Managing complex airways was the focus for the recent paramedic training day facilitated by HEMS Clinical Ltd at the rescue helicopter base.
HEMS Clinical provides annual training to paramedics around the South Island, focused on prehospital emergency anaesthesia.
The day gives the paramedics the chance to practise procedures which, while they are not required often, are lifesaving and can be high risk. By practising these procedures, the crew know when it comes time to do it in real life, they are not just competent, but also confident.
The training is delivered by HEMS Clinical’s Medical Directors and Clinical Managers, giving the paramedics all-day access to their knowledge and skills.
The training utilises equipment purchased for the rescue helicopter service by the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust such as video laryngoscopes, which provide paramedics a good view inside a patient’s airway while they are intubating a patient. The video laryngoscopes were purchased by the Trust, thanks to a grant from Air Rescue Community Services.
The team also trained using an iSimulate machine, which was purchased thanks to a grant from the Foodstuffs Community Trust.
Just like our pilots practise and are tested in a helicopter simulator, the same goes for our paramedic crew.
The iSimulate machine is an advanced patient monitor simulator. The paramedics being trained or tested are given a patient scenario. As they work on the patient, the iSimulate machine will have been pre-programmed with various complications or patient reactions which the paramedic has to respond to. Training with the iSimulate machine is intense, replicating real life scenarios involving complex patients who are very unwell.
