Introducing ‘Sirens to Scrubs’

In Sirens to Scrubs, Working in EM by Paula SneathLeave a Comment

Links to Sirens to Scrubs Posts

  1. Minor head injury (July 17, 2018)
  2. Esophageal foreign body obstructions (August 14, 2018)
  3. Acute coronary syndromes (part one) – Beyond door-to-balloon (September 27, 2018)
  4. Acute coronary syndromes (part two) – To the lab! (October 25, 2018)
  5. Acute coronary syndromes (part three) – Diagnosis and ED management (November 27, 2018)
  6. Acute coronary syndromes (part four) – Spot the lesion! (January 8, 2019)
  7. Subarachnoid hemorrhage (March 12, 2019)
  8. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (June 12, 2019)
  9. Fever phobia (August 20, 2019)
  10. Sutures (December 10, 2019)
  11. COVID-19, an excuse to talk about infection control (April 20, 2020)
  12. Thermal burns (June 19, 2020)

Are you a paramedic or other first responder that has wondered ‘what tests will my patient get’, or ‘how is a shoulder dislocation reduced’? Are you a member of the Emergency Department team curious about what the paramedics actually DO before they bring your patients in? Then Sirens to Scrubs is for you! Patients and their families often meet a multitude of healthcare professionals during their emergency – firefighters, paramedics, nurses, emergency physicians, consulting physicians, and often many more. Yet, the links in this chain often don’t have opportunities to learn the roles, scope of practice, and challenges of the others – a barrier that prevents us from truly grasping the patient experience.

What is it?

Sirens to Scrubs was created with the goal of helping to bridge this disconnect; in particular between pre-hospital and in-hospital care of emergency patients. The series will offer in-hospital providers a glimpse into the challenges and scope of practice of out-of-hospital care while providing pre-hospital providers with the opportunity to learn about the diagnostic pathways and ED management of common (or not-so-common) clinical presentations. By opening this dialogue, we hope that these new perspectives will be translated into practice to create a smoother, more efficient, and overall positive transition for patients as they pass through the ED doors.

Audience and Author

No matter your geography, job title, or level or experience, we hope this series will be of interest to you! Please keep in mind that, although we will do our best to publish accurate information, there will inevitably be some regional differences in both pre-hospital and in-hospital management of emergency patients. As a paramedic and Emergency Medicine resident in Ontario, some of my posts may wind-up being somewhat Ontario-centric and limited to these roles. I’d encourage anyone whose experiences differ from mine to contribute to the conversation by commenting.

Contributions

I would also invite anyone that is interested in 1) posing a topic or question, 2) contributing as an author, or 3) contributing as a reviewer, especially if you have a different perspective to offer (i.e. ED nurse, paramedic in a different region, rural care provider, etc.), to contact me at [email protected].

Thanks for reading!

Paula Sneath

Paula Sneath

Paula is an Emergency Medicine resident at McMaster University and an Advanced Care Paramedic in Ontario. She has a strong interest in improving access to education and resources for paramedics in Canada and fostering relationships between EM providers.