The short-term outcome of seizure management by prehospital personnel: a comparison of two protocols.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of an emergency medical service protocol with reduced diazepam dose on the intubation rate of children with seizure activity treated by emergency medical service personnel and to evaluate the short-term outcome comparing 2 emergency medical service treatment protocols.

Methods: Retrospective review of the emergency medical service and hospital databases of children 0-18 years with seizure activity. Prior to January 1996, the county emergency medical service protocol recommended a diazepam dose of 0.

Improved prehospital pediatric ALS care after an EMT-paramedic clinical training course.

The objective was to determine the association between the performance rates of pediatric advanced life-support procedures, intubation and vascular access, by emergency medicine technician-paramedics (EMT-P), and introduction of an EMT-P pediatric advanced life support (PALS) clinical course. Prehospital EMT-P care records from January 1990 to December 1991 were retrospectively reviewed to determine endotracheal intubation and vascular access performance rates. These rates were compared with intubation and vascular access performance rates by EMT-Ps from January 1983 to June 1985.

Five-year experience in prehospital intraosseous infusions in children and adults.

Study Objective: To evaluate the ability of emergency medical technician-paramedic (EMT-P) units to become and remain proficient in the performance of the intraosseous infusion procedure.

Design And Setting: Descriptive nonrandomized trial open to all patients meeting protocol criteria over a five-year period; prehospital urban and suburban area with a population of 951,000.

Participants: One hundred fifty-two consecutive patients (age range, newborn to 102 years) who had intraosseous infusion line placement attempted by EMT-Ps.