SIM – Hands on Trauma Skills Training

A native of North Liberty, Iowa, I have been involved in the Emergency Medical Services profession for nearly three decades. I began teaching twenty-two years ago and have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach EMS for a variety of students across the state of Iowa.

Over the course of a 30-year career I have worked in EMS and taught EMS whether full-time, part-time, or volunteer. There is no greater feeling than once a learner has had the moment when everything clicks and all of the hard work they have put into the course makes sense.

Medical simulation allows the acquisition of clinical skills through deliberate practice rather than an apprentice style of learning. Simulation tools serve as an alternative to real patients. A trainee can make mistakes and learn from them without the fear of harming the patient during a simulated encounter.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the pathophysiology of a tension pneumothorax.
  2. Summarize the treatment options for pneumothorax.
  3. Describe the types of pediatric injuries sustained with a given mode of trauma, and identify the most common injuries occurring in various age groupings.
  4. Outline the secondary survey, and identify controversies in pediatric shock trauma.