Saturday March 28, 2026 9:00am to 9:30am
Mystery Diagnosis: Dazed and Confused
Alaina Martini | AHN LifeFlight
Ashley McCrea | Butler Memorial Hospital
Approved for 0.5 Clinical Patient Care EMS Con-Ed
In a dynamic 'mystery patient' scenario, participants will step into the role of responders on a call - discussing assessment findings, forming differential diagnoses, and making treatment decisions in real time. This session blends professional education with case-based learning to enhance competence in managing complex neurological and dyselectrolytemia presentations. This session is 30 minutes.
What begins as a routine overdose call spirals into a puzzling clinical picture. Is it tox? Is it neuro? Is it something else entirely? Join us for another "Mystery Diagnosis" style presentation following the twists and turns of a rapidly evolving patient scenario, where every vital sign and symptom is a clue. Bring your best clinical instincts and a sense of curiosity This session is 30 minutes
From common threats like carbon monoxide to high-risk but less familiar hazards such as chlorine and lithium-ion battery off-gassing, we learn the clinical presentations, treatment priorities, and scene safety considerations that are critical to protecting patients and responders. The session will involve real-world case discussions, and you will leave prepared to rapidly recognize life-threatening inhalation emergencies.
From peekaboo to panic, pediatric calls flip fast, and EMS is on the front line of recognizing when "just a kid" becomes a critical patient. We'll break down what matters most in the first five minutes of pediatric care. Using the Pediatric Assessment Triangle (appearance, breathing, circulation), we'll cut through the noise, highlight the subtle red flags, and give you tools.
Every EMS clinician has skills they love and skills they'd rather avoid. Yet it's often the unglamorous, uncomfortable, or "boring" competencies that matter most when the pressure is on. We explore the psychology of avoidance, the importance of deliberate practice, and strategies to reframe your mindset when performing these skills.
Best practices in airway management for paramedics.
We have all worked plenty of prehospital arrests, and often the hardest part is speaking with family and telling them that you are going to stop resuscitation and that their family member has died. These situations can often be stressful and even chaotic. This presentation will give you a template of how to make these conversations less stressful for both you and the families and allow you to feel more in control of the situation. This session is 30 minutes.
EMS clinicians interact with a multitude of medical devices in the field. These devices are constantly evolving so keeping up to date with them can pose a real challenge. Join this session to review a wide range of implantable, life-saving, and life-sustaining devices that you are bound to encounter in the field! This session is 30 minutes
I introduce EMS providers to the concept of the Lethal Diamond in trauma care. We review the pathophysiology of each of the four components: hypothermia, acidosis, coagulopathy, and hypocalcemia and how these factors contribute to worsening trauma outcomes and explores how timely, effective BLS interventions can reduce or delay their progression.
The volume-outcome relationship is well established in many areas of medicine, including trauma, stroke, and ECMO. Until recently, there was little evidence examining this phenomenon in EMS. Come hear about recent findings regarding the volume-outcome relationship for EMS in trauma and the potential challenges unique to EMS around this relationship.
Blood transfusion in the prehospital setting is growing in the region and across the county. But what is the impact and what works best?
Video review of intubations to highlight tips, tricks, pitfalls, and approach to difficult airways using various methods of video laryngoscopy.
This session will go over different withdrawal syndromes that EMS may commonly see in the field. These include alcohol withdrawal, opioid withdrawal, benzodiazepine withdrawal, medetomidine withdrawal, and other substance withdrawal. This session is 30 minutes.
This session will cover common bites and stings that EMS may encounter in the field and their initial management. These include dog bites, cat bites, human bites, arachnids, insects, and snake envenomations. This session is 30 minutes
This lecture will cover both common and uncommon pediatric respiratory complaints and appropriate prehospital management of these conditions. It will also review the pediatric airway anatomy and differences between pediatric and adult airways.
Responding to incidents involving severe agitation is one of the most dangerous incidents an EMS provider will encounter. Personal safety, patient safety, and legal risk are all things that are at the forefront of our minds anytime we encounter a patient experiencing severe agitation. This presentation will define severe agitation, contributing factors, and review protocols.
Provide awareness of how teams and local EMS prepare for professional football games. Lean about Emergency Action Plans that guide patient care at multiple venues. Translate some of the best practices used in professional football to enhance patient care in your service.
This session challenges the status quo of prehospital care by introducing a trauma-informed approach to IPV that's practical, evidence-based, and built for the realities of EMS. You'll leave with tools to ask better questions, recognize red flags, document safely, and connect patients with the help they need -- without adding time, drama, or risk to your scene.
Key discussion points will address both clinical and operational obstacles, as well as how personal and systemic biases--such as assumptions about patient intent, cultural misunderstandings, and stigma related to mental health or substance use--can influence you.
Electrical injuries are responsible for approximately 1000 deaths annually. I will provide essential information about electrical injuries including: the pathophysiology of electrical injuries, general & special assessment techniques to provide appropriate care for patients suffering from electrical injuries, and management principles for patients.
With the increase in diseases in the world, ostomies are becoming a more common treatment and lifestyle change for many people. I will provide EMS with basic knowledge and understanding of a patient with an ostomy. You'll become more comfortable with assessment of potential ostomy complications and provide a basis for tips and tricks for ostomy assessment.
Session will include updated stroke treatment guidelines and recent data, including expanding the treatment time window for IV thrombolytics, intra-arterial thrombolytics, and expanded indications for mechanical thrombectomy.
Insects are a not-so-uncommon foreign body that find their way into our patient's ears. We discuss a recent case of successful treatment of a moth in a patient's ear using lidocaine irrigation. We also discuss the topic of insect foreign bodies at large- who is at highest risk, what are the presenting symptoms, what should (and shouldn't) EMS personnel do in the field.
During EMT class we are taught lots of things that we should always assess for, but we rarely ever see them. We tell these fairytale things for people to look for or do but we are simply wasting time in fairytales. In this session we will walk down some of these rabbit holes as we wander into wonderland.
We will explore a comprehensive review of OB and GYN emergencies from the physiology of pregnancy, out-of-hospital delivery, special maneuvers, life-threatening emergencies for newborn and mother, and special considerations with trauma and cardiac arrests. Thus, instead of a panic attack, you will feel calm and prepared to bring a new life into the world.
This porcine (pig) heart dissection class is a hands-on biology lab, using pig hearts (similar to human hearts) to learn anatomy, blood flow, valves, chambers (atria/ventricles), vessels (aorta, pulmonary artery/veins, vena cava), and comparative anatomy. You will examine the external features, noting the apex (tip), major vessels, and grooves and using scalpels, participants will be able to see the internal structures, feel the muscle thickness, and identify valves. The dissection helps visualize the pathway blood takes through the heart and pulmonary system.
NOTE: this class has very limited availability and when all seats are filled, no additional participants will be permitted in the room. We will begin seating for this class at 2:30pm. You will need to present a valid state or Federal ID to trade for the dissection scalpel (your ID will be returned when the scalpel is returned to faculty). At this time, there is no additional cost for this class.