2023 Course Descriptions – Wednesday

To View A Complete List of Speakers, Visit The 2023 Conference Speakers Page

Find your course by day below:

Wednesday

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8:30-9:30 AM CST

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Preparatory

Prehospital Blood in a Mass Casualty – San Antonio Fire and the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center

William Bullock, EMTP, BA

Belinda Flores, MA-Organizational Leadership

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A strong and cohesive relationship between a blood supplier and EMS personnel in a mass casualty scenario has the potential to save many lives that otherwise may have been lost. When a major tragedy strikes a jurisdiction, some first responders carry blood as a prehospital intervention available to assist in mitigating potential life-threatening injuries. This presentation will discuss the logistics of blood resource deployment, equipment distribution, and the dynamic communication process between all stakeholders in a mass casualty scenario. The San Antonio Fire Department and the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center will provide information about blood as a resource from each of their perspectives and how they have forged a relationship to assist those in times of emergency need. Objectives: understand that blood is a valuable and finite resource that must be appropriately distributed to various providers in a mass casualty / recognize that communication is the key component when blood centers and EMS providers mitigate injuries in a mass casualty / understand that the acquisition and distribution of vital equipment for prehospital blood transfusions is a significant aspect in any mass casualty scenario / encourage participants to create and customize a mass casualty/blood plan in their respective jurisdiction based on information presented.

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8:30-9:30 AM CST

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Preparatory

Leadership Lessons as Learned From the Greatest Rock and Roll Band of all Time, Nickelback

Terence Sheehy, BS, NRP

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Perhaps you love them, or perhaps you hate them, but either way, you KNOW their music. But what leadership secrets are contained within their lyrics, that we as EMS leaders can learn? Join us as we stop standing in lines to clubs we’ll never get in, because we’ve been far away for far too long. Someday, we’ll look at this photograph, because they say that a hero can save us. Objectives: identify and discuss how as a leader, we can respond to the people we serve / identify opportunities to improve their craft, and who can help them along the way / articulate a core statement in several Nickelback songs, that one person can make a difference in the world, and how they as leaders can make the difference in their agency / apply core leadership values in their daily lives.

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9:45-10:45 AM CST

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Medical, Patient Assessment

Let’s TACO About Heat Stroke

Bryan Everitt, MD, NRP, FAAEM

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The Centers for Disease Control estimates that heat stroke contributes to an average of 700 deaths yearly, with Texas being one of the leaders in heat stroke-related deaths. Traditional methods of treating non-exertional heat stroke in the prehospital setting are ineffective, limited, and slow, leading to poor outcomes. Exertional heat stroke has been treated with aggressive cooling by immersion in ice water baths with low mortality risk. Emerging evidence suggests that techniques used in exertional type may be safely applied to non-exertional heat stroke, thereby reducing morbidity. We will specifically discuss strategies such as Tarp Assisted Cooling with Oscillation or TACO, allowing cold water immersion cooling using limited resources. Furthermore, we frame the discussion using lessons learned from multiple heat-related mass casualties involving migrant smuggling, including the deadliest migrant smuggling case in US history that the presenter was involved. We present a sample medical protocol, discuss resource needs, and solve logistical challenges to treatment. We conclude with a clinical case showing the benefit of rapid immersive cooling while discussing the pathophysiology and evidence of heat stroke treatment. Objectives: review the signs and symptoms of heat stroke and the pathophysiologic response to extreme heat exposure / explore a sample medical protocol for treating heat stroke using immersive cooling that can be deployed prehospital / review how current border activity involving the smuggling of migrants that puts communities at risk of having to respond to mass heat stroke incidents / learn recommendations for responding to medical mass causality and preventing secondary injury to responders physically and mentally.

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9:45-10:45 AM CST

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Medical, Patient Assessment

Aspirin Plavix and Xarelto, OH MY!

Bryan Walker, EMT-P

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This PowerPoint-free and demonstration-saturated lecture covers the differences between all the unique anticoagulants and fibrinolytics that our industry encounters. Clotting cascades, TXA and blood product considerations are all covered in this exciting lecture that helps you understand the complex jobs associated with making blood clots. Objectives: Understand the clotting cascade / explore where certain medications affect clotting / describe the unique approach to communication that the body has when making clots / learn what products we carry and how they change the complex system of blood clotting.

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11:00 AM-12:00 PM CST

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AOR, Preparatory

Myth Busters: Slaying EMS Sacred Cows – Closing Session

Matt Zavadsky, MS-HSA, NREMT

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“Modern” EMS is half a century old. And would you believe there are some things in EMS we have done for nearly that long, despite volumes of evidence that indicate they may not be best practice? We cling on to some practices that not only have been disproved by science but are actually dangerous. This dynamic, interactive, and controversial session will attempt to slay the sacred cows in EMS by busting myths related to ALS resource deployment, response times, lights-and-siren use, and even the fundamentals of EMS system design. Note: For the safety of the presenter, no weapons will be allowed into the session! Objectives: understand the ‘Big Six’ myths in EMS / learn what the evidence shows about these myths / learn how to dispel these myths with your workforce and community / learn how to slay sacred cows with minimal bloodshed.