Kansas EMS Transition

New Initial Courses of Instruction

December 8, 2010 in Educators, EMT | Tags: Hutchinson Community College, Kansas EMS Initial Course of Instruction, Kansas EMT, Kathleen | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

At the December Board of EMS meeting in Topeka, during the Education Subcommittee meeting on Thursday, Chy Miller, Hutchinson Community College, presented two documents for consideration. One document is Educator Reference Abbreviations that meet the 2009 National Education Guidelines. The other is the new EMT initial course of instruction (Table of Contents for EMT initial course of instruction).

The Education Subcommittee recognized both of these documents as providing a sound foundation for building the new EMT initial course of instruction. The Subcommittee also granted conditional approval of the new EMT initial course, which Hutchinson Community College will offer in January. This paves the way for other educators to submit requests for conditional approval for new EMT Initial Courses.

Complete list of Kansas EMS Transition Documents

Looming Transition Decisions

November 28, 2010 in Educators | Tags: EMS Scope Documents, Jon, Kansas EMS Transition | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

This week the Kansas Board of EMS will be meeting in Topeka. On their list of items to discuss and decide on are the full range of medications for the AEMT. Additionally, they will be discussing and making decisions about the implementation of regulations to support Senate Bill 262 which goes into effect January 15, 2011. One option that they have discussed is delaying implementation of regulations until December 31, 2011. This decision would allow for more work to go into the regulations (making for better regulations) and also allow more time for attendants to complete the bridge courses for the new curricula.

If you cannot be in Topeka this week, keep an ear to the process through your regional representatives. Decisions will either be made or not made; but either way how we do our work as educators in helping to bridge people to the new scope will be affected.

Overland Park Train the Trainer

November 22, 2010 in Educators, General | Tags: Jon, Kansas EMS Transition, Kansas EMS Transition Airplane, Region 5 EMS | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

Transition Airplane on the tarmac at OPFD

Whew!

That sums up our state of mind Sunday night as we drove home from Overland Park. We had a great weekend in OP with a large number of interested and engaged people in attendance. The “whew!” comes because we realized as we left that it was the last of the official train the trainers across the state this fall.

A special thanks to Region V, OPFD, and all those who helped make this train the trainer such a success!

If you missed getting into a train the trainer and have interest, you should contact Region V EMS to let them know. They are looking at hosting one more train the trainer session after the first of the year.

Region V Overland Park Train the Trainer

What your friends do when you aren't looking!

Quote for today

November 21, 2010 in General | Tags: Henry Ford, Idea for reflection, Kansas EMS Transition | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.
- Henry Ford

The Status of the Transition

November 17, 2010 in Educators, General | Tags: Jon, Kansas EMS Transition | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

We received an email from one of our friends in western Kansas yesterday asking for some clarification on the changes to the transition process from when he took the train the trainer course in August. Kathleen and I both looked at each other and began laughing. Not at the question. It is a good question. We laughed because the answers we give in the train the trainer sessions now are completely different from what we said in Oakley back in August. The status of the transition process has changed and will likely change again before we reach the point of implementation.

I am going to refrain from detailing changes until after the December Board of EMS meeting. Instead, I will use this post to once again state how important it is that the educators in Kansas EMS stay focused on those things that have not changed.

The curricula for the transition courses has been well received and is a strong foundation for educators to move forward with the courses. This transition is doable!
The transition represents Kansas moving to and past the National EMS Scope of Practice. This means that we are working to remain contemporary in our care of the ill and injured.

Stay tuned. Kathleen and I will summarize the changes after the December Board of EMS meeting. In the meantime, we are preparing to head out for Overland Park and our last train the trainer class. We’ll see many of you up in OP on Saturday.

Garden City Train the Trainer

November 11, 2010 in Educators, General | Tags: Jon, Kansas EMS Transition, Kansas EMS Transition Airplane, Region 2 EMS | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

EMS Transition Airplane at Garden City Community College

We flew the EMS Transition Airplane out to Garden City last weekend for the Region 2 (SW Kansas EMS) EMS Transition Train the Trainer. Teaching out west is always a good experience and this class was no different. It was great to have another class of people who are engaged and ready to work at making this a successful transition back home. Attendees ranged from across Region 2 all the way to the far northeast corner of Kansas in Region 5!

Region 2 TtT Attendees

A big thank you to Region 2 for hosting the Train the Trainer and making all of us feel at home.

Next stop, Overland Park!

Updated Versions of the Curricula

October 25, 2010 in Educators, General | Tags: EMS Scope Documents, Jon, Kansas EMS Transition | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

We’ve been finding the occasional item that needs editing each time we do a train the trainer. And, we’ve been cleaning those up as we go. Nothing like a set of fresh eyes in each train the trainer course to sniff out what has become transparent to those of us who have been staring at the information since the beginning! In talking with the Board of EMS staff, we decided that we would not be posting updated versions until after the last train the trainer session in Overland Park on November 20/21. So, for those who have keys to the Acrobat.com site, be patient and we’ll get it all cleaned up before posting the final version.

Region IV Train the Trainer

October 24, 2010 in Educators, General | Tags: Kansas EMS Transition, Kansas EMS Transition Airplane, Region 4 EMS | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

Many thanks to the good folks at Region IV who worked to coordinate a successful train the trainer event for the transition curricula. As with our past train the trainers, the group in Salina was interested, engaged, and thoughtful as they participated in the class sessions.

Region 4 - Coordinators at Work

Salina Flight of the Transition Airplane

Region 4 Group Photo

Next stop is Garden City on November 6 & 7 followed by Overland Park on November 20 & 21.

Skills for the Transition

October 17, 2010 in AEMT, Educators, EMR, EMT | Tags: AEMT, EMR, EMT, Jon, Kansas EMS Transition | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

One of the things that has become apparent since we began the Train the Trainer courses is that some of the skills required in the transition courses will be problematic for local services. This is either because of the expense of equipment or because the skill is not expected to be used by services (this may not make sense to you, but is a result of adopting the National Scope for each level as part of our scope). As Friesen Group developed the curricula, we identified this about some specific skills such as mechanical CPR and automated transport ventilators. However, a few additional items came to light and with this in mind we went back to the Board of EMS at their October meeting to request a few additions to the “Optional” list of skills. Bear in mind, these must still be covered in the didactic portion of the transition course – however – the skills are not required for successful completion. Here is the list of optional skills by level.

EMR	EMT	AEMT
Application of ECG patches does NOT require an ECG monitor. It does require patches and ECG limb lead cables	Application of ECG patches does NOT require an ECG monitor. It does require patches and ECG limb lead cables	Administraton of Nitrous Oxide is NOT required

Mechanical CPR device is NOT required (As Adopted)	Use of Automatic Transport Ventilator is NOT required (As Adopted)	Use of Automatic Transport Ventilator is NOT required (As Adopted)

	Use of Manually Triggered Ventilator is NOT required	Use of Manually Triggered Ventilator is NOT required

	Automatic Blood Pressure acquisition is NOT required

	EtCO2 Capnograph/Capnometer is NOT a required skill. Colormetric devices ARE required.

Parsons’ Train-the-Trainer

October 10, 2010 in General | Tags: Kansas EMS Transition, Kansas EMS Transition Airplane, Region 6 EMS | by Friesen Group | Leave a comment

Our third train-the-trainer class is now finished. We spent the weekend in Parsons at Labette Health teaching the transition train-the-trainer to another great group of people. Thanks to Region VI and Labette Health EMS for their great hospitality and to those who attended for their participation!

Region 6 Airplane Flight

Region 6 Train the Trainer Class