The UAMS College of Medicine Office of Continuing Medical Education is sponsoring Arkansas Trauma Update 2010 on April 23-24, 2010 at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, Ark.

The program is designed for physicians and other healthcare professionals who practice in Level I-IV trauma centers including trauma surgeons , emergency physicians, trauma nurses, and trauma coordinators. Others who will ben- efit include other surgical specialists, family practice physicians and pediatricians, advance practice and critical care nurses, surgical residents, physician assistants, emergency medical service workers, and paramedics.

The cost for EMTs and Paramedics is $100.

Download the brochure here for more information.

What Is the Advantage of CECBEMS-Accredited CE?

• CECBEMS-accredited CE has been reviewed and approved by EMS professionals, EMS physicians, and EMS educators—your peers, people who work in the EMS field, just like you.
• CECBEMS’ reviewers ensure that the CE activity and the organization providing the CE activity meet recognized standards for designing and delivering quality continuing education.
• CE providers are required to maintain a record of your course completions for a minimum of three years AND to report course completions to the CECBEMS Accreditation Management System (AMS) where records are maintained and archived permanently.
• CECBEMS-accredited CE is accepted in all states except Florida and Pennsylvania. If you move or maintain a license in multiple states, the CE credits you earned in one state will be recognized by other states (except for Florida and Pennsylvania) as long as it complies with that state’s regulations for content and date of completion.

Why Do I Have to Provide So Much Information When I Register for a CECBEMS-Accredited Activity? Continued

Don’t miss the EMT Refresher Feb. 20-21 at the Green County Rescue Squad Building at 405 South 6th Street in Paragould, Ark. The class starts at 8 a.m. each day and goes as long as it takes. Cost is $75. If you have questions, or want to reserve your seat, contact Jeff Estes at 870-239-1191.

The deadline for enrollment is Feb. 3!

Click here to download a flyer for the EMT Refresher.

The 2010 version of Spring Fling will take place in Paragould, Ark. on Friday and Saturday, March 12 and 13. As always, registration is just $40 (before March 1) for AEMTA members.

This year’s chairman is Donald Reed, and he is putting together another great weekend of learning. Tentative speakers include:

• Keith Edmonds, Professionalism
• Pat Malone, Diabetic Emergencies
• Debbie Brehmer, OB Complications
• Diann Bolton, AHA BLS update
• Dick Pace, Forensics
• Robert Galligher, Disaster, Start Triage
• Sedley Tomlinson, Pediatric Seat Safety
• Norajean Harrell, Transition, Licensure
• Kip Teitsort, Defense Tactics for EMS
• Jeff Estes, Domestic Violence
• Phil Sanderson, Intraosseous Options
• Curtis Davenport, Extrication Challenges

Click here to learn more and to download/print the registration form. We look forward to seeing you there!

PEPP Class at Med-Tech EMS, 10 Medical Services Drive, Morrilton, 72110
Call 501-354-8181 (Melissa or Jennifer) to register
December 1st & December 2nd 8:30am each morning
Sponsored by AR Department of Health EMSC & Med-Tech EMS

The EMS community started 2009 with the murders of two providers and a lot of press regarding scene safety. On January 17, EMT Melissa Greenhagen, 37, was shot in the chest by a stranger outside a hospital in Glasgow, MT. Then, 13 days later, EMT Mark Davis, 25, was fatally shot during a response to a private residence in Cape Vincent, NY.

It is a tragedy that the deaths of these comrades have not received more national attention. But to many, it comes with the territory. Even when EMS providers aren’t gunned down on duty, they face daily threats of abuse and assault from patients and others. Days before Greenhagen’s murder, the Edmonton Journal reported a patient pulling a loaded gun on paramedics in the back of an ambulance. One medic, according to witnesses, had to run from the vehicle and hide behind a fire truck. The providers did not receive any physical injuries, but likely endured a large psychological impact.

According to a 2005 NAEMT study, the No. 1 injury to EMS providers is assault, with 52% of those surveyed saying they’d been attacked on the job. According to Brian Maguire, DrPH, MSA, a clinical associate professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who studied the issue, “The risk of nonfatal assault resulting in lost work time among EMS workers is 0.6 cases per 100 workers per year. The national average is about 1.8 cases per 10,000 workers per year. So the relative risk for EMS workers is about 30 times higher than the national average.”

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