References
British Thoracic Society guidelines on emergency oxygen therapy for adults
Contemporary emergency paramedic practice is largely derived from modern advance life support courses that include advanced trauma life support (ATLS), advanced paediatric life support (APLS), and advanced life support (ALS). These courses originated in the 1970s and 1980s and were originally created to provide doctors with simple algorithms to follow in an emergency (Styner, 2006). It was recognized that what mattered in an emergency was not an accurate diagnosis but rather the ability to recognize a life-threatening emergency and take definitive, reflexive action.
These courses were subsequently adapted for paramedic practice and their influence has become almost universal, establishing the ‘ABC’ approach to emergency care. The courses had one thing in common: high flow oxygen was advocated for almost all emergency presentations (Joint Royal College Liasion Committee (JRCALC), 2006).
This has become so established in paramedic practice that it is rare to see a patient delivered to hospital by ambulance without an oxygen mask.
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