BLS Skills

[Jamie Davis, the Podmedic]

Discuss BLS skills and questions here.

[Medic 1]

I think that too many EMT-P's/ Paramedics loose their Basic Life Support skills............we need to constantly go back and reevaluate and brush up on those skills!

[Ken Gilcrest]

Basic skills are certainly used far more frequently than ALS skills. In fact, if you are doing it right, BLS skills are used prior to ALS skills on every call.
As far as BLS accessment skills, I think that many people get away from using hands on accessment and head straight to electronic gadgets to tell them what is wrong with the patient. Over the years I have decided that one of the biggest reasons for this is the fact that many people are not comfortable with their accessment skills and often times doesn't understand the signs/symptoms/findings and how they relate to medical problems so they are hoping that an electronic intrument is going to tell them what the problem is.

Obviously we also have a problem with going straight to ALS treatment rather than working from the ground up with things like oxygen therapy and CPR.

This problem has been with us, as well as health care in general, since the beginning. I don't think there is ever going to be anything that can be said or done about it other than to keep reminding ourselves and others of it's importance.