With the National Association of Emergency Medical Trainers (NAEMT), AUA’s Emergency Medical Training Center (EMTC) held the Eastern Caribbean’s first-ever Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) course.
Congratulations to AUA’s EMTC, led by EMTC Director Vernon Solomon and EMTC Manager Marlon Destin! Earlier this month, they conducted the first-ever PHTLS course in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States region. Representatives from the NAEMT facilitated the training and evaluated the EMTC trainers. In October 2017, AUA’s EMTC was approved by the US-based NAEMT as an official NAEMT training center. The NAEMT sets the global standard in Emergency Medical Services evidence-based, field-tested, continuing education that emphasizes critical thinking skills to obtain the best patient outcomes.
The PHTLS course is designed by NAEMT and recognized around the world as the leading continuing education program for prehospital emergency trauma care. The mission of the PHTLS course is to promote excellence in trauma patient management by all providers involved in the delivery of prehospital care. It is based on a philosophy that stresses multisystem treatment of the trauma patient as a unique entity with specific needs. The course is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education, recognized by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, and taught in 64 countries.
NAEMT trainers, Dr. Gustavo Flores and Chad McIntyre, oversaw the course. Dr. Flores is the state advocacy coordinator for Puerto Rico, a member of the NAEMT Emergency Pediatric Care Committee, and an international faculty member for many of the AHA and NAEMT education programs. He is also the director and chief instructor at Emergency & Critical Care Trainings LLC, a company that offers continuing education to health-care providers; an air medical crewman for Puerto Rico-based REVA Air Ambulance; and a volunteer member of First Response EM in Puerto Rico. In addition, Dr. Flores is associate editor for the Spanish-language magazine Revista EMS World, an editorial board member of EMS1.com, and a member of the American Heart Association’s Educational Science and Program Subcommittee.
Mr. McIntyre is a NAEMT board member, vice president of the Florida Air Medical Association, and co-chair of the Florida Air Ambulance Advocacy committee. He is a member of the International Board of Specialty Certification board of directors, and is the only air ambulance advisory representative on the United States Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council.
It is AUA’s and EMTC’s great honor to be so actively involved with NAEMT initiatives and for the EMTC to be officially recognized as an NAEMT training center. We look forward to future NAEMT collaborations. It augments our capacity to train Antigua’s first responders and serve the residents of Antigua and Barbuda.
