Katherine Koch, assistant professor of educational studies, presented at the EMS World Expo held Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 in Nashville, Tennessee. Koch, who is a paramedic as well as an assistant professor, spoke on assessing, treating and transporting patients with special needs. She spoke about the important role that EMS providers have in fine-tuning assessment questions to the patient. “Physical impairments don’t necessarily correlate with cognitive competence,” she said. “Assume cognitive competence until knowing otherwise.” She also cautioned EMS providers about assuming a patient has comorbid conditions, and urged them to consider a patient’s post-discharge needs and safety. A brief overview of the presentation was published on the EMS1 website.
