Bay News 9
Bay News 9

Dispatchers add aspirin recommendation to protocol

 Post a comment | E-mail this story | Print  

Manatee County dispatch
Laura Liddell teaches dispatchers about the new protocol.

MANATEE COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- Manatee County 911 dispatchers are going to start advising people with chest pains to take aspirin.

Laura Liddell, who is training the dispatchers, said there's strong evidence showing that immediate aspirin therapy may reduce heart damage in certain heart attack patients.

"Basically what we can do before the ambulance gets there, the less things they have to do," Liddell said. "So it expedites their treatment on scene."

The 911 dispatchers will start using the new protocol on March 20.

The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch studies show that early administration of aspirin benefits more patients than it may compromise.

Dispatchers won't recommend aspirin to patients if: they are not alert, are under 16 years old, have had an allergic reaction to aspirin before or if there's a possibility they suffer from internal bleeding.

Rarely do dispatchers advise patients to take anything before paramedics arrive, but aspirin administration will be added to their protocol.




Be in the Know with Bay News 9 Now!

Bay News 9 NowGet news, weather, and traffic alerts delivered directly to your computer desktop, e-mail, or cell phone with Bay News 9 Now.

County by County
County: or Zip:
advertisment:
advertisment:

Choose your text size
Select the size text you want to use to view www.baynews9.com from the choices below.
Normal | Big | Bigger | Biggest
advertisment:

Want to go green?

going green

Going green is all the rage these days. Check out our green pages on BayNews9.com.

Bay News 9's Partners

Bay News 9 en espanol
bright house sports network Central Florida News 13 Tampa Bay on Demand

Become An Asterisk Hunter!

Learn more at AsteriskHunters.com At Bright House Networks, we prefer to keep things simple.

So the next time you're looking for TV, home phone and Internet service with a 30-day, money-back guarantee, but without the fine print surprises, call

1-866-976-EASY.

Learn more at AsteriskHunters.com.