Phtls.

MedicPrincess

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Tell me about it please. We have the class coming up at our service. Is it going to help me to feel all the more prepared for trauma calls?

What kind of material is covered? Did it help you when you took it, or was it just a review of stuff you already knew?
 
PHTLS is Pre Hospital Trauma Life Support, and is basically similar to BTLS, Basic Trauma Life Support. Some of the numbers are slightly different. Which one you need to know depends on which training program your jurisdiction/school purchases.

In case you're interested, here's an article about the two systems: http://www.jems.com/Columnists/bledsoe/articles/13377/
 
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Hmm, I haven't taken it yet myself, but I know that the County pays my fiance $35 an hour to teach it, so I like it a lot. :)
 
I took it a couple years ago. Its basically an overview of everything trauma, so in that sense, its pretty much stuff you should already know. It does go into a bit more detail on linking MOI with expected injuries than I remember from my basic training, and there's a specific assessment methodology that they teach that's a bit different than the standard assessment techniques I was taught (nothing earth-shattering, just a little different spin). I really enjoyed it for a couple of reasons:

1) While they don't necessarily teach you anything new, the class does give you a comprehenisive look at trauma and gives you some simple methodologies for rapidly assessing a trauma patient. Quick determination of "stay and play" vs. "scoop and run" was a big focus, and there's a couple of techniques that I learned there that I use to this day.

2) The class I took was mixed ALS and BLS, with a couple of nurses thrown in for good measure. It was great to have a chance to work with ALS level providers in an educational setting, particularly since a couple of the guys I was working with happened to be medics on the Sheriff's SAR helo that we occasionally work with in R/L.

3) I got to try some ALS skills that I wouldn't be able to do in R/L (intubation, needle crich, etc...on a manikin, of course) This was done with the understanding that we weren't being "trained" to do it but rather just getting familiarity with what ALS does. Still, was interesting and a good exposure.
 
Is the PHTLS (or BTLS) training included with EMT-P training, or is it always a separate optional class?
 
for the most part, a "TLS" course (PHTLS or BTLS), PALS and ACLS are reqired to get a job as a medic, so most schools give the certs with the Medic class.
 
Yes, it is included in the Paramedic Curriculum, in some form, may not be under the same title.
 
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