Thursday March 23 7:45am to 8:45am
Death by Poisoning
Dr. Anthony Pizon | Pittsburgh Poison Center
CONED: 1.0 CPC
This presentation will summarize toxins that are extremely deadly, but infrequently encountered. As the international news has demonstrated, worldwide poisonings from extremely lethal but unusual compounds are possible. This lecture will highlight cyanide, organophosphates, and radioactive isotopes. Since exposures to these poisonings are uncommon, but lethal, the lecture will focus on the identification of signs and symptoms associated with their exposure, and initiation of rapid pre-hospital treatment. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
In 2019, it was estimated that there were over 500,000 individuals receiving either hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis in the United States alone, with over 2 million individuals worldwide. These numbers continued to rise each year. EMS calls for dialysis-related complaints are becoming more and more common as our population ages and healthcare advances have resulted in many individuals surviving for decades on dialysis. This presentation aims to review both common and uncommon dialysis emergencies that may be encountered by pre-hospital providers as well as the basics of prehospital management. More frequently seen emergencies and complaints include: electrolyte abnormalities such as hyperkalemia, fluid overload and flash pulmonary edema, hypertensive emergency, post-dialysis hypotension, and bleeding AV fistulas. Less common emergencies will also be reviewed, including dialysis disequilibrium syndrome, cardiac tamponade, and air embolism. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Trauma care continues to move forward, and the devices, methods, and technology continue to advance for care in the field, ED, OR, and ICU. We'll discuss the newer developments that will help! This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Respiratory emergencies are scary. But, when our patient is a child, things get even worse. Lets talk about the tools we have, as EMS providers, to help these children breath better. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This presentation will cover the recognition and management of environmental emergencies caused by the cold as well as the heat, including hypothermia, frostbite, and heat stroke. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Consults are high stakes interactions where concisely and precisely conveying information is crucial to patient outcomes. The talk will review best practices for consults, provides tips for optimizing the interaction and enhancing patient safety This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This lecture is to provide knowledge from experiences with prehospital ECMO. Learned lessons from other countries as they perform ECMO in the field. Also to provide a brief history. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
I will highlight priorities in management of burn patients including airway considerations and fluid resuscitation. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Emergency medical providers are uniquely positioned to respond to people who have experienced domestic violence. This session will provide EMS professionals with tangible, realistic strategies to provide a supportive and empowering response to survivors. These responses can create safer situations for individuals and communities. We will focus on how to respond and strategies to develop partnerships with local domestic violence programs across the state. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
We do the everyday things really well - but how good are we at the once in a career mass casualties? How can we prepare ourselves, our teams, and our facilities? This examines the problem and offers tips and tricks for dealing with these events at each level This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This presentation will summarize envenomations from snake bites in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The lecture will focus on the identification of venomous snakes, and signs and symptoms associated with envenomation and appropriate treatment. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
The third trimester of pregnancy is an exciting time for most women, but it can portend life-threatening emergencies for some. This talk will cover a variety of third trimester emergencies, including pregnancy-induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, placenta previa, placental abruption, and preterm labor. We will discuss etiology, risk factors, recognition, and prehospital treatment. We will also review next steps once the patient has arrived on the labor and delivery floor, in order for EMTs and paramedics to become more informed providers. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
In response to positive feedback from last year's session, we will again be reviewing scenes from popular TV shows and movies for medical accuracy and quality of resuscitation care provided. The pathology and appropriate management of these patients will also be discussed. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This lecture will review the autonomy of head trauma and TBI's. We will also review the current TBI treatment as it pertains to the 2021 PA Protocol updates. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
You respond for a "routine" medical emergency for a patient with nausea and vomiting and notice the patient has wires coming out of his chest, you can't feel pulses although the patient is wide awake and the patient says "Oh, that's an LVAD. It's alarming." So many questions go through your mind: What is an LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device)? What condition does it treat? Can I turn off that annoying beeping sound? Should I call ALS? Is there anything ALS can even do? Should I call medical command? Dr. Bar will answer these questions and more to make you more comfortable managing the LVAD patient in the prehospital setting. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
All of us in EMS have felt the frustration of being dispatched to the local nursing home for "abnormal labs", but we rarely appreciate why this can constitute an emergency. If EMS providers are not careful, they can find themselves treating an arrythmia or seizure instead of a seemingly stable patient. This session will introduce EMS providers to the CBC (comprehensive blood count), CMP (comprehensive metabolic panel), and other lab tests they may encounter in the field. We will discuss risk factors, clinical presentations, reference ranges, and prehospital care for common laboratory abnormalities, in addition to reviewing several clinical scenarios to apply our newfound knowledge. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
EMS frequently encounters diabetic emergencies. However, these patients are often complicated and managing them like a pro requires a good understanding of the many pearls and pitfalls of hyper- and hypoglycemic emergencies. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This lecture will cover the available methods and modalities to stop hemorrhage. It will also cover some new and emerging changes and technologies for hemorrhage control. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Do you cry when you are sad, mad, happy or frustrated? Well, you should know, it's ok and even encouraged if you do! Mental health in EMS is a very important and sometimes missed issue. Come to this lecture and understand that not only is it OK to cry, but also encouraged and good for you. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This lecture is to provide information on interfacility transport, regulations governed by the state and federal entities. Also challenges perceptions experienced by crews and the community. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Ever had a patient ask "how do my lung sounds?" Not quite sure how to answer? Come to this talk where we will review common lung sounds, listen to actual examples, and the conditions that create those sounds. This interactive session will use cases to help illustrate the importance of the basic physical exam and how listening can drive appropriate treatment. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Often as EMS providers we are called to the "fall" or even more mundane sounding, the dreaded "lift assist." We arrive, we help the patient up, and on our way we go. But when was the last time you stopped to think about how the patient actually ended up on the floor in the first place? Do some patients just trip over the cat? Certainly. But more often than not, our fall patients are sicker than we perceive, and need our help to facilitate their care. Join me, as we explore the intricate components of patient assessment in a way that will help us all ensure there isn't more than meets the eye! This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
This presentation will simplify and demystify many cardiac monitor/ ECG interpretation skills. The presentation will demonstrate the importance of a systematic and consistent approach to cardiac analysis. A review of cardiac anatomy and physiology will serve as the foundation for BLS providers to better understand what the monitor is showing and why the ALS provider is doing what they are doing for the patient. Specifically, a fundamental understanding of coronary artery anatomy and conduction system physiology will be discussed and related to common 12 lead diagnosis.
Come join us for this music themed overview of drug overdoses. This talk will cover clinical presentations, patient assessment strategies, treatments, and a discussion on classic medication overdoses and popular designer drugs - Delta 8, Molly, mushrooms.. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Management of shock has been the subject of intensive research for decades and, as a result, changes have been made in recommendations for prehospital treatment of patient with hemorrhagic shock. This lecture will review how to rapidly assess and manage patients in shock. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
Abdominal pain is a common complaint seen in EMS with causes ranging from benign to immediately life-threatening. Using a case based presentation, we will cover recognition and management of several abdominal emergencies, demonstrating that early recognition, initial treatment, and transport to the appropriate destination can make all the difference to the patient in front of you! This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
We talk a lot about wellness in EMS but who exactly is watching over our physical and mental health? We are charged with saving others but do we actually have to save ourselves in the process? I am a Medical Director and "I almost lost an EMT today" that I didn't even know needed help and this wasn't the first one I almost lost! This needs to stop. We (I) can do better! This lecture isn't about scientific facts and numbers. Using real cases from my world and maybe yours, this lecture will discuss how all of us can take care of each other. How do we spot the co-worker in distress? What do we say? Where is the help? Let's do more than the cliché implies - let's not just "start the conversation" let's carry it out to completion so that no more EMS providers are lost. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.
It is getting harder and harder for small, rural EMS agencies to survive. Low call volumes leading to low reimbursement, recruitment problems, and growing administrative and statutory requirements make just staying open a tremendous challenge. But there is hope. Successful agencies carve their future from a collaborative vision and combine constant evolution with time tested leadership tactics. This class will use case studies to describe successful rural EMS agency planning and discuss the strategies others have used to breed viability. While there may be no easy answers, this engaged discussion will consider the winning paths of several small agencies and offer their successful plans as starting points for other agencies. This session is appropriate for all EMS levels.