Critical Care Emergency Medical Transport Program
Encyclopedia
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
s, registered nurse
Registered nurse
A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a nursing program at a university or college and has passed a national licensing exam. A registered nurse helps individuals, families, and groups to achieve health and prevent disease...
s, and registered respiratory therapist
Registered Respiratory Therapist
A Registered Respiratory Therapist is a cardiopulmonary therapist and specialist who is required to exercise considerable independent clinical judgment in the respiratory care of patients...
s who perform interfacility transports, moving very sick patients from one hospital to another for further care and treatment. It was developed by University of Maryland Baltimore County
University of Maryland Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County is an American honors public research university, located in Baltimore County, Maryland, mostly in the community of Catonsville, Maryland...
. Participants in this course are trained to read certain types of lab work, and, if recognized by their state and local EMS authorities, have an expanded scope of practice
Scope of Practice
Scope of Practice is a terminology used by national and state/provincial licensing boards for various professions that defines the procedures, actions, and processes that are permitted for the licensed individual. The scope of practice is limited to that which the law allows for specific education...
allowing them to administer more medications than the normal transport provider. The course is designed for paramedics, nurses, respiratory therapists and physicians involved in critical care transport.
The premise behind the CCEMTP program is that paramedics and nurses routinely participate in interfacility transports involving complex medical patients (i.e. "critical care patients")yet they receive little formal training in the assessment, monitoring and management of those patient types. The CCEMTP program is designed to provide a concentrated introduction to those concepts in a format which is readily accessible by practicing providers.
The program includes instruction in all common aspects of critical care assessment and management including pathophysiology, pharmacology, 12-lead ECG interpretation, interpretation of laboratory values, interpretation of routine diagnostic images, ventilator management, aortic balloon pump management, and air medical concepts. The program may also incorporate clinical rotations to allow for hands-on practice of the skills presented throughout the course.
See also
- Flight Paramedic Certified
- Critical care nursing
- Air medical servicesAir medical servicesAir medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation to move patients to and from healthcare facilities to improve their level of care...