning myself on that, lol.

Anyways, I hope that verified stuff or gave you something new to learn!!!

[ask-an-emt]

POOKIE I HAVES A QUESTION

Being someone who has never passed out, (idk how to feel about that) what are some possible things that would lead up to that, and how might it feel for the person passing out?

i feel like this is a pretty common one, so if you've already answered it, I'm sorry!!

as always, love YOUUUU

Be happy that you've never passed out my love.

But oh my there are SO many things that could lead up to someone passing out. Like, so many I probably can't even name or think of them all. I'll talk in depth about some of the more common ones, then just make a list of any other ones I can think of lol.

Passing out can happen on levels as well. Some people pass out cold, and others go in and out of consiousness.

HYPOTENSION

This one is the one I deal with the most were I currently work. Hypotension means low blood pressure, and low blood pressure is what happens anyways when you're dying. ANYWAYS, the perfect blood pressure someone can have is 120/80 mmHg, but healthy ranges vary for everyone. I don't wanna see a blood pressure any lower than 90/60, though. It means that you don't have enough blood flow throughout your body. With this people will usually feel faint, lightheaded, dizzy, like they're seeing stars, nausea, some vomit, and they're very hot and sweaty and weak.

HYPOVOLEMIA

This can LEAD to hypotension, which leads to passing out. Basically, this means that you're losing fluids. Fluids can mean blood, sweat, tears, urine, diarrhea, plasma, and such. This will feel similar to the hypotension depending on the situation and cause.

SHOCK

Blah blah hypovolemia is a type of shock whatever. Any type of shock will lead to hypotension, which leads to people passing out. How it feels depends on the shock. Like septic shock is due to infection, so that's gonna feel different than bleeding out.

SYNCOPE

Syncope literally means fainting, but I didn't wanna put down psychogenic shock for this because the origins of it are iffy. So, syncope is my placeholder for the type of fainting you see in the movies. Shock factor, being scared or surprised and stuff like that. This kind of fainting is usually because of shocks to the system, and your body freaks out and you faint. Expect hot flashes and dizziness and "seeing stars".

TRAUMA

This is gonna be any sort of head trauma. Depending on how hard the hit is or where, the passing out part could be prolonged, or could happen instantly. Dizziness, memory problems, unable to focus or be coherent, "seeing stars".

OTHER CAUSES

Heat exhaustion Heat Stroke Seizures Iron deficiency Orthostatic hypotension Citrate Reactions And a billion medical conditions can cause it

Something important to note is that everyone reacts to things differently. I can see blood and be perfectly fine, and someone else can see it and pass out or throw up. I can handle a blood draw and a needle, someone else who's body isn't used to it can freak out and have a major reaction.

Anyways, I hope at lease some of that made sense.

[ask-an-emt]

ARTEMIS 2 LAUNCHED

[ask-an-emt]

The average hourly pay for an EMT (at least where I live) is $14.25 to $18.25.