The AHA’s BLS course trains participants to promptly recognize several life-threatening emergencies, give high-quality chest compressions, deliver appropriate ventilations and provide early use of an AED. Reflects science and education from the American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

What does this course teach?

• High-quality CPR for adults, children, and infants
• The AHA Chain of Survival, specifically the BLS components
• Important early use of an AED
• Effective ventilations using a barrier device
• Importance of teams in multirescuer resuscitation and performance as an effective team member during multirescuer CPR
• Relief of foreign-body airway obstruction (choking) for adults and infants

For healthcare professionals who either direct or participate in the management of cardiopulmonary arrest or other cardiovascular emergencies and for personnel in emergency response.

What does this course teach?

• Basic life support skills, including effective chest compressions, use of a bag-mask device, and use of an AED
• Recognition and early management of respiratory and cardiac arrest
• Recognition and early management of peri-arrest conditions such as symptomatic bradycardia
• Airway management
• Related pharmacology
• Management of ACS and stroke
• Effective communication as a member and leader of a resuscitation team

For healthcare providers who respond to emergencies in infants and children and for personnel in emergency response, emergency medicine, intensive care and critical care units.

What does this course teach?

The PALS Provider Course aims to improve outcomes for pediatric patients by preparing healthcare providers to effectively recognize and intervene in patients with respiratory emergencies, shock, and cardiopulmonary arrest by using high‐performance team dynamics and high‐quality individual skills. The course includes a series of case scenario practices with simulations that reinforce important concepts. Upon successful completion of all the patient cases, students must pass the multiple-choice exam with a minimum score of 84%.

Topics include:

• Perform high‐quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) per American Heart Association (AHA) basic life support (BLS) recommendations
• Differentiate between patients who do and do not require immediate intervention
• Recognize cardiopulmonary arrest early and begin CPR within 10 seconds
• Apply team dynamics
• Differentiate between respiratory distress and failure
• Perform early interventions for respiratory distress and failure
• Differentiate between compensated and decompensated (hypotensive) shock
• Perform early interventions for the treatment of shock
• Differentiate between unstable and stable patients with arrhythmias
• Describe clinical characteristics of instability in patients with arrhythmias
• Implement post–cardiac arrest management

PHTLS courses improve the quality of trauma care and decrease mortality. The program is based on a philosophy stressing the treatment of the multi-system trauma patient as a unique entity with specific needs. PHTLS promotes critical thinking as the foundation for providing quality care. It is based on the belief that, given a good fund of knowledge and key principles, EMS practitioners are capable of making reasoned decisions regarding patient care. The course utilizes the internationally recognized PHTLS textbook and covers the following topics:

• Physiology of life and death
• Scene assessment
• Patient assessment
• Airway
• Breathing, ventilation and oxygenation
• Circulation, hemorrhage and shock
• Patients with disabilities
• Patient simulations

PHTLS is the global gold standard in prehospital trauma education and is taught in 64 countries. PHTLS is appropriate for EMTs, paramedics, nurses, physician assistants, physicians, and other prehospital providers. PHTLS is accredited by CAPCE and recognized by NREMT.

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The Emergency Pediatric Care (EPC) course focuses on critical pediatric physiology, illnesses, injuries and interventions to help EMS practitioners provide the best treatment for sick and injured children in the field. The course stresses critical thinking skills to help practitioners make the best decisions for their young patients.

Topics covered include:

• The pathophysiology of the most common critical pediatric emergency issues, and critical thinking skills to help practitioners make the best decisions for their patients.
• Application of the Pediatric Assessment Triangle (PAT), a tool to help EMS practitioners rapidly and accurately assess pediatric patients.
• The importance of family-centered care.
• Understanding and communicating with children.
• Airway management, breathing and oxygenation.
• Cardiac emergencies.
• Recognizing child abuse and neglect.
• Hypoperfusion and shock.
• Newborn resuscitation.

EPC is appropriate for EMTs, paramedics, emergency medical responders, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians. EPC is accredited by CAPCE and recognized by NREMT.

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Mechanical Ventilation has typically been a therapy only offered in the hospital or by critical care transport teams however there are many benefits to utilizing mechanical ventilation in the ALS environment. This course will give ALS clinicals the foundational knowledge needed to initiate and continue mechanical ventilation.

Topics covered include:

• Fundamentals of pulmonary and ventilator mechanics
• Pathophysiology of the most common diseases requiring mechanical ventilation in the prehospital setting
• Fundamentals of initiation of invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilation in differing populations
• Troubleshooting alarms

One of the biggest gaps that exist in the skill set of almost every new critical care transport (CCT) clinician is ventilator management. Yet, the ventilator is one of the most important tools a CCT clinician has at their disposal to effect positive change on the outcome of the patent.  This course aims to fill that gap and introduce the fundamental skills needed to manage a patient on the ventilator. This will be done via an interactive, hands-on approach that will help the clinician gain the confident and knowledge of what the vent is actually doing.

Topics covered include:

• Review of basic ventilator settings and their effect of the patient
• Discussion of the concepts of lung protective and obstructive lung ventilation strategies.
• Discussion of the pressure vs volume ventilation
•  Demonstrations of PEEP, I-time and recruitment
• Discussion of the strategies used to address hypoxia and hypercapnia

With this class we will expand of the concept laid out during the ventilator boot camp. This Course will dive into management for the more complicated ventilator patient and the concepts of how to manipulate the ventilator for each individual patient based on their unique physiology and pathology. This course aims to empower the CCT clinician to interpret data and trends from the ventilator to make a adjustments to the ventilator strategy.

Topics covered include:

• Ventilator strategies to manage
  • ARDS
  • Status asthmaticus
  • Metabolic acidosis
  • COPD/Emphysema
• Waveform interpretation
• Ventilator monitoring
  • Compliance
  • Inspiratory resistance
  • Expiratory time constants
  • Mean airway pressure
• Bilevel/APRV

This workshop is intended for EMS clinicians of all experience levels and will review fundamental principles of LVAD management and mechanisms to assess and treat patient decompensation. Upon completion of the course the learner will be able to demonstrate understanding of the following:

• The mechanics and parameters of the HeartMate II, HeartMate 3, and HeartWare HVAD systems.
• Key principles of LVAD patient physiology.
• Life-threatening complications occurring in patients with an LVAD and approach to management.  

This hands-on class provides an overview of counter-pulsation therapy utilizing an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP). The main objectives of the class will be to review basic cardiac function and acute cardiac failure, discuss indications and contraindications of IABP therapy, review normal operations, waveform interpretation, and how to assess effectiveness. We will also discuss troubleshooting techniques and emergency operations. This class will include a didactic portion, followed by hands-on practice, and simulation.

The Emergency Medical Serves Advanced Airway Lab is a course for any EMS professionals who is tasked with advanced airway management. This hands-on program is designed to reinforce the fundamentals of airway management, as well as provide exposure to advance airway management concepts, techniques, and skills.

Topics covered include:

• BLS airway management
  • BVM
  • Mask seal
  • Airway adjuncts 
• Supraglottic airways
• Direct and video laryngoscopy
• Techniques to improve first pass success
  • ELM
  • Positioning
  • Blade and approach selection
  • Tube delivery
• RSI and drug assisted airway management
• Post intubation sedation
• Surgical airway techniques