Courses for Healthcare Professionals
The LSTC is committed to training the Health Care Members in emergency cardiovascular care. Through an alliance with the American Heart Association, we offer classes in basic life support, advanced cardiac life support and pediatric advanced life support.
All courses are designed and delivered with a hands-on approach. The learner is encouraged to practice and demonstrate both the skills and the knowledge necessary to save lives.
Our outstanding instructor staff includes board-certified physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and others with specialized training and experience. They use educational adjuncts and realistic scenario-based teaching to target specific provider needs.
A. AHA training courses offered to the health care members include:
1. Basic Life Support (BLS):
Description:
The BLS is a 7-hour course designed to teach the skills of CPR for both adult, child, and infant collapsed victims and relief of foreign-body airway obstruction. It is recommended for health care providers who provide direct healthcare to patients in a wide variety of settings, including in-hospital and out-hospital settings.
Objectives:
§ Describe and demonstrate 1- and 2 - rescuer CPR in adults, children & infants
§ Adult and Child Bag-Valve-Mask technique and rescue breathing
§ Practice the steps to operate an AED
§ Demonstrate how to help a patient with a foreign body airway obstruction in patients of all ages
Target Audience
§ Healthcare providers, such as physicians, nurses, paramedics, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, or medical or nursing students in training, aides, medical or nursing assistants
§ Police officers, General civil defense
§ Other allied health personnel
Accreditation and Card Type
§ Accredited by AHA
§ AHA BLS for Healthcare Providers Card
Written Exam/Skills Test
At the end of the course, participants are required to sit for a theory and a practical assessment. A certificate is issued to all participants who pass both the theory and practical tests. The certificate is valid for 2 years and is renewable at the Life Support Training Centre.
Course Duration & Frequency
§ Approximately 7 hours
§ 4-5 course per month
2. Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
Description
The core of this two-day course is the evaluation and management of the cardiac arrest or other cardiopulmonary emergencies. The ACLS course is designed to give healthcare providers the basic knowledge to care for the patient in cardiac arrest and to manage acute coronary syndromes and stroke whether in or out of hospital.
Objectives
§ Demonstrate proficiency in providing BLS with an AED
§ Learn the BLS Primary and ACLS Secondary survey
§ Use appropriate electrical therapy including defibrillation, cardioversion and pacing
§ Manage cardiac arrest until the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC)
§ Identify and treat patients with ischemic chest pain
§ Recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke and the initial care
§ Demonstrate effective communication as a team leader/member and understand the importance of good team dynamics
The intended audience for this course includes:
§ Emergency, intensive care, or critical care personnel
§ Emergency medical providers such as physicians, nurses, EMS, paramedics, respiratory therapists
§ Other professionals who may need to respond to a cardiovascular emergency.
§ AHA ACLS Providers Card
§ Approximately 17 hours
§ 1-2 course per month
3. Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
This two-day course provides participants with strategies for preventing injuries and cardiopulmonary arrest in infants and children. It also teaches participants how to perform the cognitive and psychomotor skills for resuscitating and stabilizing infants and children in respiratory failure, shock, or cardiopulmonary arrest
The goal of the PALS course is to help the pediatric healthcare provider in developing the knowledge and skills necessary to efficiently and effectively manage critically ill infants and children, resulting in improved outcomes.
§ Understand and perform the systematic approach to pediatric assessment
§ including the general, primary, secondary and tertiary assessments
§ Understand the Assess-Categorize-Decide-Act approach in treating sick children
§ Recognize and treat bradyarrhythmia, tachyarrhythmia and cardiac arrest in children of all ages
§ Perform effective respiratory management
§ Use appropriate electrical therapy including defibrillation and cardioversion
§ Learn proper technique for intraosseous access
§ Learn appropriate team dynamics
§ For pediatricians, emergency physicians, family practice physicians
§ Nurses
§ Paramedics
§ Respiratory therapists
§ AHA PALS Providers Card
§ 1 course per month
B. Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) courses
1. Adult Fundamentals of Critical Care Medicine (FCCM)
A two-day comprehensive course addressing fundamental management principles for the first 24 hours of critical care. The course is based on new scientific evidence from Society of Critical Care Medicine and new teaching methodology. The goal of the FCCM course is to aid the critical adult healthcare provider in developing the knowledge and skills necessary to efficiently and effectively manage critically ill adult patient, resulting in improved outcomes.
Course Purposes
· To better prepare the non-intensivist for the first 24 hours of management of the critically ill patient until transfer or appropriate critical care consultation can be arranged.
· To assist the non-intensivist in dealing with sudden deterioration of the critically ill patient.
· To prepare house staff for ICU coverage.
· To prepare nurses and other critical care practitioners to deal with acute deterioration in the critically ill patient.
Course Objectives
· Prioritize assessment needs for the critically ill patient.
· Select appropriate diagnostic tests.
· Identify and respond to significant changes in the unstable patient.
· Recognize and initiate management of acute life-threatening conditions.
· Determine the need for expert consultation and/or patient transfer and prepare the practitioner for optimally accomplishing transfer.
§ Accredited from Society of Critical Care Medicine/USA
§ FCCM Providers certificate
Written Exam
Participants are required to sit for posttest. A certificate is issued to all participants who pass the posttest.
§ 1 course every three month
2. Pediatric Fundamentals of Critical Care Medicine (PFCCM)
Description:A two-day comprehensive course addressing fundamental management principles for the first 24 hours of pediatric critical care. PFCCS is a major resource for those interested in learning how to recognize critical illness and initiate care for the critically ill pediatric patient in the absence of an intensivist. It also serves as a valuable education tool for those entering the field of pediatric critical care. PFCCS disseminates fundamental pediatric critical care concepts to professional providers who may be involved in the initial management and transfer of critically ill or injured infants and children.
Course Purpose
· To better prepare the non-intensivist for the first 24 hours of post-resuscitation management of the critically ill pediatric patient until transfer or appropriate critical care consultation can be arranged.
· To prepare non-intensivists, nurses and critical care practitioners in dealing with acute deterioration of the critically ill pediatric patient.
· To assist the non-intensivist in dealing with sudden deterioration of a previously stable patient.
· To prepare house staff for PICU coverage.
· Prioritize assessment needs for the critically ill or injured infant and child.
· Identify and respond to significant changes in the unstable pediatric patient.
PFCCS is designed to prepare healthcare providers in caring for unstable, critically ill or injured pediatric patients. Likely participants include:
· Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants with limited pediatric practice.
· Rapid Response/Medical Emergency Team members.
· Critical care fellows beginning their training.
· Emergency medicine physicians who do not routinely care for pediatric patients.
· Nursing care for complex and potentially unstable patients.
· Pre-hospital providers with lengthy patient transfer times.
§ PFCCM Providers Card
3. Fundamental Disaster Management (FDM) Course
Course Description:
Fundamental Disaster Management (FDM) is one day course builds the foundation for critical care practitioners to better provide life-sustaining critical care to critically ill or injured victims of disasters. FDM equips critical care professionals with the expertise to manage in-hospital response to large-scale disasters and the resultant patient surge. In particular, critical care response to victims of chemical inhalations, conventional explosions, natural disasters, epidemics, radiological exposures and structure fires are presented.
Using a combined approach of didactic sessions and hands-on skills stations, participants explore major components of critical care disaster response. Skills stations include Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for critical care and operating alternative positive pressure ventilation equipment.
Fundamental Disaster Management (FDM) prepares healthcare professionals to treat victims of natural or manmade mass casualty events. It arms critical care professionals with the expertise to manage the critical care response to large-scale disasters. This one day course focuses on critically ill patients who are admitted to your hospital and is a must for healthcare providers who may come in contact with critically ill and/or injured patients after a mass casualty event.
1. Identify the core structure and functions of disaster incident management and describe how the critical care response is coordinated by and interfaces with incident management.
2. List the types of events that are most likely to require a critical care response and describe the anticipated critical care needs of the affected people.
3. Explain the significant changes in organization, staffing, and responsibility that may improve the provision of critical care during a mass casualty incident.
4. Describe the guiding principles for triage and allocation of scarce critical care resources during a disaster.
5. Demonstrate how to set up and troubleshoot alternative positive pressure ventilation equipment such as the mechanical ventilators maintained by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Strategic National Stockpile.
6. Recognize the emergency situations that require the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)/environmental controls while caring for critically ill victims.
Learning Outcomes:
• Identify the core structure and functions of disaster incident management and describe how the critical care response is coordinated by the interfaces with incident managers.
• List the types of events that are most likely to require a critical care response and describe the anticipated critical care needs of the affected people.
• Explain the significant changes in organization, staffing, and responsibility that may improve the provision of critical care during a mass casualty.
• Describe the guiding principle for triage and allocation of scarce critical care resources during a disaster.
• Demonstrate how to setup and troubleshoot alternative positive pressure ventilation equipment such as the mechanical ventilators maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Strategic National Stockpile.
• Recognize the emergency situations that require use of personal protective equipment (PPE) or environmental controls while caring for critically ill victims.
The FDM course includes a combination of didactic sessions and skill stations and can be offered as an independent course or as an add-on module to the FCCS course.
Target Audience:
The intended FDM audience includes critical care health professionals such as pharmacists, respiratory care professionals, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians. Also included are persons who have successfully completed the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS) course and who are expected to have significant critical care responsibilities during an emergency.
§ FDM Providers certificate
§ Approximately 9 hours
C. Other Critical Care Courses
1. Basic ECG course
This 2-days Course prepares the participant to learn ECG interpretation. Participants are provided with all printed materials needed to provide highly quality ECG education program. The 17 contact hours of lectures, discussion, and group activities includes: basic anatomy and physiology as well as underlying pathophysiology as it relates to ECG rhythm recognition. Special emphasis will be placed on providing the participants with the skills needed to differentiate between benign and life-threatening rhythms. Successful participants will be given a Basic ECG Recognition Certificate.
§ Describe the conduction system of the heart including the components and functional relationships and Electrophysiologic principles.
§ Recognize the waves, segments, and intervals of the standard ECG and identify various peacemaking modalities and techniques for differentiating conduction patterns.
§ Define the patterns of electrode placement and the standard timing and voltage criteria of the component of ECG.
§ Compute the mathematical evaluation of the resting ECG, e.g., rates, interval lengths (blocks), QRS complex
§ Identify correct lead placement (3, 5, 12, 15 leads).
§ Correctly interpret composite ECG findings and relate to clinical situations.
§ Differentiate non-pathologic from pathologic abnormalities frequently seen on the ECG, e.g., lead reversal, technical errors.
§ For a variety of healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, paramedics, residents, respiratory therapists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical pharmacists and ECG technicians.
§ Accredited by LSTC - KHCC
§ ECG Completion Certificate
Participants are required to sit for a pre and posttest. A certificate is issued to all participants who pass all requirement of the course including: pre& posttest, home assignment, and online exam.
D. Future Critical Care Courses.
1. Advanced ECG course
This two day course is designed for the practitioner who has completed the basic ECG Course or has equivalent knowledge and has been practicing in an area with cardiac monitoring. Course content will cover a brief electrophysiology review, bundle branch blocks, aberrancy vs. ectopic, ST-segment monitoring, troubleshooting for pacemaker and internal cardioverter defibrillators (ICD’s) ,axis, AV blocks, Hemiblock, pre-excitation, drug induced dysrhythmia and cardiac devices.
2. Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS)
BTLS Basic designed for the ER nurses, EMT-Basic and First Responder, this hands-on training course offers basic training in the skills necessary for rapid assessment, resuscitation, stabilization and transportation of the trauma patient. The course provides education in the initial evaluation and stabilization of the trauma patient.
3. Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS)
The ATLS course aims to inculcate in all participants a common standard in dealing with trauma management. ATLS is a two day training course for nurses, doctors and paramedics in the management of acute trauma cases. Its goal is to teach a simplified and standardized approach to trauma patient .The premise of the ATLS program is to treat the greatest threat to life first. It also advocates that the lack of a definitive diagnosis and a detailed history should not slow the application of indicated treatment for life-threatening injury, with the most time-critical interventions performed early. However, there is mixed evidence to show that ATLS improves patient outcomes.
