November/December 2011 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 24 Number 6
What is a SOAP Note?
By Frank Hubbell, DO
Illustrations by T.B.R. Walsh
When providing patient care you have a lot of information to gather about the patient including; their past medical history, the chief complaint, vital signs, injuries, and treatment plan. As this information is gathered, it has to be organized, recorded, and able to be mobile. (Mobile in that it has to be able to travel with the patient as they move from the location of the crisis, into an ambulance, and delivered to a definitive care setting.)
The SOAP Note was developed years ago, and today it is a standardized method for organizing all of the patient’s medical information. For many years the SOAP Note has been recognized as the standard for collecting and recording patient data. As a result, it is universally recognized by pre-hospital as well as hospital-based personnel.
Use of the SOAP Note also makes it much easier to communicate, as everyone is using the same template, knows how the information will flow, and where data will be located within the structure of the document.
The SOAP note is organized into Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan.
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What is a SOAP Note?
/in Medical Response, Mountain rescue, Natural Disater, Treatment/by WMN EditorsNovember/December 2011 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 24 Number 6
What is a SOAP Note?
By Frank Hubbell, DO
Illustrations by T.B.R. Walsh
When providing patient care you have a lot of information to gather about the patient including; their past medical history, the chief complaint, vital signs, injuries, and treatment plan. As this information is gathered, it has to be organized, recorded, and able to be mobile. (Mobile in that it has to be able to travel with the patient as they move from the location of the crisis, into an ambulance, and delivered to a definitive care setting.)
The SOAP Note was developed years ago, and today it is a standardized method for organizing all of the patient’s medical information. For many years the SOAP Note has been recognized as the standard for collecting and recording patient data. As a result, it is universally recognized by pre-hospital as well as hospital-based personnel.
Use of the SOAP Note also makes it much easier to communicate, as everyone is using the same template, knows how the information will flow, and where data will be located within the structure of the document.
The SOAP note is organized into Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan.
Read more
Vaccines
/in Immunizations, Medications, prevention/by WMN EditorsNovember/December 2011 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 24 Number 6
Vaccines and Our Immune System
By Frank Hubbell, DO
What is the Immune System?
A better way to ask this simple question is, “what protects us against infectious disease”? Simply answered, it is our immune system. The whole purpose of the immune system is to recognize self from non-self. Any type of cell or protein that does not belong in us will be found, recognized, and destroyed by our immune system.
This defense system, against invading pathogens, is a multilayered system. The first layer of defense is the physical barrier, our skin. The second layer is the innate immune system, which is an immediate reaction to a threat, but very non-specific. The final layer of defense is the adaptive or acquired immune system. Although this system is slower to respond, it is very specific, and it produces an immune memory. It is this system, adaptive immunity, that our bodies take advantage of to create immunity against various diseases by using vaccines.
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Trichinella spiralis
/in Fever, Nausea, Parasites/by WMN EditorsNovember/December 2011 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 24 Number 6
Somedays You Eat the Bear and Somedays the Bear Eats You
By Frank Hubbell, DO
EMS call: Your squad is asked to respond to the home of a 35 year old male who states that he is very sick and needs to go the hospital, as he is to weak to drive himself.
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Knee Trauma
/in Knee, Lower leg, Musculoskeletal, Trauma/by WMN EditorsINTERESTING FACTS ABOUT YOUR KNEES:
The knee is the largest joint in the human body.
It is surrounded and supported by the strongest muscles in the human body.
There are approximately 20 million visits per year to doctors’ offices and emergency rooms for knee injuries.
These injuries are the most common reasons people see an orthopedic surgeon.
Among the various possibilities the most common knee problems are ligamentous injuries.
Knee injuries account for approximately 25% of all alpine ski injuries.
They are the second most common work-related injury, second only to back pain.
November/December 2011 ISSN-1059-6518
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