Re: Propaq Encore

[Jeremy Hawk <akulahawk@earthlink.net>]

Title: Re: Propaq Encore

First: I (currently) work for a BLS company that does ground CCT... That said

> Hello
> everybody, need help in Texas!
>  
> I have a few
> questions that need answers.
>  
> 1. If you
> use the Propaq Encore, do you have the printer option on
> it?

Yes, we do use the Propaq Encore with the printer option on it. Our backup Propaq is also an Encore, but w/o the printer.

>  
> 2. What is
> your validity for having in your setup?  with the printer or
> without?

We use the printer for documenting initial ECG's/SpO2/A-line/CO2 stuff or whatever else we need initially. We also use it to document changes while en-route prn. We also print out the trends at the end of each call for documentation purposes... if we don't have room on the PCR, we'll attach the trend report to the PCR.

>  
> 3. Does
> anybody fly a 407 with a Propaq mount on the aft wall like the picture
> I have attached to this email, and if so, do you utilize this mount
> for the Propaq or have you done something else?

Can't comment: we're a ground service.

>  
> 4. If you
> don't use the printer how do you document acute changes in EKG or
> Vital Sign status while working on a critical patient requiring all 4
> of your hands?

When using our backup Propaq, we document ECG's by unplugging the ECG cord out of the Propaq and plug it in to a waiting Zoll M-series. We'd use the Zoll for everything except that this one doesn't do any sort of BP's... Unfortunately, this doesn't work as well as we'd like. We (obviously) prefer to have either our Zoll or our printer equipped Encore attached so that we CAN document any changes acutely.

>  
> Thanks for
> any suggestions,
>  
> Russell
> Griffin NR/CCEMT-P
> North Texas
> LifeStar Flight Paramedic
> Sherman,
> Texas
>
>

I for one, would prefer to use only one piece of equipment for monitoring patients. Most of the time, our Encore does the job nicely. I'd just rather have the capability to defib/cardiovert/pace all in the same package with the stuff that the propaq can do. Our Zoll (currently) can't do this and our service won't spend the money to get a monitor/defib that will. Our system is far from perfect, far from efficient, but it does get the job done.

Jeremy Hawk, B.S., EMT-P