Dixie Regional staff, EMS personnel train together in traumatic injury simulations

ST. GEORGE – One after another, teams of emergency medical personnel responded to simulations involving a patient with traumatic injuries Thursday in the parking lot of the Foremaster Building south of Dixie Regional Medical Center as fellow EMS personnel and hospital trauma staff watched their efforts through a video feed.

Emergency medical services personnel and members of Dixie Regional Medical Center’s trauma staff train together on medical simulation mannequins during a series of traumatic injury simulations held by Dixie Regional Medical Center, St. George, Utah, May 31, 2018 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

One incident simulated the near-drowning of a child at Sand Hollow Reservoir while also dealing with severe head trauma. Another involved a pregnant woman who was in a head-on vehicle collision. Other simulations dealt with a gunshot victim, a man with severe burns and one who had his right leg amputated in an ATV rollover.

The patients – medical simulation mannequins – were treated at the imaginary scene and then placed on a stretcher. From there they were taken to a conference room inside where an emergency room doctor and trauma staff waited in a simulated trauma bay.

“This particular conference was about trauma scenarios so we could incorporate what we do in the field with how it transfers over in the ER – so they can see a little bit into our world and we can see a bit into their world,” said Kristin Ford, a firefighter and paramedic with the Hurricane Valley Fire District.

Following the conclusion of each scenario, the assembled group of EMS personnel and hospital staff discussed and critiqued the results.

Dixie Regional received Level II trauma certification last year, allowing the hospital to treat trauma patients locally rather than having to fly them to Salt Lake City or Las Vegas for care.

Read more: Dixie Regional achieves official Level II trauma status

Emergency medical services personnel and members of Dixie Regional Medical Center’s trauma staff train together on medical simulation mannequins during a series of traumatic injury simulations held by Dixie Regional Medical Center, St. George, Utah, May 31, 2018 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

The purpose of the quarterly conferences Dixie Regional holds with the EMS agencies is to train with those agencies, as well as aid in the annual training EMS personnel need for continuing education requirements, said Janeen Avant, an emergency room nurse and clinical coordinator in the ER at Dixie Regional who also flies with Intermountain Life Flight.

As hospital trauma staff also require annual training to keep their certifications valid, the training and conference were combined this year.

“This is just a way for our ER teams and out EMS teams to work together and learn and grow together and train together,” Avant said.

Among the agencies present at the conference Thursday were Gold Cross Ambulance, Hurricane Valley Fire District, Intermountain Life Flight, Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District, Santa Clara-Ivins Fire Department and members of the Dixie State University EMS program, among others.

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Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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