PHTLS: Prehospital Trauma Life Support

Description

PHTLS: Prehospital Trauma Life Support teaches and reinforces the principles of rapidly assessing a trauma patient using an orderly approach. Immediately treating life-threatening problems as they are identified, and minimizing any delays in initiating transport to an appropriate destination. Developed by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) in cooperation with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ASC-COT), PHTLS, Ninth Edition reflects current, evidence-based knowledge and practice, and promotes critical thinking as the foundation for providing quality care.

Rapidly assessing a trauma patient to identify life-saving care is at the heart of the ninth edition of PHTLS. It takes 2 minutes or less for a patient to exsanguinate. No other intervention prehospital care providers perform is more important than stopping that level of bleeding in trauma patients. To reflect this, PHTLS, Ninth Edition utilizes the XABCDE patient assessment mnemonic to place exsanguinating hemorrhage at the forefront of every patient encounter. The importance of XABCDE (eXsanguinating hemorrhage, airway, breathing, circulation, disability, and exposure/environment) reinforced in every clinical chapter.

PHTLS, Ninth Edition features:

• Current information on fluid resuscitation and spinal immobilization from evidence-based research and experienced prehospital care providers who apply the principles and practices of PHTLS in the field
• Updated patient management techniques, including tourniquet placement, needle decompression sites. The use of pelvic binders, pediatric fluid resuscitation, and pediatric airway management
• Emphasis on preventable injuries, from distracted driving to falls in older adults to intimate partner violence
• Focus on civilian tactical threats and response. From vehicles as weapons of mass destruction to a new remote assessment methodology flowchart

Dynamic Program Components

The Prehospital Trauma Life Support, Ninth Edition main textbook is the definitive trauma care resource that details the medical evidence behind the recommended principles and practices of the PHTLS course. As the next step in the evolution of the PHTLS program, the main textbook will be accompanied by the new PHTLS course manual, which reinforces and clarifies key concepts from the course; features an engaging, interactive design; and is written so you feel like you are participating in a conversation, versus listening to a lecture.

About the Author

• Greater understanding and appreciation by government agencies at the local, state, and national levels of the role. That EMS plays in our nation’s health care, public safety, and disaster response systems.
• Pay and benefits that reflect their professional training, responsibilities, and dedication.
• Leadership at the federal level that fosters and supports the delivery of quality EMS nationwide.
• Adequate and sustainable funding for EMS in all locations.
• Public policy that supports EMS practitioners and the patients they serve.