AUSTIN, TX - (September 2, 2010) - Dell Children's Medical Center, a member of the Seton Family of Hospitals, rolled out a first-of-its-kind educational program for paramedics and emergency medical technicians in Austin and Travis County this week.
The Paramedic Partners program is focused on improving pediatric emergency care in Travis County. Through experiential training, EMS staff learns specialized assessment techniques and patient handling to ensure pediatric patients receive the best possible care before reaching the emergency room.
Seton's Level I Trauma Centers and long-standing collaboration with emergency medical teams at the city and county levels, including STAR Flight, make it possible to offer these unique, experiential learning opportunities.
"Children are quite different physiologically from adults and require specialized medical training," said Dr. Pat Crocker, Chief of Emergency, Dell Children's Medical Center. "With fewer critically ill and injured children than adults, it is difficult for any emergency medical team to gain adequate pediatric experience without special training like the Paramedic Partners program at Dell Children's."
"The first few minutes during a medical emergency are the most crucial," said Jim Allday, Chief Clinical Supervisor, STAR Flight. "Many patients survive to get to the hospital, but they won't make it because of something that occurred in the first few minutes of their event. Organs will start to die because they were without oxygen or under-perfuse, because we didn't correct it soon enough."
In Travis County alone, there are over 400 paramedics. Including all first responders and STAR flight staff, there are more than 2,000 emergency care providers in the area - a large group to reach.
The program initially focuses on emergency personnel stationed at Dell Children's, the only Level I Trauma Center serving Central Texas pediatrics. It is expected to expand to University Medical Center Brackenridge, Seton's other Level I Trauma Center, in the next few months.
Emergency medicine training modules - the first of which took place today at Dell Children's Medical Center - provide hands on experience for EMTs. Participants work side-by-side with emergency department physicians and STAR Flight to simulate pediatric emergency care. Monthly trainings broaden experience in evaluating pediatric patients through bedside rotations with doctors and assessment of multiple patient scenarios.
In addition to clinical care experience, the program
offers web-based training modules and online resources to aid
emergency personnel in increasing their knowledge of pediatric
emergency medicine.