"I wanted to let you know that I got to use the B.I.G. yesterday and WOW did it work great!  This is probably the only piece of equipment that worked in the field as easily as it did in the demonstration. The only exception is that the safety was a little stiffer than the one in the demo, which seems logical since 30 or 40 people had played with it that day.
The situation was that we were called to a sandy wash behind a shopping center for a patient with circumferential burns from his hips up to his lips.  Page Fire had one line and told me how horribly the other two attempts had gone.  Instead of even attempting a peripheral, we went straight for the B.I.G.  I asked for one of the EMS guys to prime an NS line, identified my landmarks, prepped the site, inserted the B.I.G., and asked if the line was ready yet.  Everyone just looked at the I/O and said, 'Wow, that was fast.' 
Obviously, this patient needed B.I.G. access, and it was really nice that I could quickly get access in less time than it took my partner to get prepped for intubation.  I felt this patient warranted jumping straight to I/O since both arms were heavily involved; EMS had already had 2 failed attempts, and he needed large bone access.
 The doctor at the ED was quite satisfied with the patient's condition upon arrival and was able to get a few tasks accomplished before having to address access issues.  We calculated a 65% BSA involvement that required a Parkland fluid replacement rate at 1218ml/hr for the first 8 hours.  This patient's prognosis is dim, but it is better than it would have been if we weren't able to obtain a stable airway and circulatory access.

Thanks again!
Stacy"

Stacy Lawson
Flight Nurse
Classic Lifeguard
Indiana, USA

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