There is no single group or population that is immune from being abused, but one set of people that are at particularly high risk are the elderly. Elder abuse is the intentional mistreatment of an older person by an individual with whom they have an established relationship. The perpetrators of these crimes then are not…

Excessive alcohol use is responsible for approximately 88,000 deaths per year, and is known to be a contributing factor in motor vehicle accidents, homicides, suicides, sexual assault, domestic violence, and unintentional injury. Because of this, it is frequently the case that EMS professionals are called to a scene in which alcohol has been involved. It…

EMS was called to the parking lot of a grocery store by a bystander who reports an elderly woman fell while getting out of her car and is now experiencing chest pain. At the scene, the woman denies losing consciousness or striking her head and the only visible injury is a slight abrasion on her…

On January 22, 2018, an ambulance crashed in Miami County, Indiana. The ambulance was transporting a 5-month-old child who, accompanied by her mother, was being moved between hospitals when the accident occurred at approximately 3:45 AM. The driver of the ambulance failed to stop at a red light and collided with another vehicle that was…

On the evening of July 14, the people of the French city of Nice gathered to celebrate Bastille Day, the day that commemorates the storming of the Bastille. The Bastille was a political prison and a symbol of royal authority and when it was taken in 1789, it marked a major turning point in the…

You’re on the front lines every day performing miracles. You execute CPR effortlessly, instinctively notice the signs of an impending stroke, and have performed abdominal thrusts for choking too many times to count. You’ve done it all, and have vast  experience handling life or death situations. Despite your tactical expertise in performing daily EMS tasks,…

This winter the influenza virus is hitting the country especially hard. A major reason for this tougher-than-usual flu season is that this year’s most prevalent strain of the influenza virus is especially nasty. There are four different species of influenza virus known as A, B, C, and D, with the seasonal flu being caused by…

Anxiety is a term that tends to get tossed around a lot to reflect whenever someone is feeling stressed. Occasionally feeling worried or anxious is normal, but it becomes an anxiety disorder when the worry and fear is persistent, intense, and revolves around normal everyday occurrences – sometimes resulting in the person not partaking in…

Mr. Schultz is a 64-year-old accountant with a past medical history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He has been a smoker for the past 35 years and despite his wife and his doctor “gently nagging” him about it and him trying to quit multiple times, he still has not been able to kick…

It is odorless, has no taste, and you cannot see it. It is carbon monoxide (CO) and it is the leading cause of injury and death due to poison worldwide. The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning often go unrecognized until it is too late because the typical early symptom – headache, dizziness, nausea, and irritability…