Excerpts from local10.com:
Every second counts in a trauma situation. Critical patients need critical care, and sometimes time isn’t on your side.
A procedure typically reserved for hospital emergency rooms called a finger thoracostomy is moving into the field. The goal is to try and relieve the pressure that can build up from blunt force trauma to the chest after a serious car crash, a shooting or even a stabbing.
“We open up the chest cavity with a small incision, about one inch, to let all the air out so that the heart can re-expand and also produce a pulse.”
The training is extensive, overseen by the department’s medical director, and the goal is to get the kits in every single unit.
Coconut Creek is one of the first agencies in Broward County, Florida to go through this training.
