Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS)
Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) courses are nationally recognized continuing education programs for the pre-hospital emergency health care professionals that bring the care of the trauma patient into a single focus.
PHTLS courses provide a pre-hospital trauma care philosophy, stressing the need to treat the multi-system trauma patient as a unique entity with specific needs. This may require an approach to the trauma patient that varies from traditional treatment modalities.
PHTLS course are based on the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), a course for physicians developed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. More importantly, PHTLS courses follow the principles of care of trauma patients as developed by the Committee on Trauma.
PROGRAM GOALS
The primary goals of Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support are as follows:
- To provide a description of the pathophysiology and kinematics of injury
- To provide an understanding of the need for a rapid assessment of the trauma patient
- To advance the participant's level of knowledge in regard to examination and diagnostic skills
- To enhance the participant's performance in the assessment and treatment of the trauma patient
- To provide an overview and establish a management method for the pre-hospital care of the multi-system trauma patient
The PHTLS course is designed to provide the practicing pre-hospital care provider with a specific body of knowledge related to the pre-hospital assessment and care of the trauma patient. It is stressed that this is a continuing education program and contains information that may be a review for some or all participants. The uniqueness of this program rests not with an entirely new body of knowledge but instead with advances in pre-hospital trauma intervention techniques. We are using new combinations and application of existing skills and knowledge to better our patients' chances at surviving traumatic events.
Current Program Offerings