Patients with Bleeding Disorders & Airway Management

March is Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month, and it’s an important time to reevaluate your team’s knowledge of common bleeding disorders, their symptoms and the unique challenges they present for EMS personnel during airway suctioning and treatment. 

What is Involved in a Respiratory Assessment?

Performing comprehensive respiratory assessments can detect problems before they become emergencies. Additionally, in hypoxic patients or those with airway obstructions, a respiratory assessment provides important information about the patient’s status and clues about next treatment steps.

8 Signs of Dying from Aspiration Pneumonia

While the mortality rate of aspiration pneumonia depends on complications of the disease, the 30-day mortality rate hovers around 21%, with a higher rate of  29.7% in hospital-associated aspiration pneumonia. For uncomplicated pneumonia, the mortality rate is still high, hovering around 5%.

Carbon Dioxide Toxicity Symptoms

Hypercapnia, also known as hypercarbia or carbon dioxide toxicity, causes dangerous levels of CO2 in the blood. In most cases, it signals a respiratory problem such as poor lung function, but it can also happen among deep divers, particularly when they do not breathe adequately, or have contaminated oxygen supplies. 

5 Complications of Suctioning and How to Prevent Them

Suctioning can prevent a wide range of severe complications and can save lives in emergencies. But like all medical procedures, it carries some risks. One analysis found a complication rate of 38.6 percent in routine endotracheal suctioning, though a less invasive procedure reduced complications to 28.6 percent.