ems assessme tip #1141:

the diaphragm, which separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities,  is located approximately at the level of the nipple line during exhalation, lower during inhalation.  injuries below the nipple line are likely abdominal and not thoracic, depending on the phase of respiration when the injury occurred.

ems assessment tip #929

fractures to the extremities are often referred to as distracting injuries because the pain and possi le deformity might distract the patient and keep him from complaining of wounds and injuries to other areas of the body. this is why it is necessary to completely expose the trauma patient and inspect for wounds.

ems assessment tip - seizures

the duration of the postictal state will vary from patient to patient and from seizure to seizure in the same patient. the signs of recovery may also vary.

ems assessment tip - patient assessment

pale, cool, clammy skin is an early sign of hypoxia. cyanosis is a late sign.

ems assessment tip - patient assessment

it is crucial to determine the exact time of onset of the first sign of weakness, slurred speech, numbness, paralyssis, facial droop, or other signs of stroke and report it to the emeegency deparrment. you may be the only person who can collect this vital information at the scene from relatives, friends, or bystander. it may make a critical differen e in stroke and cardiac treatment once at the hospital.

ems assessment tip - airway management

when using a jaw-thrust maneuver in a patient with suspected spinal injury, if you are unable to ventilate the patient after several attempts, you can slightly extend the head until a decrease in airflow resistance is felt and the chest rises adequately with each ventilation.

ems assessment tip - airway management

the best method to assess for tidal volume is to look for adequate chest rise and to feel and listen for air movement from the nose and mouth.

ems assessment tip - airway management

an already rapid heart rate that continues to increase may be an indication of worsening hypoxia from inadequate ventilation. conversely, a rapid heart rate that begins to decrease may indicate an improvement in the oxygenation and ventilation status; however, if the decrease in rate continues to bradycardia, it may be an indication of inadequate ventilation and oxygenation and worsening hypoxia.

ems assessment tip - pediatrics

if a child becomes cyanotic, he/she has experienced profound hypoxia and is in significant trouble.

ems assessment tip - chest trauma

a sudden deop in the systolic blood pressure by greater than 10 mmHg  during inhalation may be another sign of a tension pneumothorax or pericardial tamponade. the drop in systolic blood pressure during inhalation is referred to as pulsus paradoxus.

ems assessment tip

narcotics like morphine, heroin, and codeine will typically cause the pupils to constrict and become pinpoint in size. however, the narcotics meperidine (Demerol), propoxyphene (Darvon), pentazocine (Talwin),and some others may not cause the typical constriction of the pupils.

ems assessment tip: hypotension is a rare...

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Google Voice Free Domestic Calls Extended...

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Google Voice Free Domestic Calls Extended through 2012 (Web Only) Google has extended their offer free domestic calls within the US and Canada through 2012, a kind holiday gesture to Google Voice users in North America (excluding Mexico). The catch? You will have to ... View or comment on scott ackerman's post »

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Skype update offers better video calling,...

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Skype update offers better video calling, file sharing Skype has been a mainstay on many an Android device since it was released on the Market last year, and today's update brings it more in line with the VOIP service's desktop client. Those who aren't regular... View or comment on scott ackerman's post »

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scott ackerman added you to his circles and invited you to join Google+

scott ackerman added you to his circles and invited you to join Google+. Join Google+ Google+ makes sharing on the web more like sharing in real life. Circles An easy way to share some things with college buddies, others with your parents, and almost nothing with your boss. Just like in real life. Hangouts Conversations are better face-to-face. Join a video hangout from your computer or mobile phone to catch up, watch YouTube videos together, or swap stories with up to 9 of your friends at once. Mobile Lightning-fast group chat. Photos that upload themselves. A bird's-eye view of what's happening nearby. We built Google+ with mobile in mind.

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moving to Google+

Been playing with Google+ since it started and have decided to move my blog there. As you can see if you have stopped by this site, I have not really been spending much time here. I am hoping with the active community on Google+ that it will encourage me to post more often.

Will keep this site open for now but won't be posting here any longer

Hope to see you on Google+

Simpler file upload in Google Docs

Simpler file upload in Google Docs

Calling over 3G on Skype for Android enabled in the U.S.

Calling over 3G on Skype for Android enabled in the U.S.

Evernote for Android gets a big update

The BIG Evernote for Android Update « Evernote Blogcast

Pagination comes to Google Docs

Pagination comes to Google Docs

Google updates Picasa web

You asked, we listened

new chrome extension for evernote

Evernote: Today, we launched an update to our Google Chrome Extension, which includes a number of powerful new capabilities and speed improvements. Original Facebook Status: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=30670583128&v=wall&story_fbid=182150038498460 Sent via TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)

google cloud print ready printers now available

Google Chrome Blog: Google Cloud Print Ready printers now available

evernote redesigned its web interface

The Shiny New Evernote Web: Redesigned Interface, Expanded Note Sharing Options and More « Evernote Blogcast

imo.im display buddy icons

imo.im Blog

Aviary - Creation on the fly / blog / Major Update to Aviary's Chrome Extension

Aviary - Creation on the fly / blog / Major Update to Aviary's Chrome Extension

new imo beta version for android

imo.im Blog

Finally: A Federal EMS Office? - Fire Engineering

Finally: A Federal EMS Office? - Fire Engineering

allocate wireless spectrum for public safety

Expert: Allocate wireless spectrum for public safety - Communications - News

Found my new adventure

Old is new and new is old.... that kind of sums up how I feel right know. Last October I lost my job and have been looking for a new adventure ever since. I did a receive a number of great job offers just after I was let go, but they all required me to relocate. Unfortunately for personal reasons it was not something that I wanted to do. So I began to focus on the local job market and lets just say it was not pretty..... what to do?

I spent some time talking to friends and doing some basic soul searching. At the end of it, I decided to go back to something that I truly love doing, emergency medical services. Thanks to a very special friend who smacked me in the head and helped me realize that this was something that I had always enjoyed doing.

A couple of weeks ago I enrolled at Valencia Community College.  On May 9th I begin classes to become an emergency medical technician.

Although I am taking the EMT-Basic course, this won't be my first time. As mentioned, I was involved with emergency services before. I first got involved in 1979 when I joined Fair Lawn Heavy Rescue. In the late 80’s I moved to Norwood, NJ and joined Norwood EMS where I ended up becoming Chief. Throughout the years I got to work with some incredible people and learned so much.

New Jersey is primarily a volunteer based state, so I always had a second life working my ‘day job’ as I called it. About 10 years ago, I had an opportunity to move to Florida for my 'day job'.
When I left New Jersey, I let all of my certifications expire; note to self, don't do that again. So now its time to start over. Some may think I'm crazy for starting over, but I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that it will bring.

I found my new adventure.......

Google shows a interface for Blogger

What’s new with Blogger

Emergency Management Instittue

The Emergency Management Institute is the largest training facility for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is located in Emmitsburg, Maryland, on the grounds of the National Emergency Training Center.


In addition to the courses available on campus, EMI also offers a wide range of course for independent study. The independent study courses allow you to download the course materials, study at your own pace, and then take the exam online. 


To date I have taken the following courses;
- is-00007 - a citizens guide to disaster assistance
- is-00100b - introduction to the incident command system
- is-00700a - national incident management system
- is-200a - ics for single resources and initial action incident


I am now working on the is-800b - national response plan course.

This is a great resource for continuing education and it's free.

Radiation Emergency Medical Management Triage Guidelines

HumanityRoad: #radiation Emergency Medical Management Triage guidelines via U.S. Dept HHS http://bit.ly/RadTriage #hmrd #japan #tsunami Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/HumanityRoad/status/46983198462312448 Sent via TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)

Social Media and the Japan earthquake: What we can learn?

Social Media and the Japan earthquake: What we can learn? - http://pulsene.ws/15aH5

WeatherBug for Honeycomb [REVIEW]

Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS) Stakeholder Input Opportunity - Fire Engineering

Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS) Stakeholder Input Opportunity - Fire Engineering

Official FEMA Tsunami Announcement

Official FEMA Tsunami Announcement

Google sets up a crisis response page for the Japanese earthquacke and tsunami

2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

Click to call phone numbers - Official Gmail Blog

FEMA Blog: Using Your Cell Phone Before, During and After a Disaster

DHS to Test Multi-Band Radios at NASCAR Events

DHS to Test Multi-Band Radios at NASCAR Events

Easier uploads to Picasa Web Albums

Easier uploads to Picasa Web Albums: "Posted by Shuangfeng Li, Software Engineer



We’ve made sharing and storing your images in Picasa Web Albums even easier by improving the image upload process. Now you’ll find a smoother upload flow, the five-at-a-time limitation has been removed, and you can upload HD video, too.



To get started from Chrome, Firefox or Safari click the Upload button, select an album and then choose the images and videos you want to upload. After your images have uploaded, you will see large thumbnails where you can easily add a caption, zoom in or delete right from the upload screen.

If you use Internet Explorer, you can continue to use the basic uploader or use the plug-in for drag-and-drop bulk uploading.



Another easy way to upload to Picasa Web Albums is from Gallery on an Android device. For example, with Android 3.0, Honeycomb, you can capture an image or video with your tablet's camera and upload directly to Picasa Web Albums to share with friends.

We’re always working to improve Picasa Web Albums, please share your feedback in our forum. Happy uploading!

"

Verizon, Motorola enable LTE public-private roaming for public-safety networks

Verizon, Motorola enable LTE public-private roaming for public-safety networks

Power of Social Media: How the Medical Community is Embracing Social Media for Better Patient Care and Patient Engagement

Power of Social Media: How the Medical Community is Embracing Social Media for Better Patient Care and Patient Engagement

DHS Working Group Recommends Social Media Best Practices

DHS Working Group Recommends Social Media Best Practices

DHS First Responder Communities of Practice recently launched the Virtual Social Media Working Group (VSMWG), which is comprised of first responders and homeland security professionals from various disciplines, localities, sectors, and government agencies across the country.  The mission of the VSMWG is to provide recommendations to the emergency preparedness, response, and homeland security communities on the safe and sustainable use of social media technologies before, during, and after emergencies.  

Members were selected by DHS First Responder Technologies (R-Tech) program based on their experience in leveraging social media technologies to pursue the missions of their agencies.  Many VSMWG members have served as speakers, trainers, and subject matter experts at major homeland security-related workshops, roundtables, and conferences on the topic of social media. Representing the fields of emergency management, law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, public health, public utilities, and local government, the VSMWG strives to be a dynamic voice in the social media and public safety arena, incorporating the perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders.  

VSMWG members will collaborate via virtual meetings to identify and discuss responder issues and challenges with social media.  They will look at myriad issues, such as standards and policies, and will provide recommended guidance on using social media in public safety.  The working group may engage with subject matter experts from different sectors to work towards resolutions to these issues.  

The First Responder Communities of Practice platform will serve as the primary location for the VSMWG to conduct activities, share developments, and connect with other homeland security professionals regarding the value of social media for emergency preparedness, response, and recovery.  The group will play an active role in establishing the Make America Safer through Social Media Community on the First Responder Communities of Practice as a national resource for social media and public safety-related information and best practices.   

To collaborate with the Virtual Social Media Working Group, help grow the First Responder Communities of Practice repository of social media best practices and tools, or participate in forward-thinking discussions with others engaged in this field, join the Make America Safer through Social Media Community at https://Communities.FirstResponder.gov.

 

Social media provides an avenue to first responders to connect with the public. Courtesy of FEMA.

 

Coast Guard officers review a hurricane situation report.  Smart phones like this one offer public safety and homeland security personnel a simple way to interact with the public.  Courtesy of FEMA.

 

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Nivana N2 Build 140

My favorite online task manager has been updated

N2 Build 140

Posted by Elbert, February 18, 2011

It’s been a bumpy ride, but we’re finally back on track! Nirvana has been migrated to new, beefier servers — a bit sooner than we were planning for. But now that it’s done we have room to breathe. With the boost in capacity we feel comfortable letting in all of the folks who have been stuck in the beta invite queue for weeks (thanks for being patient).

We lost a few days of development time, thanks to the emergency migration. But hey, we actually pushed a release out a day early (build 136) once we realized that we were pretty much spent on energy for the week, given the unexpected all-nighters we were pulling to stabilize our infrastructure.

So what actually went live this week?

New and Improved Rapid Entry

• rapid entry text field now accepts #tag notation for adding contexts inline
• for example: finish this to do #work
• or maybe: finish this too while you’re at it #personal #due next friday
• or even this: clean out the attic #project #star
• more to come

Desktop Browser UI Annoyances Fixed

• clicking on “focus” star icon when editing a task no longer cancels out
• project due / scheduled dates are now properly captured when editing via project view
• rapid entry textfield no longer “freaks out” under certain conditions (chrome 9 specific)
• new pretty inbox icon (this one’s for you @Slith_hideout)
• some css niceties here and there

Invisible Underpinnings

• recurring tasks engine (for unit testing in production)
• parallel vs sequential tasks (ditto)

Looking forward to relaxing a bit this weekend, and then attacking our list of new features for the next release first thing on Monday. Thanks everyone for sticking with us.

12 new file formats in the Google Docs Viewer

12 new file formats in the Google Docs Viewer: "Cross posted on the Official Gmail blog

The Google Docs Viewer is used by millions of people every day to quickly view PDFs, Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoint presentations online. Not only is viewing files in your browser far more secure than downloading and opening them locally, but it also saves time and doesn’t clutter up your hard-drive with unwanted files.

Today we’re excited to launch support for 12 new file types:

• Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
  
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX)
  
• Apple Pages (.PAGES)
  
• Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
  
• Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
  
• Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)
  
• Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
  
• PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
  
• TrueType (.TTF)
  
• XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Not only does this round out support for the major Microsoft Office file types (we now support DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS and XLSX), but it also adds quick viewing capabilities for many of the most popular and highly-requested document and image types.

In Gmail, these types of attachments will now show a “View” link, and clicking on this link will bring up the Google Docs Viewer.




You can also upload and share these files in Google Docs, so that anyone can view the content using their browser.

And as always, the Google Docs Viewer is available for use on any website, with both a full Chrome and embedded option. More information can be found here.

Posted by: Anil Sabharwal, Product Manager

"

Warning: A Social Media Tsunami is Coming

Warning: A Social Media Tsunami is Coming

An update to Google Social Search

An update to Google Social Search: "Today we’re doing a little bit more to bring you all the goodness of Google, plus the opinions of the people you care about. As always, we want to help you find the most relevant answers among the billions of interconnected pages on the web. But relevance isn’t just about pages—it’s also about relationships. That’s why we introduced Google Social Search in 2009, and why we’ve made a number of improvements since then. Today we’re taking another step forward—enabling you to get even more information from the people that matter to you, whether they’re publishing on YouTube, Flickr or their own blog or website.

First, social search results will now be mixed throughout your results based on their relevance (in the past they only appeared at the bottom). This means you’ll start seeing more from people like co-workers and friends, with annotations below the results they’ve shared or created. So if you’re thinking about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and your colleague Matt has written a blog post about his own experience, then we’ll bump up that post with a note and a picture:

Social search results can rank anywhere on the page, and you’ll see who shared the result in the annotation underneath

Second, we’ve made Social Search more comprehensive by adding notes for links people have shared on Twitter and other sites. In the past, we’d show you results people created and linked through their Google profiles. Now, if someone you’re connected to has publicly shared a link, we may show that link in your results with a clear annotation (which is visible only to you, and only when you’re signed in). For example, if you’re looking for a video of President Obama on “The Daily Show” and your friend Nundu tweeted the video, that result might show up higher in your results and you’ll see a note with a picture of Nundu:

Now Social Search includes links people share on Twitter and other services

Third, we’ve given you more control over how you connect accounts, and made connecting accounts more convenient. You can still connect accounts publicly on your Google profile, but now we’ve added a new option to connect accounts privately in your Google Account. (After all, you may not want everyone to know you’re @spongebobsuperfan on Twitter.) In addition, if our algorithms find a public account that might be yours (for example, because the usernames are the same), we may invite you to connect your accounts right on the search results page and in your Google Account settings:

The new setting enables you to choose whether or not to show your connected accounts publicly on your Google profile

For an overview of Google Social Search and our new features, check out the explanatory video:



As always, you’ll only get social search results when you choose to log in to your Google Account. We’re starting to roll out the updates today on Google.com in English only and you’ll see them appear in the coming week. With these changes, we want to help you find the most relevant information possible, personalized to your interests and the people you care about. To learn more, check out our help center.

Posted by Mike Cassidy, Product Management Director, and Matthew Kulick, Product Manager

"

National Public Safety Broadband Network Eyed — Again

National Public Safety Broadband Network Eyed — Again

Updates to the Google Reader app for Android

Updates to the Google Reader app for Android: "(Cross-posted from the Google Reader blog)



Today we’re excited to announce some updates to the official Google Reader app for Android. Over the last couple of months, we’ve added some of your most-requested features:



Unread count widget - choose any feed, label, person, or “all items” and get the unread count on your home screen. Clicking on the widget takes you to straight to that stream.

News ticker widget - if you prefer a bit more information, you can add a larger size widget that cycles through items on any stream you want in Reader. Clicking any headline will take you to the article, while clicking the folder will take you to that stream.

Mark previous as read - if you’ve used the mobile version of Reader before and missed this feature, it’s now back! As you scroll down your reading list, hit “Mark previous as read” at any time to only mark things above the screen as read.

In addition to these new features, we now have an official Russian translation as well.



We hope you enjoy the update - give it a try! You can download the app in all countries from Android Market. The Google Reader app is available for devices running Android 1.6 or higher, with widget functionality available for devices on Android 2.2+.

Posted by Brian Shih, Product Manager

"

Blue Alerts Become Law

Blue Alerts Become Law

KY. county using digital radios for public safety - WAVE 3 News - Louisville, Kentucky

KY. county using digital radios for public safety - WAVE 3 News - Louisville, Kentucky

Social Media and Fire/EMS

The website is intended as a portal to address the intersection of Social Media and Fire/EMS (thus the #SM4Fire and #SM4EMS  hashtags  on Twitter.) 

Radio Resource Magazine: OnlyOnline

Radio Resource Magazine: OnlyOnline

How We Use Social Media During Emergencies [INFOGRAPHIC]

How We Use Social Media During Emergencies [INFOGRAPHIC]

Verizon Tests Voice on LTE Network | Top Tech Reviews

Verizon Tests Voice on LTE Network | Top Tech Reviews

Twiiter 2.0 now available for Android

Twitter for Android is one of the fastest growing Twitter applications. Six months ago, it wasn’t among the top 10 most-used Twitter applications. However, in the last two months, usage has doubled, and now it’s among the top five – along with twitter.com, m.twitter.com (our mobile web site), Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Blackberry.

Today, we’re launching a new version of Twitter for Android. It looks and feels more like our other official Twitter applications and provides a more consistent experience across platforms and devices.

Use Twitter without signing in
You can use Twitter for Android even if you haven’t signed in or don’t have an account. You can view trends, browse your interests and see suggested users in several categories, including fashion, entertainment and travel, or search to find out what people are saying about topics you care about, such as big sporting events. You can now also sign up for Twitter from within the app.


Design
We made some significant changes in the design of the new app. When you first sign in, you’ll see your timeline, along with icons along the top that let you view @mentions, messages, and lists. This layout makes it fast and simple to navigate Twitter on your Android device. Also, the @mentions tab now includes Retweets; seeing replies and Retweets in one place offers a quick way to better understand which Tweets are sparking interest and engagement. In addition, we introduced auto-complete for usernames.


Search
We’ve also introduced universal search to this version of Twitter for Android. This means that when you search, you can find Tweets with the term you’re looking for, Tweets sent by people near your location, or people whose user names include that term.

For example, let’s say you want to search for “packers". As you type “packers” in the search box, you’ll see the following suggestions:

• search packers: this will return Tweets that include the word “packers”
• search packers nearby: this will return Tweets that include the word “packers” and are sent by nearby users
• search packers in people: this will return accounts that have “packers” in the name
• @packers: this option will skip search results and take you directly to the account, if it exists (in this example, it does)

And, last but not least, at the bottom of the search section is one of my favorite new features: you can scan your address book to find which of your friends, who have chosen to be discoverable, are also on Twitter. New users will get a chance to do this when they first go through the sign-up process on the app.

You can download Twitter for Android from Android Market on devices with Android 2.1 or higher.

Advanced sign-in security for your Google account

Advanced sign-in security for your Google account: "Posted by Nishit Shah, Product Manager, Google Security

(Cross-posted from the Google Blog)

Has anyone you know ever lost control of an email account and inadvertently sent spam—or worse—to their friends and family? There are plenty of examples (like the classic 'Mugged in London' scam) that demonstrate why it's important to take steps to help secure your activities online. Your Gmail account, your photos, your private documents—if you reuse the same password on multiple sites and one of those sites gets hacked, or your password is conned out of you directly through a phishing scam, it can be used to access some of your most closely-held information.

Most of us are used to entrusting our information to a password, but we know that some of you are looking for something stronger. As we announced to our Google Apps customers a few months ago, we've developed an advanced opt-in security feature called 2-step verification that makes your Google Account significantly more secure by helping to verify that you're the real owner of your account. Now it's time to offer the same advanced protection to all of our users.

2-step verification requires two independent factors for authentication, much like you might see on your banking website: your password, plus a code obtained using your phone. Over the next few days, you'll see a new link on your Account Settings page that looks like this:


Take your time to carefully set up 2-step verification—we expect it may take up to 15 minutes to enroll. A user-friendly set-up wizard will guide you through the process, including setting up a backup phone and creating backup codes in case you lose access to your primary phone. Once you enable 2-step verification, you'll see an extra page that prompts you for a code when you sign in to your account. After entering your password, Google will call you with the code, send you an SMS message or give you the choice to generate the code for yourself using a mobile application on your Android, BlackBerry or iPhone device. The choice is up to you. When you enter this code after correctly submitting your password we'll have a pretty good idea that the person signing in is actually you.


It's an extra step, but it's one that significantly improves the security of your Google Account because it requires the powerful combination of both something you know—your username and password—and something that only you should have—your phone. A hacker would need access to both of these factors to gain access to your account. If you like, you can always choose a 'Remember verification for this computer for 30 days' option, and you won't need to re-enter a code for another 30 days. You can also set up one-time application-specific passwords to sign in to your account from non-browser based applications that are designed to only ask for a password, and cannot prompt for the code.

To learn more about 2-step verification and get started, visit our Help Center. And for more about staying safe online, see our ongoing security blog series or visit http://www.staysafeonline.org/. Be safe!

"