Pre-Conference
Workshops

Obstetric emergencies are rare but critical, and EMS providers are often the first to respond. The OB Mobile Simulation Lab brings high-fidelity, hands-on training directly to the conference.

Participants rotate through focused scenarios on precipitous delivery, maternal resuscitation, neonatal resuscitation and vascular access in challenging maternal and neonatal cases. Led by experienced emergency and obstetric educators, the session emphasizes teamwork, communication and critical decision-making under pressure.

An immersive tabletop exercise with hands-on, algorithmic and simulation-based training that challenges participants to make decisions in real time. Students apply the Incident Command System (ICS) to manage a scaled mass casualty incident based on real-world MCI statistics, role-playing across every level of the ICS structure.

This is a live, scenario-driven exercise with a facilitated debrief. Come prepared to respond as if managing an actual incident.

Prerequisites: Completion of ICS 100, 200 and 700 is strongly recommended.

• Identify and request appropriate MCI-level resources
• Activate and implement a response plan tailored to MCI scenarios
• Manage a dynamic incident scene using delegation and ICS principles
• Evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken
• Propose actionable changes for local triage systems based on exercise outcomes

Leadership is the process of getting a group of individuals to work together to achieve a common goal. In EMS, it is essential to success in everything from individual calls to the operation of a service and the workings of an EMS system.

This seminar includes a lecture and discussion on the foundations of leadership, small-group activities to explore your own leadership style, and a panel discussion with current leaders in Vermont’s EMS community.

• Identify leadership traits common in EMS leaders
• Discuss a variety of leadership styles, including their strengths and weaknesses
• Understand how leadership can be developed, through a panel discussion with EMS leaders

Emergency providers in Vermont and upstate New York routinely care for critically ill and injured patients in resource-limited, geographically isolated settings. This mobile simulation lab brings high-fidelity, hands-on training directly to EMS clinicians.

In this 4-hour session, participants rotate through scenario-based team simulations modeled on PHTLS, AMLS and ACLS environments, practicing critical decision-making, communication and procedural skills under the guidance of experienced clinical educators.

• Airway management and ventilation strategies
• Trauma assessment and intervention
• Acute medical emergencies and resuscitation
• Team communication, leadership and patient handoff
• Pediatric assessment, newborn delivery and resuscitation

Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS) is NAEMT’s course in emergency medical assessment and treatment, endorsed by the National Association of EMS Physicians. It centers on the AMLS Assessment Pathway, a systematic tool for assessing and managing common medical conditions with urgent accuracy.

Using realistic, case-based scenarios from the fourth edition, students work through scene size-up, first impression, history, detailed physical assessment and group discussion of differential diagnosis and treatment strategies for patients in medical crisis.

AMLS is appropriate for EMTs, AEMTs, paramedics, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse anesthetists and physicians. It is accredited by CAPCE and recognized by NREMT. A separate course fee applies; see the registration page for details.

• Pharmacology
• Respiratory disorders
• Cardiovascular disorders
• Shock and sepsis
• Neurologic disorders
• Mental health emergencies
• Endocrine and metabolic disorders
• Environmental emergencies
• Infectious disease
• Abdominal disorders
• Women’s health emergencies
• Toxicologic emergencies

Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS) is the American Burn Association’s course for emergency burn care. Focused on the first 24 hours after injury, it prepares clinicians to assess, stabilize and coordinate care for burn patients in the field, in the emergency department or before transfer. A separate course fee applies; see the registration page for details.

• Assess and triage serious burn injuries
• Prioritize treatment and stabilization
• Manage airway and ventilation
• Monitor and initiate fluid resuscitation
• Apply key physiological monitoring techniques
• Identify when to transfer to a burn center
• Coordinate inter-hospital transfer
• Understand burn disaster planning and response

For training officers, EMS leaders who assess clinician skill proficiency, and clinicians who assist in EMS courses or want to get involved in EMS education.

The EMS Skill Instructor course equips participants to teach and evaluate EMS students on psychomotor skills. This one-day, in-person course meets the minimum didactic requirements for eligibility for the Vermont Skills Instructor license. Participants also complete a 3 to 6 hour field internship in an initial EMS course, as approved by the EMS office.

Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals (PEPP) 5th Edition is the American Academy of Pediatrics course that helps EMS clinicians confidently care for infants, children and youth in emergencies.

Instructors from Vermont EMS District 3 host a hybrid version of the newly released 5th edition. Learners complete the online modules before attending the in-person skills and scenario session on Friday, March 5.

• Apply a systematic process for determining the severity of pediatric illness and injury
• Recognize the physiologic differences that make pediatric patients prone to rapid deterioration
• Deliver effective, age-appropriate interventions for respiratory, cardiac and neurologic or metabolic conditions

Obstetric emergencies are rare but critical, and EMS providers are often the first to respond. The OB Mobile Simulation Lab brings high-fidelity, hands-on training directly to the conference.

Participants rotate through focused scenarios on precipitous delivery, maternal resuscitation, neonatal resuscitation and vascular access in challenging maternal and neonatal cases. Led by experienced emergency and obstetric educators, the session emphasizes teamwork, communication and critical decision-making under pressure.

An immersive tabletop exercise with hands-on, algorithmic and simulation-based training that challenges participants to make decisions in real time. Students apply the Incident Command System (ICS) to manage a scaled mass casualty incident based on real-world MCI statistics, role-playing across every level of the ICS structure.

This is a live, scenario-driven exercise with a facilitated debrief. Come prepared to respond as if managing an actual incident.

Prerequisites: Completion of ICS 100, 200 and 700 is strongly recommended.

• Identify and request appropriate MCI-level resources
• Activate and implement a response plan tailored to MCI scenarios
• Manage a dynamic incident scene using delegation and ICS principles
• Evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken
• Propose actionable changes for local triage systems based on exercise outcomes

A hands-on, in-person training based on Mass General Brigham’s High Consequence Infectious Disease Preparedness for Frontline Facilities. Participants practice the essential skills and procedures for safe and effective care of patients with suspected or confirmed high consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs).

Designed for healthcare, public health and other medical professionals responsible for managing these patients.

• Define HCIDs and explain why an early, protocol-driven response is essential given their public health impact
• Apply the Identify–Isolate–Inform framework to suspected or confirmed HCID cases
• Describe a PPE ensemble for viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) care that works across clinical presentations, and the role of checklists in doffing PPE safely to avoid self-contamination
• Adapt course principles to strengthen preparedness and response at your own facility

Emergency providers in Vermont and upstate New York routinely care for critically ill and injured patients in resource-limited, geographically isolated settings. This mobile simulation lab brings high-fidelity, hands-on training directly to EMS clinicians.

This afternoon session focuses on procedure stations for high-acuity, low-frequency (HALO) interventions, in a realistic simulation environment designed to build confidence and performance in the field.