Mercy Health/Love County Hosting Area Training in Emergency Medicine
Posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Hitting the Books: Dr. Larry D. Powell, center, examines the 12-pound course manual for an advanced life support course Mercy Health/Love County will be co-sponsoring next week. Richard Barker, hospital administrator, (left), and Rod Hargrave, flex program coordinator of the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health, will host the training for area rural hospitals at the Winstar Events Center.
Armed with a 12-pound course manual, a team from Mercy Health/Love County will undergo advanced training in emergency care for rural hospitals from a group of medical educators from the University of Minnesota next week.
The two-day training will be May 11-12 at the Events Center of WinStar World Casino. Mercy Health/Love County, the Chickasaw Nation, and the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health are sponsors.
Participants will encounter staged scenarios of emergency traumas, such as burns, brain injuries, drug overdoses, and non-responsive infants to teach concepts and enable the team to respond.
“I haven’t seen anything as comprehensive and intense as this except at multi-week physician conferences,” said Dr. Larry D. Powell, who is leading the Mercy Health/Love County contingent.
“I expect to learn new clinical skills myself and for all of us to become better prepared for things not normally encountered.”
The 24-member class filled quickly, said Rod Hargrave, flex program coordinator with the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health. Hargrave certifies rural hospitals.
Participants are coming from Arbuckle Community Hospital, Healdton Mercy Hospital, Chickasaw Nation Health System, and Valley View Regional Hospital.
The purpose of “Comprehensive Advanced Life Support” (CALS) is to improve care of trauma patients prior to transferring them to higher level treatment centers.
“The course is geared toward the rural market, where we all know the ‘golden hour’ criteria for treating stroke and other trauma patients. This will give us the tools to manage the clients locally until we can get them to specialists,” said Richard Barker, hospital administrator.
The Minnesota instructors specialize in techniques for using equipment and personnel at hand in the rural setting to successfully open airways, enhance breathing and blood circulation, immobilize limbs, and block infection. They travel the world teaching rural healthcare providers, Hargrave said.
The program is directed by Dr. Darrell Carter and managed by Kari Lappe, R.N.
Barker said in-house training would continue after the event, relying on the comprehensive course manual.
Mercy Health/Love County participants will include Dr. Powell, physician assistants Cassie Sallee, Kari Cochran, and Tamra Morrow, registered nurses Kim Collin and Megan Yow, and paramedics James Hicks, Ben Walston, Daniel Whited, Ryan Weger, Ken Branch, and Brandon Dunmon.