01/30/2024
As we begin to reach more people through our page, one of the things we would like to do is help educate the public on various pieces of equipment that we use and that you might see as we provide patient care to the public.
Today, we will be discussing the cardiac monitor. We currently use the Zoll series X monitor, as shown in the picture. This one piece of equipment gives our providers multiple pieces of information to help us treat our patient. It can tell us what the blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen level is at that moment. Using the four standard stickers (leads/electrodes) we can see what the patient’s heart rhythm is, and by adding 6 more leads, we can get a big picture of the heart. This can tell us if our patient’s heart rate is too fast, too slow, irregular, or if they’re having a STEMI which is an active heart attack that we can see on the monitor. We can also send a picture of the patient’s EKG to the receiving hospital, which can help improve times to get the patient into the cath lab where the blocked arteries are opened back up via a stent. This information helps providers make treatment and destination decisions based on what’s best for our patient.
Also, if someone is in cardiac arrest, the crew will place defibrillator pads, similar to pictured below, on the patient and can see what the heart is doing. If the patient is in the appropriate rhythm, they can administer appropriate electricity through the pads to attempt to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm and help the heart begin to beat normally again.
There are a few more things that can be done with these cardiac monitors, but this is a brief overview of some of the main ways our crews use these on a daily basis. This important piece of equipment helps our crews bring the ER to our patients in the community.
“Bringing Care and Compassion to Our Community”