Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice: Patient Assessment

DR. BRYAN BLEDSOE

Dr. Bryan Bledsoe is an emergency physician with a special interest in prehospital care.

He received his B.S. degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and his medical degree from the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his internship at Texas Tech University and residency training at Scott and White Memorial Hospital/Texas A&M College of Medicine. Dr. Bledsoe is board certified in emergency medicine. Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Bledsoe worked as an EMT, a paramedic, and a paramedic instructor. He completed EMT training in 1974 and paramedic training in 1976 and worked for 6 years as a field paramedic in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1979, he joined the faculty of the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center and served as coordinator of EMT and paramedic education programs at the university. Dr. Bledsoe is active in emergency medicine and EMS research. He is a popular speaker at state, national, and international seminars and writes regularly for numerous EMS journals. Dr. Bledsoe is on the faculty of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is active in educational endeavors with the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and co-chairs their Certification and Evaluation Board (CEB). Dr. Bledsoe has authored several EMS books published by Brady, including Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice, Essentials of Paramedic Care, Intermediate Emergency Care: Principles & Practice, Critical Care Paramedic, Anatomy & Physiology for Emergency Care, Prehospital Emergency Pharmacology, and Pocket Reference for ALS Providers. He is married to Emma Bledsoe. They have two children, Bryan and Andrea,and a grandson, Andrew, and live on a ranch south of Dallas, Texas. He enjoys saltwaterfishing and warm latitudes.

ROBERT PORTER

Robert Porter has been teaching in emergency medical services for 30 years and currently serves as the Senior Advanced Life Support Educator for Madison County, New York, and as a Flight Paramedic with the Onondaga, New York, County Sheriff ’s Department helicopter service, AirOne. Mr. Porter is a Wisconsin native and received his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin. He completed his paramedic training at Northeast Wisconsin Technical Institute in 1978 and earned a master’s degree in health education at Central Michigan University in 1990. Mr. Porter has been an EMT and EMS educator and administrator since 1973 and obtained his national registration as an EMT-Paramedic in 1978. He has taught both basic and advanced EMS courses in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. Mr. Porter served for more than 10 years as a paramedic program accreditation-site evaluator for the American Medical Association and is a past chair of the National Society of EMT Instructor/Coordinators. He has authored Brady’s Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice, Essentials of Paramedic Care, Intermediate Emergency Care: Principles & Practice, Tactical Emergency Care, and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Emergency Care, as well as the workbooks accompanying this text, Paramedic Emergency Care, and Intermediate Emergency Care. When not writing or teaching, Mr. Porter enjoys offshore sailboat racing and historic home restoration.

 RICHARD CHERRY

Richard Cherry is Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Technical Director for Medical Simulation at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.

His experience includes years of classroom teaching and emergency fieldwork. A native of Buffalo, Mr. Cherry earned his bachelor’s degree at nearby St. Bonaventure University in 1972. He taught high school for the next 10 years while he earned his master’s degree in education from Oswego State University in 1977.He holds a permanent teaching license in New York State. Mr. Cherry entered the emergency medical services field in 1974 with the DeWitt Volunteer Fire Department, where he served his community as a firefighter and EMS provider for more than 15 years. He took his first EMT course in 1977 and became an ALS provider 2 years later. He earned his paramedic certificate in 1985 as a member of the area’s first paramedic class. Mr. Cherry has authored several books for Brady. Most notable are Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice, Essentials of Paramedic Care, Intermediate Emergency Care: Principles & Practice, and EMT Teaching: A Common Sense Approach. He has madepresentations at many state, national, and international EMS conferences on a varietyof teaching topics. He regularly teaches in the paramedic program he helped establishand is Regional Faculty for ACLS and PALS. Mr. Cherry is currently Technical Directorfor MedSTAR, the center for medical simulation, training, and research at SUNYUpstate. He and his wife, Sue, run a horse-riding camp for children with cancer andother life-threatening diseases on their property in West Monroe, New York. He alsoplays guitar in a Christian band.