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Holiday Message from the Chair - December 2006
As the Holidays approach, I want to thank every member of the PHTLS family for your work on the behalf of trauma patients everywhere. Every course you do, every patient you treat, contributes to the fund of knowledge that becomes our text and our course. The cumulative experiences of prehospital care providers all over the world are building PHTLS into a more comprehensive, more responsive, more accountable training program that gives all of us our best chance at giving our patients their best chance at survival.
As the holidays approach and a New Year dawns on our family, the 6th edition materials are out and doing well. Course activity is growing and we are gaining new members to our family all over the country and all over the world. This year the United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg joined our ranks. Initial training has taken place, and faculty should be up and running in South Africa next year. South Africa is our first course site on the African Continent. Poland and Lithuania had their initial training in the US and their first courses should run in the spring. We continue to work with Germany, Ecuador and Costa Rica to get their programs going.
Now that the 6th edition is on the road, the PHTLS Executive Council is working on on-line development that will provide resources for refresher training and new PHTLS course offerings in specialty trauma areas like burns and triage. We look to build an array of supplementary programs available to card carrying PHTLS providers.
We are continuing to fund the research that we believe will create the science that determines the future of trauma care. Tens of thousands of dollars are already committed and tens of thousands more are being allocated to support the research that will determine the future of our practice. If you have a project that needs funding, bring it to us and we will work to get your project going.
The PHTLS Scientific Symposium is our outreach plan to bring research to our family. We will look for opportunities to present the symposium all over the US and overseas. If you have a conference that we can fit the symposium into, bring it to us and we will work to bring education about existing science - how to read it, and how to do it - to your audience.
Finally, I want to give thanks. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our large and diverse family. I am proud to be among you and look forward to our continued collaboration. Also, during this time of taking stock of our history and looking forward to building the rest of our history, it’s important to appreciate all of our family who have given so much of their lives to our work, our art, our passion. Many of our family have fought battles physical and political. May those of you that are fighting illness grow strong and return to our grateful service, and may those of you that are fighting political battles to the benefit of our family and patients, have the support and strength you need. Know that we are here for all of you, and we're thinking of you, and sending our best wishes for safe and happy holidays, and a new, healthy, prosperous and productive new year.
Will Chapleau, PHTLS Chairperson
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 Newsletter - Winter 2006
PHTLS Presents 6th Edition Rollout at NAEMT Annual Meeting: More than 300 participants attended the 6th Edition Rollout, a preconference offering that was held as part of the EMS Expo in Las Vegas. Delegates from all over the world participated in this program delivered by the PHTLS Executive Council.
National Coordinators, State/Provincial Coordinators and Affiliates can now bring the Rollout to their respective areas of responsibility. Materials for localized updates will be provided upon application with the International PHTLS Office. Please reference the Instructor Resource page on the Web site (www.naemt.org/phtls), and Instructor and/or Coordinator listservs for instructions and resources.
The PHTLS Division Meeting took place on September 27, and it provided a valuable forum for both EC and Coordinators alike. The EC presented the PHTLS 2006 Annual Report to attendees, presented appreciation awards and then split up into groups: Coordinators, Military, International and Web site.
Please join us in congratulating the following award recipients: Zehra Al-Hilali, Saudi Arabia; Fabrizio Papaleo, Italy; Caroline Lawson, United Kingdom; Joe Terranova, New York; Dale Wilson, Michigan; Doug Douglas, West Virginia; Danny Miller, Kentucky; Corine Curd, PHTLS Coordinator; Nita Ham, PHTLS Regional Coordinator; and Mary-Ann Clarkes, PHTLS Communications Coordinator.
This year’s Scott B. Frame Memorial Lecture, “The Birth of ATLS,” was delivered by James K. Styner, MD, FACS. He developed the concept of ATLS as a result of the tragedies he experienced in a plane crash. Introducing the lecture along with Jeffrey Salomone, MD, FACS, was John Fildes, MD, FACS, chair of the American College of Surgeons, Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT). -Mary-Ann Clarkes
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Newsletter - Fall 2006
An Open Letter from the Chair to our PHTLS Family - By Will Chapleau, PHTLS Division Chair
First, I want to thank all our PHTLS Faculty for helping make PHTLS the standard of prehospital trauma care education and a model for successful continuing EMS education. I’d further like to thank our loyal, enthusiastic prehospital providers in every corner of the globe who give the PHTLS family the diversity that seasons its content and feeds the program’s growth.
As I write this, providers all over the world (check the Web site at www.phtls.org to see our newest family tree) are participating in PHTLS courses in war and peace, in comfortable and extreme environments. Training half a million providers since we began 25 years ago, our family and the feedback to our authors are remarkable accomplishments. You should all be proud of your contribution to this phenomenal family.
Investing in Our People
Research: Over the last few years, PHTLS has endeavored to invest in the future of our program and in prehospital care in multiple ways. PHTLS research grants are funding researchers that will measure the effectiveness of current practices and evaluate new ideas for possible benefit to the patients we serve.
PHTLS Symposia: The PHTLS symposia have proven a successful means to illustrate the depth and breadth of prehospital research, teaching our audiences about evaluating and conducting research. By continuing to present PHTLS symposia for all of our PHTLS world family, we hope to strengthen adherence to productive standards and foster new research by defining the need for and the manner of conducting research. Watch for PHTLS symposia here in the US and overseas.
Policy and Procedures
Providing administrative support to our faculty has been a challenge and an education. It’s been interesting and, while some things have worked well, we are learning and have worked hard to develop systems that are not overly restrictive with little benefit to a process that allow for accountability to the association and to the providers who trust us to be what we promise to be for them.
The Instructor materials that will be released with the 6th edition materials will feature complete policy and procedures (P&P). These materials will guide our National, State, Regional, Affiliate and Course Coordinators, along with all our Faculty, through the P&P and how they relate to their roles in PHTLS.
PHTLS 6th Edition
Speaking of the 6th edition, we are extremely proud of what we are about to release to you. This is the most comprehensive PHTLS text yet. It is fully referenced to show the validity of our content, with new chapters to broaden our support to the course and as a trauma reference for all prehospital trauma providers.
As with all of our texts, the content begins with the 7th edition of ATLS. This keeps us medically sound and consistent with the physicians taking ATLS and the nurses taking the ATCN course. The book is evidence-based with position papers included where appropriate and references with footnotes. We also expanded the content on prolonged transport situations.
The book is divided into sections as follows:
In section I, Energy and Injury, the introduction, injury prevention and kinematics are covered with new sections on reading medical literature, injury prevention in EMS providers and shotgun injuries.
In section II, Assessment, the scene, the patient, airway and ventilation and shock are covered including a new chapter on scene safety. In this section, we also cover the START triage system.
In section III, Specific Injuries, we look at specific injuries, including head and spinal injuries, thoracic and abdominal trauma, musculoskeletal and burn trauma, pediatric and geriatric trauma, heat and cold and other environmental injuries. This section includes new material on facial trauma and soft tissue neck trauma. Other additions include coverage of crush injuries and compartment syndrome and the pediatric triage system JUMPSTART. The environmental chapter includes new information on scuba-diving injuries, high altitude, lightning injuries and drowning.
Section IV, System and Summary, includes the golden principles and EMS and trauma systems chapters.
In section V, Special Considerations, covers disaster management, weapons of mass destruction, civilian tactical EMS and wilderness trauma care. Disaster management, weapons of mass destruction, civilian tactical EMS and wilderness trauma care are all new chapters.
Military Edition
While the Military version of the 5th edition was edited by US military personnel, the 6th edition is a very different book that builds on the core content of the civilian edition and presents a book specific to the trauma faced by military prehospital providers.
Instructor Materials
The PHTLS ancillary development team of the Executive Council has worked very hard to develop interactive educationally sound course content and instructor resources. Working with the publisher, we have again invested in our faculty, and a copy of the PowerPoint slides will be included in every instructor manual along with lecture outlines and other faculty support.
I hope to see many of you at the first rollout in Las Vegas. If you can’t get there, check with your National, Regional and State Coordinators about attending or setting up a rollout near you.
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Newsletter - Summer 2006
The PHTLS Executive Council (EC) will hold a 6th Edition Instructor Rollout at the 2006 EMS EXPO in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006, from 8 am to 5 pm. The Instructor Rollout is a mandatory workshop designed to orient current Instructors, Coordinators and Affiliate Faculty to all aspects of the new 6th edition materials, amended program formats and administrative changes. The workshop is structured to include lecture, new skills stations and a discussion component to provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions.
Registration for the Instructor Rollout is $150.00 and includes the cost of the workshop, a 6th edition text, a 6th edition instructor manual, evaluative tools and a compendium of changes. Recognition is awarded for four years, with the provision that the Instructor fulfill all other terms associated with the Instructor roles and responsibilities. The Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS) has awarded eight hours of continuing education credit for successful completion of the PHTLS Instructor Rollout. Advance registration is required and online registration is available at 222.emsexpo2006.com
If you are unable to attend the Rollout in Las Vegas, consult the PHTLS course schedules for Update workshops taking place near you, or contact your State Coordinator. If you are an International Coordinator and are unable to attend the Rollout, contact Will Chapleau directly to make alternative arrangements.
A PHTLS Division Meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006, from 8 am to noon. This meeting is a great opportunity to meet the EC, network with other PHTLS delegates and contribute to the forward movement of HTLS by engaging in participant work-groups.
The Scott B Frame Memorial Lecture will also take place on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006, at 3 pm. This year's lecture is entitled "The Birth of ATLS" by James K. Styner,MD,FACS. Styner will relate his personal experiences and subsequent events that transpired in 1976 as a result of being involved in a private plane crash. He and his colleagues ultimately developed a program to train medical personnel to care appropriately for critically injured patients. The program was adopted by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and became the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) program, the foundation upon which PHTLS was established.
Scott B. Frame,MD,FACS,FCCM,EMT-P was the PHTLS associate medical director from 1994 until this death in 2001. The Scott B. Frame Memorial Educational Fund sponsors an annually named lectureship in his honor. This lecture is sponsored as a result of this self-perpetuating fund and is offered at a no charge to conference attendees.
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Newsletter - March/April 2006
Norman E. McSwain, Jr., MD, has received yet another tribute in achieving the "National Hero" award as a representative of all the heroes of the Katrina disaster. He received the award at a ceremony on March 17 at the School of Public Health, University of California - Berkeley. This award was in addition to the "2006 Impact Award" from the American Association of Retired People (AARP) he received in February in recognition for the measures that he pursued to save and protect patients and staff of Tulane and Charity Hospitals during the Katrina Hurricane in New Orleans. Congratulations, Dr. McSwain, on your well deserved recognitions!
PHTLS has two research grants available. NAEMT/PHTLS will award a prehospital research grant, which will be offered in cooperation with UCLA's Pre-hospital Care Research Forum. The grant is for up to $5,000 each and applications are due July 1, 2006. PHTLS is also offering an additional grant award for up to $5,000 to promote innovative research in prehospital trauma care, and to improve the outcomes of trauma patients internationally. This grant is available for application at any time. If you are interested n either of these research grants, got to the PHTLS Web site's (www.phtls.org) - Injury Prevention & Research Page, for guidelines and applications.
Work on the 6th edition materials now draws to completion, with the final products to be published September 2006 and available in time to support the PHTLS Instructor Update to be held as part of the offerings for EMS Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday, September 26. The 6th edition materials will include a new textbook with student DVD, an instructor manual with DVD, a military version text (for a later publishing date), and several online resources for students and instructors.
The PHTLS Executive Council (EC) members are presently making plans for a Mid-Year meeting to take place tentatively in June. All State/Province Coordinators should provide a progress report to the Regional Coordinator responsible for your area; National and Military Coordinators should send their reports directly to the PHTLS Chairperson. In addition, if there are issues or concerns that you believe should be tabled at this meeting, please include these items in your report.
For further information, you can access the Policy & Process (P&P) document on the PHTLS Web site - Instructor/Coordinator Resource page, or contact a member of the EC for assistance. return to top
Newsletter - January/February 2006
PHTLS will hold a PHTLS Trauma Care Symposium as part of the pre-conference offering at the EMS Today Conference & Exposition in Baltimore, MD, on March 22nd, 2006. The Symposium format is a combination of presentations and panel discussions, offers the latest in science and research, and is especially effective at examining the current controversies facing the prehospital care community of today. This 2006 Symposium will include such topics as evidence-based medicine and EMS research; airway management; pros and cons of prehospital intubation, pharmacologically assisted intubation and rescue airways; hemorrhage and resuscitation: hemostatic dressings, alternate fluids, resuscitation endpoints, and PASG; spinal immobilization: prehospital clearance, penetrating trauma and helmet removal; Research: National Trauma Data Base, prehospital research update and "unanswered questions."
Norman E. McSwain Jr., MD, FACS, NREMT-P, will be the keynote speaker for the opening of EMS Today on March 23rd, 2006, presenting his lecture on "Hurricane Katrina: The Worst Kind of Triage." McSwain has lived and worked in New Orleans for many years and was recently recognized with a 2006 Impact Award by the American Association for Retired People (AARP) for his significant contributions both during and after the hurricane.
In addition, members of the PHTLS EC will be lecturing at the conference: Jeffrey Guy, MD, FACS, EMT-P, "Methamphetamine Burns", "Managing Non-Flame Burns" and "Managing Inhalation Injury"; McSwain, "Lessons Learned from the Battlefield"; Peter Pons, MD, "Selective Spinal Immobilization"; Greg Chapman, BS, RRT, NREMT-P, CCEMT-P, "Ventilation of the Acute Trauma Patient"; Dennis Rowe, EMT-P, "Managing the Injured Athlete"; Jeffrey Salomone, MD, FACS, NREMT-P, "Pitfalls of Trauma Resuscitation". General information regarding this conference is available at: www.jems.com/emstoday
International PHTLS activity continues with programs scheduled for the United Arab Emirates in February and Luxembourg in April. Programs in Ecuador, Lithuania and Germany are anticipated for 2006, and there has been new activity in Israel and the United Kingdom.
In the United States, courses continue at a busy pace with both civilian and military programming. As part of this movement, Susan Crisp has been appointed as state coordinator for North Carolina. Susan's contact information is available on the PHTLS Web site, or you can contact her at crisps@johnstonec.edu
Statistics for 2004 and 2005 courses have been released. In 2004, 2,382 courses took place with 30,276 students trained, while in 2005, 2,423 courses took place with 26,664 students trained.
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