Why We Are Passionate About Training First Responders
First responders are part of the patient care team. Dr. Alan Rossi, Medical Director of VCU Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education and Medical Director of VCU Paramedic Program, discusses training first responders to better serve the community.
Featured Speaker:
Learn more about Alan Rossi, MD
Alan Rossi, MD
Alan Rossi, MD is the Medical Director, VCU Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education; Medical Director, VCU Paramedic Program.Learn more about Alan Rossi, MD
Transcription:
Why We Are Passionate About Training First Responders
Alyne Ellis (Host): Once you have a medical emergency, VCU Health is there. VCU Health has top trauma surgeons and nurses to help you. My guest today is Dr. Alan Rossi, the Medical Director of the VCU Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education. Welcome, to Healthy with VCU Health. I’m Alyne Ellis. Dr. Rossi, thanks for joining me. VCU Health trains the highest volume of EMTs and other first responders in the region. What impact has this had on patient outcomes?
Alan Rossi, MD (Guest): So, medicine and especially trauma care is a team sport. The care of the patient is a continuum that starts in the prehospital setting and continues through the hospital and on through their course of recovery. Because the hospital is a fixed place, what we always want to make sure is that part of our mission in addition to patient care, is providing excellent education and community outreach to our region. One of the ways that we do that is through our Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education.
And one of the main aspects of this center is our paramedic program. VCU trains the majority of the paramedics that go through paramedic training in the state of Virginia. And that allows us to train people, to bring outreach to the community, to provide excellent patient care where we can go out and respond to things and bring them back to any of our regional centers for the best possible patient care.
So, through education and outreach, we can help to bring the hospital out to the patient and continue to impact education and provide high quality patient care throughout the community.
Host: How many centers do you have?
Dr. Rossi: So, VCU is a comprehensive adult, pediatric, and burn level I trauma center in central Virginia. And through this center, we have an impact on the region and we work with other hospitals throughout Virginia as a referral center. So, one of the things that we do is, no matter what phone call we get, our answer here is always yes. If any of our community partners needs to transfer a patient, if any of our community partners have a question or need any kind of referral information; we try to always outreach with education and outreach with an open arm and by saying yes, we can help with that patient care. And that’s one of our definite missions here throughout the hospital and especially in the department of surgery.
So, that is what it means to be a referral center. And then we also provide outreach so that we can have our colleagues that we train throughout the community as part of our center with education. So, not only do we train paramedics, but the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education also specializes in continuing medical education for physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical students, and all levels of healthcare providers through a lot of different courses that have all the letters that you add to the end of your name such as the Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basic Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support. These are all courses that keep people up to date on changes through different specialties of medicine.
And so, it’s one of our missions here in the center to provide that ongoing education for our healthcare providers here at our hospital and throughout the region.
Host: So, Dr. Rossi, VCU Health has been doing this important training for years and it’s a critical piece of your level I trauma status. So, as you celebrate your 40th anniversary in 2020; how is has training changed over time?
Dr. Rossi: Well it’s been amazing because the center started in 1980 and part of its mission at that point was the paramedic program and it started through having a way to initiate outreach from the department of surgery and the trauma program. Over time, we’ve added different courses to help with providing that education. And it’s meant so much for me to be able to be a part of this as I joined the VCU community. The Director of the Center, Jay Gould and the Director of the Paramedic Program, Ken Williams, are amazing individuals who have been doing this for years and make a huge impact throughout the region.
Anywhere you go throughout Virginia, people know who Jay and Ken are and they are always there as a resource for education. And we’ve always done this under the leadership of the chief of our division here. The current Chief is Dr. Michel Aboutanos who is our guiding physician for how we can impact patient care, trauma care and education for the region. And so, we always try to find ways to continue to build the center and currently, we are looking into how we can work towards involving more simulation into education for medicine and surgery training.
We know that over time, one of the biggest changes in medicine has been work hour restrictions. And that has really changed how people train throughout all specialties of medicine. And so, we look at ways to impact training. How can we have these experiences when there is some limited time with resources and one of the ways that we try to strive to do that is through simulation. And simulation has been used for many years and has many different avenues. I always mention that in medicine we always try to be forever students, always looking for how we can continue to impact our own education and the education of our colleagues so that we can continue to impact and have the best quality care for our patients.
Host: And when you look into the future Dr. Rossi, what do you see? Do you have any anticipation of what’s coming up? What’s your vision for the future of the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education?
Dr. Rossi: Well I think that the best vision for the future is knowing that there are so many possibilities because of the amazing people who work through the center and who work here at VCU. I think that there are so many innovative things that we can do, and we work through different projects that come out of national organizations; we are always trying to bring things home to our local community and then to the region.
One of the things that we’re really making an impact with throughout Virginia and with working with other hospitals throughout the community is the Stop the Bleed Campaign. The Stop the Bleed Campaign is a huge mission for the American College of Surgeons as a way to respond to the fact that bleeding leading to hemorrhage is basically the number one cause of death in trauma and injury. Bleeding is something that we want to make sure that people know throughout the community whether you are a hospital provider, a prehospital provider, a high school teacher or anyone working in any place; how can you impact bleeding if something happens to yourself or a colleague or someone around you? And this program actually was initiated as a response to these active shooter events that we have seen happen over the years. And how can we teach people about direct pressure, packing wounds, applying tourniquets? These skills are so lifesaving and anyone of any skill levels can help. Direct pressure, holding pressure on a wound seems so simple. But it’s something that we want people to know how to do because we do it in the operating room. We do it in the trauma bay. So, we want to make sure that if somebody has any kind of bleeding issue in a high school, in a theater, at a camp, then they know how to help though the Stop the Bleed Campaign, which started as an impact for how can we respond to these active shooter events; we know that bleeding can happen from any trauma.
And the goal for the future, is that perhaps there will be a time when next to every AED defibrillator that we see around because the American Heart Association has taught everyone about CPR, next to those defibrillators would be a bleeding control kit and then the people would know this would be how to respond to bleeding. So, we continue to look for these things where we can help impact the community under programs that are national initiatives and be a part of developing this for the region and the community. And so, I think that the great thing about the future is, how open it is to continue our education for our center, for our community, for our regional partners so that we can always impact the health and safety of our surrounding patients and partners.
Host: Thanks to the dedicated work of VCU Health and the trainers of the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education; you can be assured that you have well-prepared providers ready to respond when you call 9-1-1. For more information about the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education, CTCCE; call VCU Health at 804-828-4204, that’s 804-828-4204. To listen to other podcasts from VCU Health, visit www.vcuhealth.org/podcasts. This is Healthy with VCU Health. I’m Alyne Ellis. Thanks for listening.
Why We Are Passionate About Training First Responders
Alyne Ellis (Host): Once you have a medical emergency, VCU Health is there. VCU Health has top trauma surgeons and nurses to help you. My guest today is Dr. Alan Rossi, the Medical Director of the VCU Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education. Welcome, to Healthy with VCU Health. I’m Alyne Ellis. Dr. Rossi, thanks for joining me. VCU Health trains the highest volume of EMTs and other first responders in the region. What impact has this had on patient outcomes?
Alan Rossi, MD (Guest): So, medicine and especially trauma care is a team sport. The care of the patient is a continuum that starts in the prehospital setting and continues through the hospital and on through their course of recovery. Because the hospital is a fixed place, what we always want to make sure is that part of our mission in addition to patient care, is providing excellent education and community outreach to our region. One of the ways that we do that is through our Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education.
And one of the main aspects of this center is our paramedic program. VCU trains the majority of the paramedics that go through paramedic training in the state of Virginia. And that allows us to train people, to bring outreach to the community, to provide excellent patient care where we can go out and respond to things and bring them back to any of our regional centers for the best possible patient care.
So, through education and outreach, we can help to bring the hospital out to the patient and continue to impact education and provide high quality patient care throughout the community.
Host: How many centers do you have?
Dr. Rossi: So, VCU is a comprehensive adult, pediatric, and burn level I trauma center in central Virginia. And through this center, we have an impact on the region and we work with other hospitals throughout Virginia as a referral center. So, one of the things that we do is, no matter what phone call we get, our answer here is always yes. If any of our community partners needs to transfer a patient, if any of our community partners have a question or need any kind of referral information; we try to always outreach with education and outreach with an open arm and by saying yes, we can help with that patient care. And that’s one of our definite missions here throughout the hospital and especially in the department of surgery.
So, that is what it means to be a referral center. And then we also provide outreach so that we can have our colleagues that we train throughout the community as part of our center with education. So, not only do we train paramedics, but the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education also specializes in continuing medical education for physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical students, and all levels of healthcare providers through a lot of different courses that have all the letters that you add to the end of your name such as the Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basic Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support. These are all courses that keep people up to date on changes through different specialties of medicine.
And so, it’s one of our missions here in the center to provide that ongoing education for our healthcare providers here at our hospital and throughout the region.
Host: So, Dr. Rossi, VCU Health has been doing this important training for years and it’s a critical piece of your level I trauma status. So, as you celebrate your 40th anniversary in 2020; how is has training changed over time?
Dr. Rossi: Well it’s been amazing because the center started in 1980 and part of its mission at that point was the paramedic program and it started through having a way to initiate outreach from the department of surgery and the trauma program. Over time, we’ve added different courses to help with providing that education. And it’s meant so much for me to be able to be a part of this as I joined the VCU community. The Director of the Center, Jay Gould and the Director of the Paramedic Program, Ken Williams, are amazing individuals who have been doing this for years and make a huge impact throughout the region.
Anywhere you go throughout Virginia, people know who Jay and Ken are and they are always there as a resource for education. And we’ve always done this under the leadership of the chief of our division here. The current Chief is Dr. Michel Aboutanos who is our guiding physician for how we can impact patient care, trauma care and education for the region. And so, we always try to find ways to continue to build the center and currently, we are looking into how we can work towards involving more simulation into education for medicine and surgery training.
We know that over time, one of the biggest changes in medicine has been work hour restrictions. And that has really changed how people train throughout all specialties of medicine. And so, we look at ways to impact training. How can we have these experiences when there is some limited time with resources and one of the ways that we try to strive to do that is through simulation. And simulation has been used for many years and has many different avenues. I always mention that in medicine we always try to be forever students, always looking for how we can continue to impact our own education and the education of our colleagues so that we can continue to impact and have the best quality care for our patients.
Host: And when you look into the future Dr. Rossi, what do you see? Do you have any anticipation of what’s coming up? What’s your vision for the future of the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education?
Dr. Rossi: Well I think that the best vision for the future is knowing that there are so many possibilities because of the amazing people who work through the center and who work here at VCU. I think that there are so many innovative things that we can do, and we work through different projects that come out of national organizations; we are always trying to bring things home to our local community and then to the region.
One of the things that we’re really making an impact with throughout Virginia and with working with other hospitals throughout the community is the Stop the Bleed Campaign. The Stop the Bleed Campaign is a huge mission for the American College of Surgeons as a way to respond to the fact that bleeding leading to hemorrhage is basically the number one cause of death in trauma and injury. Bleeding is something that we want to make sure that people know throughout the community whether you are a hospital provider, a prehospital provider, a high school teacher or anyone working in any place; how can you impact bleeding if something happens to yourself or a colleague or someone around you? And this program actually was initiated as a response to these active shooter events that we have seen happen over the years. And how can we teach people about direct pressure, packing wounds, applying tourniquets? These skills are so lifesaving and anyone of any skill levels can help. Direct pressure, holding pressure on a wound seems so simple. But it’s something that we want people to know how to do because we do it in the operating room. We do it in the trauma bay. So, we want to make sure that if somebody has any kind of bleeding issue in a high school, in a theater, at a camp, then they know how to help though the Stop the Bleed Campaign, which started as an impact for how can we respond to these active shooter events; we know that bleeding can happen from any trauma.
And the goal for the future, is that perhaps there will be a time when next to every AED defibrillator that we see around because the American Heart Association has taught everyone about CPR, next to those defibrillators would be a bleeding control kit and then the people would know this would be how to respond to bleeding. So, we continue to look for these things where we can help impact the community under programs that are national initiatives and be a part of developing this for the region and the community. And so, I think that the great thing about the future is, how open it is to continue our education for our center, for our community, for our regional partners so that we can always impact the health and safety of our surrounding patients and partners.
Host: Thanks to the dedicated work of VCU Health and the trainers of the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education; you can be assured that you have well-prepared providers ready to respond when you call 9-1-1. For more information about the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education, CTCCE; call VCU Health at 804-828-4204, that’s 804-828-4204. To listen to other podcasts from VCU Health, visit www.vcuhealth.org/podcasts. This is Healthy with VCU Health. I’m Alyne Ellis. Thanks for listening.