Thursday March 26, 2026 8:00am to 9:00am
Think, Don't Sink: Keeping H20 out of SPO2
David McWilliams | UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

It never seems like it can happen, but in the blink of an eye, it could all be over. Children drown more often then you would think and most could be prevented with simple steps. This presentation focuses on ways children drown, how to keep them safe and ensuring proper codes and laws are in place. Don't let them sink, think!


Concepts in Patient Safety
Dr. Dylan Morris | STAT MedEvac
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

EMS clinicians are asked to be the doctor, nurse, pharmacist, driver, and logistician all at once. This makes the robust safety systems available in the hospital difficult to implement. I cover the principles of patient safety in EMS. Specifically, a framework for how individual clinicians and EMS leaders can develop or improve their operations to enhance safety, minimize errors, maximize efficiency and avoid legal risk.


EMS at the Heart of Stroke Survival
Dr. Alhamza Al-Bayati | UPMC Neurovascular Center of Excellence
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Timely identification and rapid intervention are critical in improving outcomes for stroke patients. I will provide a comprehensive overview of stroke pathophysiology and its common presentations, emphasizing the importance of recognizing key signs and symptoms in the field. You will gain practical insights into EMS-specific assessment tools, triage decision-making, and evidence-based pre-hospital interventions. I also explore the evolving landscape of EMS stroke care.


Pre Eclampsia: A Hidden Danger
Mollie Lauck | Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Pre Eclampsia is a major co-morbidity of pregnancy, often not recognized and can be lethal. Discussion of rapid identification and treatment leads to improved outcomes for Mom and Baby, which improves Maternal Fetal Medicine Survival Rates (the USA has some of the highest rates of incidence in the world).


Pediatric Trauma 101
Dr. Samantha Stoner | UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

This lecture will cover the physiologic differences of the pediatric trauma patient as compared to the adult patient, the current state of c-spine precautions within the prehospital pediatric population and will also touch on accidental traumatic injuries, sports-related injuries/TBI, and non-accidental traumatic injuries.


Thursday March 26, 2026 9:15am to 10:15am
Face/Off - Not the Horrible '90s Movie
Clayton Ondrizek | AHN Prehospital Care Services
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

How does one manage the airway of a patient with little to no facial features left following a traumatic injury? Using real case review, we'll identify the priorities of airway management for these patients, from BLS through ALS interventions.


Which One When? Ketamine, Droperidol or Midazolam
Dr. Dylan Morris | STAT MedEvac
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

We are frequently asked to care for patients who are delirious, anxious, restless, withdrawing or frankly agitated, or all of the above. The EMS toolkit for treating these patients is extensive, but which agent to choose is not always straight forward. This talk with use scenario-based learning to discuss the nuances of each medication.


Dude, Where's My Differential?
Justin Beal | STAT MedEvac
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

EMS providers often jump straight to treatment before thinking through what else could be going on. Whether it's adrenaline, anchoring bias, or just the pressure of a screaming patient, tunnel vision is real and deadly. This fun, interactive case-based session helps break that habit by forcing providers to stop, think, and generate differentials, even when it's tempting not to.


So They're Dead...Now What?
Daniel Giannettino | Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiners Jeffrey Veltre | Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiners
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

After pronouncement of death is made, our jobs as EMS professionals is not over. Information must be gathered and reported to the Medical Examiner or Coroner. We will go over the information that has to be obtained and some ideas on how to get it. We will discuss notifications of death to families, identification of trauma, foul play and decomposition.


Hot and Bothered: Evaluation and Management of Heat Related Illness in the Prehospital Setting
Dr. Emily Allison | UPMC
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Hyperthermia can be caused by exertion such as increased metabolic demands or exogenous heat like being outside on a hot day. In an effort to reverse life threatening complications, it is imperative for prehospital providers to recognize patients suffering from a heat related illness and to begin treatment as soon as possible.


Thursday March 26, 2026 10:30am to 11:30am
Care / Transport of Infectious Dx Patient
Mollie Lauck | Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Lots of good and practical info including but not limited to Flu, Covid, RSV, C Diff, Scabies, Lice, Bedbugs, TB, HIV


PE Class (No, this lecture has nothing to do with gym class)
Kathleen Kern | Allegheny Health Network
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

A discussion about DVT/PE, signs & symptoms, cutting edge treatment options.


Are You Smarter than a Police Officer?
Todd Shipley | Munhall Police Department
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

A continuation from last year's "That's Not a Knife", Officer Shipley will review items that can be used as a weapon that EMS find at a scene but may not be aware of, discuss the wounds caused with these items, and review some common EMS scenes viewed through the eyes of an EMS provider and then as a police officer.


Thursday March 26, 2026 10:30am to 12:00pm
Media Workshop: Connect, Engage, Communicate!
Cassandra Kovatch | Westmoreland County Dept. of Public Safety
Approved for 1.5 Other EMS Con-Ed

Serving your community means keeping them informed. Whether it's navigating a crisis, promoting a new initiative, or encouraging public action, the media is a powerful tool at your disposal. Join us for an interactive workshop where you'll learn how to effectively manage public relations, engage with the media, and communicate key information to the public.


Different Strokes for Different Folks
Dr. Rebecca Greenstein | AHN Wexford
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

This presentation will review the basics of stroke evaluation and management in the prehospital setting, the differences between various stroke centers and when you should consider one versus the other, and also discuss some less common stroke presentations that providers should consider.


Thursday March 26, 2026 11:45am to 12:15pm
Community CPR and PulsePoint: Lessons from Allegheny County
Dr. David Salcido | Center for Cardiac Arrest Survival Dr. Ankur Doshi | UPMC Post-Cardiac Arrest Service
Approved for 0.5 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Team members from the Center for Cardiac Arrest Survival at the University of Pittsburgh discuss community-focused efforts to raise bystander CPR rates and layperson lifesaving through focused public trainings and utilization of the 911-connected smart phone system PulsePoint. Lessons include community curriculum design, impact evaluation, resources and partnerships.


The Pen Is Mightier Than the Laryngoscope: Documentation Matters
Dr. Philip Nawrocki | Allegheny General Hospital
Approved for 0.5 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Your tripsheet tells the story of your patient and the clinical care you provided to them. Come and join us for a 30 minute session that will give you tips and tricks on how to improve your documentation skills and impress your medical director & QA specialist. Real-world cases will be used to demonstrate the impact of a well-written (and poorly written) patient care report.


Post partum hemorrhage
Megan Wood | UPMC Washington
Approved for 0.5 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

This is a lecture that focuses on post partum hemorrhage and how to treat it as a BLS and ALS provider. It speaks of etiology, pathophysiology, and specialized care.


Thursday March 26, 2026 1:30pm to 2:30pm
One, Two, Three, Four, They Fell Down On The Floor, Gotta, Gotta, Get Up Off The Ground
Rob Druga | AHN Wexford
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

If you have not pulled a muscle working in EMS, knock on wood, because it happens when you least expect it. This class will show some statistics of the frequency and severity of injuries that occur. Common patient lifting and moving, along with a little twist on some of the common equipment used will be demonstrated.


Respiratory Emergencies: The Safe Word is BVM
Dr. Adam Frisch | UPMC
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

This course will go over the different adult respiratory emergencies. It will cover different respiratory emergencies and how to recognize the differences, how to assess these patients, treat these patients, and manage their airways.


STEMI: Not always your heart
Dr. Matthew Poremba | AHN LifeFlight
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Discuss EKG findings which show STEMI but are not related to the heart.


Medetomidine- What does it Do?
Dr. Anthony Pizon | UPMC
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Medetomidine is a veterinary general anesthetic that is now commonly contaminated in illicit fentanyl. Everyday our area's supply of opioids are more readily contaminated with medetomidine. So what is medetomidine and how does it contribute to an opioid overdose? What do medics need to know about medetomidine? How does this effect our treatment of patients suffering from opioid addiction and withdrawal?


Prehospital Seizures & Syncope: Critical Actions and New Science
Dr. Christian Martin-Gill | UPMC
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

This lively, case-based session equips EMS personnel with crisp, actionable workflows for seizures and syncope. We'll start with the assessment of patients with either of these conditions, including post-event and active seizure management. You'll learn what actions to prioritize and key factors that can help differentiate seizure versus syncope.


Thursday March 26, 2026 2:45pm to 3:45pm
Night shifts, poor sleep, fatigue, and cardiovascular disease in EMS: What can we do?
Dr. Daniel Patterson | University of Pittsburgh
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

The long duration shifts and night shifts commonly worked by EMS clinicians increases risk of cardiovascular disease. Recent research tells us how we can potentially reduce this risk by strategically timing when we sleep.


When Baseline Isn't Normal: EMS Challenges with Neurologically Complex Kids
Heather Valente | UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Children with medical complexities (CMC) and co-occurring conditions, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), cerebral palsy, or other neurodevelopmental disorders, are increasingly encountered in the EMS setting. This didactic session will prepare EMS clinicians to recognize and respond to emergencies in children with HIE and related brain differences.


Seconds to Success: Making Assessment Your Superpower
Nichole Zeigler | Steel Center for Career and Technical Education
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

In the fast paced world of EMS, the first moments on scene shape everything that follows. This engaging session empowers providers to turn those critical seconds into confident, life-saving action. Using the NREMT framework as a guide, participants will break down the assessment process into practical, high-impact steps that build strong foundations for care.


Pre-hospital Post-ROSC Care: How YOU can improve patients outcomes event after the code is done!
Dr. Ankur Doshi | UPMC Post-Cardiac Arrest Service
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

A cardiac arrest is one of the most important and time-consuming cases a prehospital provider can have. However, after ROSC care is often when a patient's outcome is made or broken. I will discuss state of the art prehospital care for the post-ROSC patient. Specifically, oxygenation, ventilation, and vasopressors.


Do No Pharm: From Epi to Ketamine, What Every EMS Clinician Needs To Know
Dr. Kelsey Stanton | UPMC
Approved for 1.0 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed

Medication administration is a key component of prehospital care, but how often do we think about the "why" behind the medications we use? EMS pharmacology goes beyond just knowing what is in your drug box. We will go over applications, best practices, and cautions and caveats. Using case-based scenarios, this lecture will help you maximize patient care.


Thursday March 26, 2026 4:00pm to 5:15pm

KEYSTONE PRESENTATION
Jimmy Apple | The EMS Avenger
Approved for 1.0 Other EMS Con-Ed

I have over two decades of experience in Emergency Medicine as a field provider in 911, adult critical care, adult ECMO transport, and pediatric critical care. I currently serve as a neonatal and pediatric critical care paramedic for an Atlanta children's hospital system. I also maintain the EMS Avenger social media channels as an EMS educator and advocate. My goals in this endeavor are the advancement of evidence-based medicine and best practices in the field of EMS and emergency medicine, as well as promoting kindness, empathy, compassion, and holistic care as core components of our medical provision. I speak at EMS conferences around the country and love being able to advance the cause and meet new people on the road. I am also an associate advisor with Cambridge Consulting Group, which provides expert EMS consulting services.


Thursday March 26, 2026 5:15pm to 6:45pm

WELCOME RECEPTION - EXHIBIT HALL OPEN