Thursday March 20, 2025 8:00am to 9:00am
Why Is That Patient Wearing A Vest?: LVAD Review
Dr. Benjamin Williams | University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
1.0 Clinical Patient Care Con-Ed
LVAD's can be a intimidating piece of medical equipment. Why does that patient need one? How do I take vitals on this patient? What if I need to do CPR? In this discussion we will cover those questions and more. The goal is to make the provider feel comfortable managing a patient who is wearing an LVAD. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
We all know how children like to put anything and everything in their mouth. What happens when that "thing" is a medication or illicit drug? This discussion reviews current drug ingestion trends in pediatrics. We also talk about the used of Narcan in children and the EKG findings that you may see with certain drugs. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Uncommon, frequently missed and misunderstood EKG findings cause anxiety in the best of providers. Lets discuss some rarities, such as, Narrow Complex Tachycardias (is electricity the answer?) Wolfe Parkinsons White Syndrome, Bundle Brach Blocks and how to identify acute happenings- (AMI) and more. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This course will review high yield, low frequency procedures used in trauma. Specific attention will be given to indications, contraindications, techniques, and tricks for each procedure. Review of pathophysiology related to trauma will also be performed. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Most of us are proficient on the Cincinnati Stroke Scale, but what about mRACE? Do the numbers have any significance? In this lecture, we will review the mRACE score and show videos of the assessment. Will also discuss what those findings mean. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Thursday March 20 9:15am to 10:15amBurnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. The coping strategies of many tend to be unhealthy and do not help to correct the underlying reason for it. Burnout is an established and growing problem facing our EMS providers. We are finding that it is becoming a major reason for providers exiting the community. EMS providers all ready have multiple other difficulties not experienced by other healthcare workers and only recently has this begun to be recognized and programs are finally being implemented across all levels of care to address it. We will review the stages of burn out and help people to recognize at what stage you are currently experiencing burnout. We will delve into the management strategies to recover from the acute phase of burnout and how to prevent it in the future. We will also discuss how everyone has the ability to help be a part of the solution and strengthen our community. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Research is key to advancing the care of our patients, and a key component is informed consent of potential participants to know the risks and potential benefits. But in emergency conditions such as trauma, patients can'talways consent, nor can we find a family member to consent especially in the field. So how can we get better and conduct research in these circumstances? Enter the Exception From Informed Consent (EFIC) for emergency research. We'll discuss what type of research qualifies for these rules, how the rules work, and what due diligence we need to do to make sure we're conducting the research ethically. We'll also look at some studies done in Western PA and across the US with prehospital interventions as case studies of how it was done, lessons learned, and the power of using EEIC to advance trauma care. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Pediatric calls can be some of the hardest and most stressful calls for our EMS providers. In this lecture, we will discuss and review proper assessments of our pediatric patients, including how to determine the neuro status of infants. We will also review the types of medical conditions the pediatric patient's may have that cause the altered metal status. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This presentation will summarize new and emerging drugs of abuse with a focus on psychostimulants. Western Pennsylvania has witnessed an increase in illicit psychostimulant use. In recent years, many more designer drugs have been emerging on the streets. The 'new normal' for drugs of abuse is an ever evolving collection of newly synthesized drugs. This talk with focus on the EMS need to understand the emerging and ever evolving psychostimulants populating our streets. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
With multiple resuscitations and defibrillations being witnessed live on national TV and social media platforms, it produced an inappropriate assumption of what the most common cause of cardiac arrest is in young adults, ages 16-24. Come with me to explore, evaluate, and resuscitate patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, the number one killer of student and professional athletes. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Using a case based approach, we will discuss pearls and pitfalls in the care of the geriatric patient. We will review how their vague, benign sounding complaints can often be a sign of serious and even deadly pathology. You will leave this lecture with a better understanding of the unique considerations in history taking, physical exam findings, and use of diagnostics when caring for this population! This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Prehospital stroke care has a tremendous potential to impact in-hospital stroke care and stroke outcomes. This presentation will review the current gaps and opportunities in development of a robust prehospital stroke care network with focus on quality and integration of technology in the prehospital stroke care. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
From Clinician to Commander: An Introduction to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Incident Command is aimed to teach EMS professionals proper techniques and implementation of incident command. Incident Command Systems (ICS) are most commonly practiced in fire departments. As a result of this, there are not many EMS-specific ICS classes offered and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs)/paramedics are left to interpret the gray area of how to correlate the two together. The simple implementation of incident command at emergency scenes can dictate how the rest of the incident will go. As EMTs/paramedics, we are taught to be clinicians, not commanders. This presentation is aimed to close that gap, so EMS professionals can be aware of when and, more importantly, how to properly command an emergency incident. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
The 2009 EMS act now allows Mass Gathering EMS, Tactical EMS, Wilderness EMS, and Disaster EMS, though regulations are still pending. Also in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security ran workshops on the last three - tactical, wilderness and disaster EMS workshops. DHS realized the similarities between Coast Guard wilderness EMS, Secret Service tactical EMS and FEMA disaster EMS. DHS set up the same training and protocols for all three coined the term "Austere EMS." We will consider the principles and practice of these three EMS subspecialties, with illustrative examples. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Why is that child staring off into space? Is that a seizure? Shouldn't their arms and legs would be shaking? In this discussion we will review the different types of seizures and how they present. We will also discuss the EMS studies on age based medication doses and weight based dosages in pediatrics patients. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
It's hard to gain a lot of reps with intubation - there just aren't a lot of tubes to go around. In this session Clint (Morris) Eastwood will take you through the good, the bad and the ugly so you can do it right next time. Saddle up - you might just co-star in a video! This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Congratulations, your team has achieved return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), now what? Delve into the H's and T's of cardiac arrest and tailor post-resuscitation care based upon patient presentation. Review evidence-based clinical pearls and explore post-resuscitation debriefing techniques. This session is appropriate for all EMS provider levels.
Imodium is an antidiarrheal which is frequently misused by IV drug abusers who are trying to get through withdrawal. My presentation will discuss syncope, arrhythmia, and possible cardiac arrest from such misuse of Imodium. This session is appropriate for all EMS provider levels.
Thursday March 20 1:30pm to 2:30pmMental health - the elephant in every Emergency Services station and dispatch center. Mental health - the taboo subject no one talks about. Well, not anymore. We're going to have a talk about why Matt had a bout of depression that nearly ended his life. We are going to talk about some of our brothers and sisters who are no longer with us because they lost their battle with their demons. What is the extent of the problem? What's being done about it? We're going to talk about the stigma, and how to break it. We're going to learn how to cope, how to be resilient. Above all, we are going to learn it's ok to not be ok, and it's ok to talk about all of this. Because this time, the life we save may be our own. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Paul Skenes, Sydney Crosby, and Russell Wilson might have more in common with your local tactical team members than you think. This course will serve as an introduction to the assessment, treatment, and prevention of common musculoskeletal injuries to today's tactical athletes. While focused on tactical operators, the mindset of treating the tactical athlete can be applied to multiple realms of public safety personnel. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
When considering the chief complaint of vaginal bleeding, most medical providers first think of pregnancy related complications. However, abnormal uterine bleeding can occur in non-pregnant women of all ages and may contribute to morbidity and mortality via hypovolemic shock. EMTs and paramedics should be familiar with a variety of causes of vaginal bleeding, including menstruation-related complaints, endometriosis, fibroids, malignancy, and vaginal trauma. Competency with prehospital evaluation and treatment is key not only for effective patient care but also for making your patient feel comfortable in the midst of a sensitive emergency. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Join us for a live game of trivia! This 60 minute session will present and discuss a variety of emerging concepts in prehospital resuscitation including; airway management, ECPR, shock physiology, and cardiac arrest management. A focus will be placed on new evidence based practices and strategies that providers will be able to incorporate into their own practice. Attendees will have the opportunity to join this live game via an online trivia platform and answer questions presented in real time. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
EMS providers routinely encounter patients with metabolic disorders in the field. Classifying these derangements can help us understand our patient's underlying pathophysiology and provide more appropriate treatment. This session will review basic human chemistry, explore the four major categories of acid-base disorders, and provide clinical examples for each. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Trauma care continues to evolve quickly, and this session uses cases to highlight advances in prehospital, ED, OR, and ICU care over the past few years in resuscitation, technology, and techniques. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
It's up there with the most boring dispatch you get in your day, Medic X respond to 123 Home Street for a female patient with abnormal labs. You show up, taxi the patient to the ED, and hit the EMS room, but could you have done more? Laboratory values are something that we skim over in EMS education, and rarely practice outside of class, yet it is something that we frequently come across in the field. Let's take the time to recognize what these labs mean, what causes them to go awry, and what we can and should be doing while treating and transporting these patients in the field. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
The National Registry of EMTs, in partnership with the Prehospital Guidelines Consortium, is revamping the way it incorporates new scientific evidence into initial certification examinations and continued competency requirements. Dr. Martin-Gill, President of the Prehospital Guidelines Consortium (a national non-profit organization), will discuss how the science of EMS medicine has been evolving over the past 30 years and how NREMT and others are now incorporating scientific evidence into clinical protocols and education nationally and internationally. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Introduction to Traffic Incident Management System
Justin Eberly | VFIS
1.0 EMSVO Con-Ed
The 4-hour National Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Responder Training course teaches every responder community how to safely and quickly clear traffic incidents. This one hour introduction class introduces the concept of traffic incident responders including emergency medical service (EMS), transportation and public works, fire and rescue, law enforcement, towing and recovery, and other professionals who support traffic incident management. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Vague symptoms, thick sweaters, and a sleepy grandma - what could it be? This case-study based presentation will delve into the signs, symptoms, and pathophysiology of an often-missed diagnosis and review goals for supportive care and definitive treatment. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
"I don't need to know everything but I want to figure out what I don't know and know people who know it." This quote from Dr. Abo sums up his life perfectly. As an EMT in high school in New Jersey, he wanted to create his own path because sometimes you can choose a path, but you really are not sure where it's going to take you. But if you continue to carve out what you are passionate about, you can can walk your path. Dr. Abo believes that sometimes we forget why we got into EMS and get stuck in ruts. As someone who has been fortunate and cursed with his experiences, Dr. Abo will discuss his lessons learned and try to teach others about letting the good times win and how getting bit by EMS at a young age determined his future.
Dr. Abo is an EMS and emergency physician and toxinologist currently practicing in Naples, Florida who graduated with multiple honors from Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine - California and Masters of Public Health Program. He currently has a number of roles including Medical Director for Gainesville Fire Rescue, Sanibel Fire Rescue, Captiva Fire Rescue, Pine Island Fire Department, Lake County Fire Rescue's Venom 2 Venomous Response Unit, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Venom One and USAR Florida Task Force 1. He also serves as medical director and CMO for Rescue Company 1 and the Florida Helo-Aquatics Rescue Team. He has experienced EMS and emergency medicine around the globe with a number of philanthropic ventures, consulting, and serving as medical director and lead medical consultant/talent for a variety of television and movie productions including Shark Week, National Geographic, Shark Attack Files, and Kings of Pain. He continues to be extremely active in emergency and EMS after 25 years with research, education, speaking engagements, consulting, national and international committees as well as active field response. A recipient of NCEMSF's EMS Provider of the Year for Heroism and Valor in addition to Touro University's Inaugural Alumni Lamplighter Award. Furthermore, he served as the Co-Founder and Pilot External in the Carolina Wilderness EMS Externship where he is now an active instructor. More recently, Dr. Abo co-founded the Asclepius Snakebite Foundation and serves as honorary medical director of the Surfers Medical Association.
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