Cynthia Nelson, Administrative Specialist, River Hospital
Through a New York State Department of Health grant funding opportunity, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, awarded to River Hospital, the hospital has been able to continue to enhance networking efforts with the regions Emergency Medical Service affiliates. The benefits of this grant were shared with a broad spectrum of volunteer and professional Emergency Medicals Services (EMS) departments by offering a second annual training day.
“Battlefield Emergency Care: What can combat medicine teach us from the scene to the ER?” was a training day held for the second consecutive year on Thursday, September 29 at the Fort Drum Simulation Center. With coordinating participation from the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization, Fort Drum Medical Simulation Training Center (MSTC) and Jefferson County EMS, a hands-on training was well attended by Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) from the Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, and Madison County areas, active duty military personnel at Fort Drum, as well as Jefferson Community College Paramedic students.
The day consisted of classroom training topics including Deescalating Behavioral Implications for Combat Soldiers in Emergency Medical Settings presented by Dr. Todd Benham, Chief Fort Drum Behavioral Health Department; Improvised Explosive Device Wound Patterns and Initial EMS Concerns presented by Dr. Troy Johnson, former Fort Drum Deputy Commander for Clinical Services for Fort Drum MEDAC; Regional Trauma Systems & Definitive Care presented by Dr. William Marx, Chief of Staff, Syracuse VA; and Tactical Combat Casualty Care: Medics on the Battlefield, presented by CPT Martin Stewart, OIC, Fort Drum.
The day also included a variety of skill training, hands-on practical application and demonstrations in the areas of care under fire, tactical field care, and casualty evacuation in the simulation labs provided by Fort Drum’s MSTC trainers and staff. Vendor demonstrations and lunch at the Fort Drum Commons was also included.
This training day allowed an opportunity for the attendees to interact with individuals from other areas and with Military Medics. This training was designed to improve medical care for our citizens and soldiers and to share emergency medicine strategies. Based on the many favorable post-event survey comments, the objectives of the day were exceeded.
For the Alexandria Bay Volunteer Rescue Squad and Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service, the benefits went beyond the knowledge they gained at the training day. As emergency responders in the River Hospital service area, the grant included equipment for the individual departments to enhance their services. On behalf of River Hospital, Cynthia Nelson was pleased to present Alexandria Bay Volunteer Rescue Squad with an Extremity Vacuum Splint Kit, which is a new standard of care and highly effective aids in patient injury immobilization. Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service (TIERS) was presented with a new airway device, KING LT-D Advanced Airway, which could be used when presented with a difficult endotracheal intubation for adults and adolescents.
River Hospital is proud to have taken a leading role in this networking and quality training opportunity for health care providers involved in emergency services. Through this cooperative effort it is possible to continue to offer this region quality health care, benefit from the regional resources, and share in the commitment toward the health and safety of others.
