For Your Health
For Your Health

News from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Shea presents at National Association of EMS Educators symposium and trade show

Tim Shea, CHSOS, simulation coordinator at the SMHS Simulation Center, recently presented at the 24th annual National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE) symposium and trade show in Fort Worth, Texas. NAEMSE’s annual symposium and trade show is the premier EMS educational event in the United States.

Between Aug. 1 and Aug. 4, Tim presented a four-hour pre-conference course titled “Making Low Cost EMS Task Trainers.” The course introduced medical simulation educators to low-cost tips and tricks for developing task and skill trainers, including learning how to repurpose spare parts, find new ones, and make components of these trainers yourself. Many of these devices can be made for $15 or fewer, yet are high quality and very realistic for the purposes of simulation.

Participants learned how to create an airway manikin, suction manikin, tracheal suctioning machine, massive vomiting airway trainer, infant IO trainer, adult IO trainer, massive bleeding wound pump, surgical airway training platform, birthing trainer box, abdominal assessment trainer, pedal edema trainer, external jugular IV trainer, tourniquet use trainer, wound packing trainers, ultrasound trainer, and a resurrecting portable suction machine for teaching.

Tim also presented on “How to Teach ‘Caring for the Autistic Patient.’” Autism is one of the leading diagnoses in children. The estimated prevalence of U.S. children with a parent-reported Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis is one in 40, as of November 2018. This education helped EMS personnel understand why people on the autism spectrum behave the way they often do—and how to respond in an emergency situation.