At start of National EMS Week, Upstate offers more than 150 area EMS pros info on latest in life-savings techniques.

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- In celebration of the start of National EMS Week (May 18 to 24), more than 100 EMS professionals will gather on the Onondaga Community College campus Monday, May 19, to learn about the latest in life-saving techniques. Presentations and hands-on workshops fill the event’s daylong program.

Media are invited to cover any part of the event and interview participants. Key coverage opportunities are listed below. If planning to cover, please contact Darryl Geddes, at 315-289-2541.

The Prehospital Medicine and Trauma Teaching Day is sponsored by Upstate University Hospital, OCC with support from Mercy Flight Central. The event begins at 8:45 a.m. with sessions running through 4:15 p.m., in OCC’s Whitney Hall and the Gordon Great Room.

Derek Cooney, M.D., a member of the Upstate Medical University faculty and program director of Upstate’s EMS and Disaster Medicine Fellowship said the teaching day helps enhance the already outstandings skills of area EMS professionals.

“The area’s emergency care network does not work without the dedicated men and women of law enforcement and first responders,” Cooney said. “We have an excellent EMS system in place in Central New York, and this day is designed to bring even greater knowledge and understanding to our EMS community, especially about the latest technologies, research and treatment protocols.”

A highlight will be a session on the use of small, portable ultrasound devices that allow EMS professionals at the crash scene to scan patients and identify life-threatening injuries before arriving at the hospital. The early identification of these injuries will enable EMS providers to initiate life-savings therapies in a more timely fashion. Mercy Flight Central aircraft began carrying these device earlier this year. (See coverage details of session below.)

Session presenter Joseph Wlostowski, a clinical educator and flight nurse with Mercy Flight Center, says the device, which is the size of an iPad, will help save lives. “For the first time, we will be able to look inside someone’s body with the ultrasound and see in real time what the internal injuries might be,” he said, noting that diagnosis of injuries in the field now is largely made through listening, feeling and by analyzing vital signs.

“We are now able to see abdominal bleeding, a collapsed lung or fluid buildup around the heart using this portable ultrasound,” he said. “That means a more accurate diagnosis of injuries before we get to the hospital, and enhanced care for the victim while en route to the hospital.”

EMS professionals need to be trained to use the device and Mercy Flight Central hopes to be closely involved with that training throughout the region over the coming year.

Another hands-on training session will be dedicated to the important use of airway rescue devices that are essential for the successful intubation of a patient. (See coverage details of session below).

In all, 16 sessions will be offered on issues, such as pediatric trauma care to caring for the emergency medical needs of the elderly patient.

Caption: A flight crew from Mercy Flight Central will participate in Upstate's National EMS Week trauma treaching day.