Training Opportunities
Many opportunities exist to overlap the training of EMS and CCITT personnel. Routine standardized certification classes, such as Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Education for the Prehospital Professional (PEPP), and Advanced, Basic, and Prehospital Trauma Life Support (ATLS, BTLS, and PHTLS), help CCITT and EMS personnel in attaining the goals of standardizing and improving patient assessment and emergency treatment.
The principles, knowledge, and skills learned in these courses apply seamlessly across the prehospital and hospital environments. Neonatal-pediatric CCITT members must be proficient in these skills and must be flexible enough to respond to unexpected circumstances, such as pregnant adult or pediatric patient. When they have attained this level, members can participate as instructors and reinforce their own skills while forging new relationships with EMS providers.Specialized training in EMS and emergency operations is also an important consideration for CCITT members. By developing a relationship with EMS providers, it may be possible for CCITT members to participate in EMS training, such as teaching EMT classes, participating in IC classes, and participating in community first responder classes, such as the community emergency response teams (CERTs). Prehospital and CCITT personnel can benefit from participation in organizations, such as federal disaster medical assistance teams (DMATs) or the local CERT. In these specialized environments, all levels of providers from inside and outside the hospital environment can serve together with a common goal.
CCITTT team members can create educational programs for EMS providers to disseminate pediatric and neonatal education information. This can be accomplished by various educational venues. Examples include pediatric and neonatal case simulations for the various EMS agencies that service common peripheral centers, as well as EMS providers riding with the CCITT teams during patient transport runs.
These courses or sessions will increase the pediatric and neonatal educational knowledge base for these EMS crews and referral centers. These sessions will also improve communication between the parties and expectations that each party is to render. The CCITT teams can also use recent problematic pediatric/neona- tal transport cases in an informative educational session between the EMS crews and referral centers and the accepting facilities. The goal of these educational sessions is to improve communication and expectations and decrease pediatric and neonatal morbidity and mortality associated with transport. The educational benefits by using the team in the paramedic outreach program will enhance the 911 care for pediatrics and enhance a stable referral base.Selected Readings
American Heart Association. 2005 American Heart Association guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care. Circulation. 2005;112(24 Suppl). Available at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/vol112/24_suppl/. Accessed May 21, 2013
American College of Surgeons. Advanced Trauma Life Support. Available at: http://www.facs. org/trauma/atls/index.html. Accessed May 21, 2013
American Academy of Pediatrics. Children and Disasters. Available at: http://www.aap.org/ en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Children-and-Disasters/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed May 21, 2013
Basic Trauma Life Support. Available at: http://www.itrauma.org/. Accessed May 21, 2013 Federal Emergency Management Agency. Community emergency response teams. Available at: http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams. Accessed May 21, 2013
Hospital Emergency Incident Command System. Available at: http://www.emsa.ca.gov/hics/. Accessed May 21, 2013
JumpSTART. Available at: http://www.jumpstarttriage.com/. Accessed May 21, 2013
National Incident Management System. Available at: http://www.fema.gov/national-incident- management-system. Accessed May 21, 2013
Pediatric Advanced Life Support. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org. Accessed May 21, 2013
Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals: Available at: http://www.peppsite.com. Accessed May 21, 2013
US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. Public Health Emergency. Available at: http://www.phe.gov/ preparedness/pages/default.aspx. Accessed May 21, 2013