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PHTLS Division News-November/December 2003 (posted November 24th, 2003)
Please travel to: 2003OutlookNotes
Dr. McSwain delivers the Scudder Oration on Trauma (posted October 24th, 2003)
Dr. Norman McSwain delivered the "Scudder Oration" at this years American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in Chicago. Entitled "Prehospital Care from Napolean to Mars" Dr. McSwain's lecture was the latest in a continuing series of trauma lectures that has been running since 1929. During his lecture he detailed the advances in prehospital trauma care including the success of the PHTLS program worldwide. He also exhorted his audience to "get involved" in prehospital trauma care to ensure that evidence based medicine continues to save lives and protect the lives of our First Responders.
PHTLS Division News-September/October 2003 (posted September 4th, 2003)
Happy birthday, PHTLS! This year marks the 20th anniversary of the PHTLS program. Although the program was originally conceived in 1981 after the 1979 inauguration of the ATLS program upon which PHTLS is based, the Executive Committee was formed and pilot courses first were presented in 1983. The US Military adopted the program in 1988, and today military contributions include the development of a military version text.
The past 20 years have seen many changes to format and materials, culminating in the 5th edition rollout last year. Many people contributed to making PHTLS what it is today. These individuals range from the original executive council and first instructors to the people responsible for shaping the future legacy of PHTLS: participants, instructors, coordinators, affiliates, state & regional coordinators, EC Members and support staff. A complete history of PHTLS is available within the 5th edition text (starting on page xvii) and on the PHTLS website at: History. Please join us in Las Vegas as we celebrate and recognize the individuals who have brought us through 20 years of service!
One year has elapsed since the 5th edition text roll out that took place at the EMS Expo/Outlook 2002 conference in Nashville. Nearly 1900 instructors worldwide have been updated to the new edition. Thank you to all of the EC members, and country, regional and state coordinators, as well as designated affiliates, for all of your efforts to ensure that the update workshops have been disseminated within your areas of responsibility.
The span of time between conferences has seen many changes as well, including the addition of a restricted list server to accommodate enhanced communications among international, regional and state coordinators. PHTLS sponsored telephone conferences between regional and state coordinators have begun, with regularly scheduled meetings to maintain the stream of information between the various levels of PHTLS activity.
The structure of PHTLS North America has changed to reflect ACS COT model, dividing the country into regions, with the larger states assigned additional coordinators. Portugal, Peru and France joined the PHTLS international family of 31 countries, with an inagural demonstration progam offered in Grenada. As PHTLS grows, so does the need for workable structures for communications. This need is an ever-present consideration and work in progress for the EC.
Several pilot transitional instructor programs have been offered and have received positive reviews. Corresponding materials have been amended to encomplass any required changes and a final version will be offered at EMS EXPO in September.
The mid-year EC meeting held in Denver proved to be a very busy two days of review, assessment and planning of the upcoming year, including the groundwork for the 6th edition text to be published in Fall 2006.
Changes in the makeup of the Executive Council include Greg Chapman, relinquishing his responsibilities as Regional Coordinator for the Eastern US Region 1, to focus his energies on his position as Vice-Chair. Nita Ham is now the Regional Coordinator for Region 1.
Formal roles and responsibilities were discussed at the meeting, and new documents will be available on the Website as part of the Instructor Resource Page at :http://www.phtls.org/ressourceinstr.htm.
A new PHTLS Armed Services Award has been conceived to join the other PHTLS awards presented annually. The first designee will be announced at EMS EXPO.
PHTLS Division News-July/August 2003 (posted September 4th, 2003)
Education and particularly injury prevention continue to play a huge role in the interventional management of traumatic injury; the need for further efforts is demonstrated within the newly released year 2000 World Health Organization statistics. They indicate that injury accounts for more than 5 million deaths (worldwide) per year, with 1 in 5 of those attributable to road traffic incidents. The personal and economic toll is reflective of these figures. If you are interested in viewing the full reports, including associated graphs and appendices, direct links are posted at http://www.phtls.org/international.htm You may find these useful to supplement your 5th edition text which cites the 1999 WHO figures available at the time of printing.
Course activity continues to grow at a record pace and the PHTLS text is moving off the shelves nearly as fast as it’s produced. The revised reprint of the PHTLS Military version text will be available for access sometime during the end of June. This text includes new updated information and photographs, and will accompany scenarios geared specifically for military use.
New Faculty are being set up in Illinois, Florida, South Dakota and all over the U.S. Guam will re-join our ranks within a year and international interest in the program continues to grow.
The Transitional program for Faculty of other trauma training programs is testing well and we hope to have wider distribution of faculty for these courses soon.
The new 5th edition written evaluations are now being distributed with course materials from Head Office. Please ensure that you discard the pilot exams once you receive the new one.
A new Restricted Listserver has been generated to accommodate communications between International, Military, Regional and State Coordinators. If you are entitled as a member of this group and have not been enrolled, please contact Mary-Ann at phtls2maryann@telus.net
Support & preparatory work continues for the upcoming pre-conference workshops, annual International & National Faculty Meetings, and PHTLS Science Symposium to take place in Las Vegas, in September 2003. Time grows short and we encourage you to make your arrangements to attend soon. Details of events and links to on-line registration can be found on the website at: http://www.phtls.org/outlook2003.htm
Dr. Lars Bak Nielson has stepped down as PHTLS National Coordinator for Denmark; the position of Coordinator is now held by Dr. Jacob Roed. Asa Ljungquist of Sweden is also moving on; Yvette Ohlsson will be replacing her as National Coordinator. Please join me in thanking these individuals for all of their efforts to promote and manage PHTLS within their respective countries. The program continues to benefit as a result of their work, vision and direction - thank you.
We are still looking for news of your PHTLS experience. Stories, photos or whatever you have will be welcomed for use here and on the website. Let us and the rest of the PHTLS Family know about what you’re doing.
PHTLS Division News-May/June 2003 (posted May 20th, 2003)
Representative members of the PHTLS EC attended and presented report at the American College of Surgeons, Committee on Trauma 2003 annual meeting in March. The report outlined the accomplishments, changes and future considerations for the programme and its supportive elements. The report is available on-line within the updates/archives page, in .pdf format.
In other news, the 5th edition materials continue to exceed expectations; the Instructor CD ROM, IM and Provider text are already into 2nd printing. Overall, the reception to these materials continues to prove positive.
5th edition instructor update programs are still running and will continue until June 30th, the final time to which 4th edition materials and format may be used. If you are having difficulty getting your update completed prior to this deadline, please contact Chief Will Chapleau at wchapleau@aol.com for assistance.
The final amended 5th edition pilot exam is now complete and copies will be released to sites along with the distribution of regular course materials.
The PHTLS EC has committed to follow the ACS COT representative structure for North America, by dividing Canada up into regions and assigning more than one Coordinator to the larger States in the U.S. This movement should help to accommodate the size and activity found within these areas.
The PHTLS program has been adopted in 31 countries to date, with inquiries from many other countries on-going. Demonstration programs continue to take place globally, including an inaugural programme held at St. George’s University in Grenada, by Dr. Rasheed Adam, PHTLS Coordinator for Trinidad/West Indies.
The first Transitional Trauma Instructor programs were offered at locations in Illinois and Florida during March 2003. These initial programs were very well received and valuable feedback was achieved. Amendments will be made to the program to reflect these experiences, and continued review and assessment will ensue until a final programme is in place for State/Country coordinators to utilize.
Preparations continue for the EMS Today Conference to be held from September 21st to 25th, 2003, in Las Vegas. A Transition program will be offered on September 21st, as a pre-conference course. This program is open to any BTLS instructors who hold current instructor status.
A PHTLS Science Symposium is set to take place on September 22nd, also as a pre-conference session. As before, the Symposium will involve presentations and panel discussions of controversies and current developments in prehospital trauma care. The panels will be conducted by the authors of the PHTLS 5th edition text, and members of the PHTLS Executive Council.
The PHTLS Division Meeting will take place on September 23rd, and is open to all whom wish to attend and participate. Your participation is important to the development and future of PHTLS so please do plan to attend and make your voice heard.
The Scott Frame Memorial Lecture is scheduled for the evening of September 23rd. Dr. Jameel Ali, MD, M Med Ed, FRCS (C), FACS, from Toronto, Canada, has agreed to present a lecture entitled “PHTLS in the Caribbean – Lessons Learned”.
For further information on PHTLS activities and schedules for the Conference, please visit http://www.phtls.org/outlook2003.htm
John P. Weber, MSgt, USAF, the PHTLS Military Coordinator will be stepping back from his position effective April 2003. Please join us in offering best wishes and gratitude for MSgt Weber’s many years of service to PHTLS. HM2 Christopher Luna will be assuming duties as Military Coordinator. You can contact HM2 Luna at cbluna@dmrti.army.mil. Full contact information will be listed on the PHTLS website.
Chief Will Chapleau traveled to Mexico in March 2003 to update regional Instructors to the 5th edition program. The new Mexican PHTLS Coordinator is Captain Calderon Nunez. Photographs are posted on the website on the 5th edition updates phototour page.
Chief Will Chapleau is presented with the International Trauma Service Award (posted March 24th, 2003)
Saturday, March 22nd, 2003: The Society of Trauma Nurses presented Chief Will Chapleau the International Trauma Service award at their annual meeting in Las Vegas. The award is bestowed to those that demonstrate outstanding leadership in trauma care in international environment with multiple years of service, dedication, commitment, leadership, knowledge, expertise, and contribution to the advancement of trauma care.
Chief Chapleau has expended considerable effort to promote the union of ATLS, PHTLS and ATCN programs. And in accepting his award, offered "...in pushing for trauma care that truly looks after our patients, time spent on our commonalities versus our differences is a worthy and rewarding endeavor."
PHTLS Report, prepared for the American College of Surgeons, Committee on Trauma-pdf format 71kb (posted March 17th, 2003)
Florida 5th edition Update & Transitional Trauma Instructor Workshop (posted February 20th, 2003)
The Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando, Florida will be hosting a 5th edition Instructor Update as well as a Transitional Trauma Instructor Program on Saturday, March 29th, 2003. Dr.Jeffrey Salomone and Greg Chapman are presenting Faculty. All interested parties can register through NAEMT/PHTLS Intl Office at 1.800.94PHTLS. A course flyer and registration is available in .pdf format for your use.
News from the Chair: March/April 2003 (posted February 3rd, 2003)
PHTLS has finished its most successful year ever. 2002 saw the release of the 5th edition and its support materials simultaneously and on time. Course activity has taken off with the release of the new materials and feedback on the variety and quality of our ancillaries has been very positive.
By the end of 2002 over 22,000 providers participated in 2074 courses. Since its inception, PHTLS has now trained over 350,000 providers in over 30 countries. In 2002 Denmark, Portugal and Peru joined the PHTLS family.
Growth into 2003 is already showing signs of the strongest course activity ever. By mid-January, over 600 courses had already been registered.
As the New Year begins, France has joined the PHTLS family. The first French courses were conducted in Millhouse, France with attendees from all over France. Dr. Francis Levy, Dr. Bruno Goulesque, Stephane Graesslin RN and Firefighter Georges Brand are the Coordinators of the French program and have done an outstanding job of preparing the new French faculty. You can check out the developing French PHTLS program at their website http://www.lifesupport-france.org/.
As the PHTLS Executive Council plans for the midyear meeting, we look forward to a busy year. We will have a PHTLS Transition Instructor Program and a PHTLS Science Symposium as pre-cons for the Las Vegas conference in September. We also hope to announce the speaker and topic for the Scott Frame memorial lecture which will again be presented at the conference. And we look forward to a large group for our annual division meeting at the conference. We hope all of our faculty are making plans to join us in Las Vegas.
The initial pilot PHTLS Transition Instructor Program is scheduled for March 2003 in Springfield, IL. The evaluative information obtained from both the educators and providers that participated in this course will be used to amend and refine the pilot, and ready the program for the final stages of release.
Derek Hanson has conducted conference calls with the state coordinators in the US PHTLS region 3 (Western US). Augie Bamonti in region 2 (Midwest) and Greg Chapman in region 1 (East) have been busy working with their state coordinators to make sure that all PHTLS faculty have the support they need and that providers everywhere have access to PHTLS training.
We are also working to promote the continuation of the PHTLS International symposium. We are currently talking with possible sites in Europe and would like to see sites developed for South America and in the US by 2004.
Communications coordinator Mary-Ann Clarkes has been busy keeping the website active and it is full of information about what PHTLS is up to. We need to hear from you though, to make the site reach its full potential. Get on the site, use the listservers, and send us photos and stories about your PHTLS activity so it can most accurately represent what is happening in the growing PHTLS family.
The Listservers especially need your input and participation. If you are interested in assisting with development of materials for the listservers, including case studies, articles, or anything else of interest, please contact Mary-Ann at maryann4phtls@telus.net
Faculty can access resources on the site that are specific for their particular needs: tools, forms, power point presentations and including the corrections made to the 5th edition CDROM. Future corrections to materials and addendums required for the 5th edition will be posted so please bookmark this page for your use. http://www.phtls.org/resourceinstr.htm.
We are also starting to develop tools for addressing trauma prevention. We would like to hear from our faculty as you run courses and begin to address trauma prevention in your communities. Share your ideas and progress with us and we will in turn share them with PHTLS faculty all over the world through our website.
In short, we are at a crossroad. PHTLS is reaching providers all over the world. The next generation of PHTLS will benefit from sharing experiences and ideas that will make the program and it’s faculty a resource to providers and the communities they serve. Get on the website. Share your ideas and experiences with us and the rest of the PHTLS community.
We look forward to the coming year, and what we will learn as all of you participate in the process of developing PHTLS activities in the future. We hope to see many of you at the conference in September where we plot out the activities for years to come.
Chief Will Chapleau
News from the Chair: January 2003 (posted January 27th, 2003)
The kickoff of the PHTLS 5th edition Text Rollout/Instructor Update began in October at the NAEMT Annual Meeting. Thanks to fiber optics telecasts that permit PHTLS leaders to appear simultaneously before audiences thousands of miles apart, PHTLS has continued since that time to spread the word quickly and efficiently. All PHTLS Faculty must be updated to the 5th edition prior to June 30, 2003. If you are an Instructor/Coordinator and need to attend a 5th edition Update Workshop, you can access a schedule of updates at http://www.phtls.org/5thedition.htm#update If you can't find a program to accommodate your requirements, contact your State or Country Coordinator for assistance.
The PHTLS EC has developed a pilot Trauma Instructor Program to transition experienced instructors who wish to join PHTLS Faculty. Pilot programs will take place in 2003. For program details, contact Nita Ham at nham@gmh.edufor sites east of the Mississippi and Derek Hanson at dhanson@primecare.org for sites west of the Mississippi.
The PHTLS Military Division has formed a working group to develop military specific scenarios and supportive materials to augment their programs. If you have materials that you would like to contribute, please contact MSgt John Weber at jpweber@dmrti.army.mil
Overseas, France will be the first site to join the International PHTLS Family in January 2003. Don't forget to access the PHTLS website for ongoing news and information. It is there for your use; as are the PHTLS Listservers, accessible from the phtls.org front page. A new feature on the website is the Instructor Resource Bank web page that contains .pdf PHTLS forms, tools, frequently asked questions and other resources appropriate for the Instructor. One of the resources is a new Injury Prevention Power Point presentation that was developed by Jon A. King, MS, NREMT-P and is based on the Injury Prevention chapter of the 5th edition textbook. Look at it at http://www.phtls.org/resourceinstr.htm.
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