This is just the opposite of what animals do. It was known at that time that plants utilize carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. The concept and practice of bringing plants to hospitalized patients was based upon this belief. It seemed intuitive that the more oxygen a patient received, the better they would fare overall. During that era, it was learned that oxygen was essential for many biological processes. In Victorian times, medical care was often very primitive by modern standards. The whole concept of hyperoxia and oxidative stress is complex and often not explained well in the EMS educational process or in textbooks. In their most recent skill sheets, the NREMT states: “Failure to voice and ultimately provide appropriate oxygen therapy” as a critical criterion. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT), in their testing process, formerly considered failure to administer high-flow oxygen as a failure criterion. This went on for a decade or two before we began to recognize that too much oxygen can actually be dangerous. At that time, there was perceived benefit and minimal risk of harm. I went to EMT school in 1974 and we actually had a skills station where we were tested on oxygen administration and had to calculate the amount of oxygen available in oxygen cylinders of various sizes.ĭuring 19, I was in paramedic school and we again taught that every patient needed oxygen. The EMS love affair with oxygen goes back as far as I can recall.

Before that, the ambulances were emblazoned with the phrase “radio equipped”-but that is a different story. I do remember one thing about the ambulances in the late 1960s in that they always had signs on the side that stated “oxygen equipped” in big letters. Heightman)Īs a kid growing up in Fort Worth, Texas I had little interest in ambulances or medicine. Where did the love affair with oxygen begin in EMS? Bryan Bledsoe, DO, FACEP, FAAEM, EMT-P, sets the record straight.

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