Paramedics must be able to calculate pediatric patient weights, drug dosages and volumes, weightbased drug doses, infusion rates, and weight and timebased infusion rates. This medical app contains nearly 100 of the most common used drugs and drips for quick reference at your finger tips. For math aficionados or those who cringe at calculations, this book will help master paramedic math. Weightbased calculations use the following formula to get your total required dose. Medication math can be made simple by mastering only a few basic formulas. A demographic survey and a tenitem drug calculation examination were administered to a convenience sample of 109 practicing paramedics representing a crosssection of emergency medical. Drug calculations for health professionals can be installed on 32bit versions of windows xpvista7810.
Ems approves guidelines for calculating, reporting ambulance patient offload. Research into paramedics drug calculation abilities was first published in 2000 and for nurses abilities the. Ems approves guidelines for calculating, reporting ambulance. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in. Resources relating to the ems educational training program. Math and pharmacology can make it difficult to succeed on course exams, in the clinical setting, and in the field. Terms in this set 18 the physician orders lasix 20 mg iv stat for a child weighing 34 lbs. Mathematical and drug calculation abilities of paramedic. As an educator of paramedics for over 20 years, i have found that drug and intravenous calculations are one of the most difficult subject areas for a student to learn, and for an instructor to teach. Method a descriptive paperbased questionnaire collecting demographical data, student attitudes regarding their drug calculation performance, and answers to a series of basic mathematical and drug. Learn paramedic drug calculations with free interactive flashcards. Chapter 2, lack of experience in the performance of drug calculations and conversions is a common cause of medical error, patient injury, and legal action against the prehospital professional. This short snippet from the 90 minute medical math boot camp covers drug calculations and doing medical math in the prehospital environment. Pdf paramedics ability to perform drug calculations.
New drug standards were developed specifically to assist the. Ems training and education programs florida department. Log your call info, vitals, treatments, call times, and pretty much everything else. Drug calculations tests are used for a variety of medical professions, including nursing, midwifery and paramedicine. Spitler, msed, rn, nremtp ems educator charlotte, north carolina introduction medication calculations can cause frustration for ems providers. Paramedics usually administer medication by bolus instead of drip. Paramedics ability to perform drug calculations the. Yet, there have been no studies investigating an undergraduate paramedic students ability to perform drug or basic mathematical calculations. View and calculate drug dosage info for all patients.
You are responsible for all drug administration, so your first priority is the bolus of epinephrine that you deliver. The safedose ems mobile app is designed specifically for you and contains. Intravenous infusion calculations formula volume to be infused x administrative set 10, 15, 60, etc divided by time in minutes practice example. Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins. While most of these terms are selfexplanatory, lets define them so there is no confusion. Several years ago he did some research on the origins of the drug calculation formula and found that it was based on a very simple concept. Drug calculations for health professionals free version. No matter what initials you have after your name rn, cna, pa, and so on, you can bet youll see math on a daily basis if youre going into or are already in a career in the medical field. Download your free dosage calculation conversions cheat sheet to take with you to clinical so you can reference it anytime you need. Free download price inclusive of vat if applicable. If your child works quickly under pressure and enjoys helping others, he might enjoy learning more about this career. Medical medical math weight based iv bolus and drip calculations. However, the below is free drug study alternative that is intended to aid paramedic students in memorizing the dosages for the various paramedic medications that are required for paramedics to do their job.
The office of ems oems is responsible for protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public by assuring that emergency medical services provided by ambulance services, emergency medical response agencies, training entities, and emergency medical services personnel meet or exceed established standards. Hypersensitivity to the drug, acute narrowangle glaucoma side effects. Special guest speaker buck feris is an ems educator that has a lot of experience helping students who struggle with drug calculations. Emt paramedic curriculum based medication list pdf, 12 kb patient side. Dosage calculations for ems providers part 1 ray taylor valencia community college department of emergency medical services. Drug calculations tests for nurses, paramedics and. The ability to perform drug calculations accurately is imperative to patient safety. Medical dosage calculations for dummies cheat sheet. Math practice for paramedic students you are responsible. Decorate this paramedic coloring page with your child. Drug dosage calculations shelby county ems training division. So, im in paramedic school and we are currently working on drug calculations. Practicing drug calculations will develop stronger and more confident math skills. Research into paramedics drug calculation abilities was first published in 2000 and for nurses abilities the research dates back to the late 1930s.
Paramedic drug cards for nremt exam study paramedic. Mosbys drug cards are a great way to memorize the various medications that a paramedic will encounter on the job. Upon arrival to a call for aloc, you find a pt who you know has a history of depression and calls many times a week for chronic pain and ailments. Choose from 500 different sets of paramedic drug calculations flashcards on quizlet. Iv and drug calculations for busy paramedics paramedic protocol. Remember that a formula often used for working out how many tablets to take or for a drug. When paramedics administer drugs to patients it is assumed their drug dosage calculation are always 100% accurate. For the first 6 hours, the solution is delivered at 85 mlhour, then the rate is reduced to 70 mlhour.
Basic first aid scope of practice p00451f pdf, 15 kb first. Teaches the basic principles of mathematics and applies these principles to cases that paramedics face on the job. Medical math paramedic drug calculation paramedic school. Mathematical calculations are a fundamental component of paramedic practice utilised in areas of care such as weight, equipment size and drug dosage calculations. In this segment pcrf board member megan corry examines some alarming data about paramedic drug calculations. The first step in treating a patent who may be experiencing a cardiac arrest is to take his or her baseline vital signs. Mind taking 5 mins and adding any thing i maybe missing. This course will recertify emt basic and intermediate certificates for a two year period. The pediatric handbook states that 1 mgkg is a safe initial dose. Click here to download our 10 best apps for ems infographic, and. Take this free practice test to see how prepared you are to take a paramedic emt certification exam. Thankfully, these steps will help take some of the pressure off. Any concerns regarding the dose or administration of any drug should be.
Download drug calculations for health professionals 1. Medication calculations can cause frustration for ems providers. Safedose ems eliminates manual math calculations, quickly letting you know the. The ultimate goal of the bureau of ems is to improve patient safety and high quality outofhospital emergency care for everyone in new hampshire. This is because we learn the formulas in paramedic school then learn the street math when we get into the field.
In addition, paramedics should verify the recommended dose or formula, know the indications and contraindications of any drug they administer, and take all safety precautions. Page medication fr emt b emt irn emt p 3 activated charcoal call drug x x x 4 adenosine x 5 albuterol x x. With each drug you will quickly be able to see its class, action, indications, contraindications, precautions, side effects, routes, adult dosing, and. Aim the objective of this study was to determine if undergraduate paramedics could accurately perform common drug calculations and basic mathematical computations normally required in the workplace. For more information contact bj bartleson, cha vice president, nursing and. Identify what type of drug calculation and as a first step, use common sense to estimate a. It is primarily intended for new paramedic students, and their instructors. Paramedic drug dosage study cards emt training station. The dopamine clock is dosed as mcgmin so we need to get our math to show mcgmin. Are paramedics able to perform drug calculations with 100% accuracy. To view and download the pdfprint documents requires adobe acrobat. The exam will also require students to perform drug calculations, so passing the. Quick and easy calculation of common nurse and paramedic drug dosing formulas. Emt and paramedic note taking tool for use onscene.
Many paramedic and emt students struggle with memorization of the medications necessary to pass the nremt exam therefore paramedic drug cards are an excellent tool for study. How to do paramedic drug calculations paramedic training. Paramedic meds is a great tool for medics in the field. Office of ems alabama department of public health adph. The emergency medical technician refresher course is offered for individuals who wish to recertify their emt basic or intermediate certification as well as renewing their cpr certification. Whether youre a math aficionado or someone who cringes at calculations, paramedic. Regardless of the drug to be administered, careful and accurate calculations are. This booklet is written by a paramedic, for paramedics. Calculations for medication administration will make you a master of paramedic math. Serious outcomes of flu infection are hospitalization or death. Four studies published since 2000 portray paramedics drug math. The tests for drug calculation can be used when assessing potential employees or to help practising medical professionals work on their skills. Dosage calculations can be intense, and you should always be very careful when doing the math. If, for example, you are asked to provide the answer in milligrams or milliliters, but the theoretical drug is supplied in apothecary measurements, you must convert the apothecary measurement into metric.
Undergraduate paramedic students cannot do drug calculations. It also includes calculators to give you either mlhr or gttmin. Nursing dosage calculation practice problems hints for converting 1 memorize equivalents conversions. Iv and drug calculations for busy paramedics by kent r. This careerfocused paramedic coloring page shows your child what a paramedic does. Influenza or flu is a viral respiratory illness, mainly spread by droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. Omnimedix was created by a practicing street paramedic with a design that allows the user to access medical dosage calculations within seconds instead of fumbling through endless menus. You are responsible for providing the proper dose of etomidate to your partner so that he can. If paramedic students take a moment to read through some of the paramedic job descriptions many companies and hospitals produce, they will find that an ability to perform drug calculations are among one of the highest requirements next to passing the nremt exam. It is important that paramedics verify how a particular drug is supplied by their ems service. This textbook teaches the basic principles of mathematics and applies these principles to cases that paramedics face on the job. Download a 30day free trial of safedose ems, our mobileenabled ems.