Abdominal Trauma

Course overview

Abdominal trauma patients make up a significant volume of emergencies presented to the prehospital healthcare provider and are associated with significantly high morbidity and mortality when delays in surgical interventions arise. The goal of this course is to increase knowledge and awareness, as well as to present concepts and care for all Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) personnel. This course provides an ideal refresher for trained individuals currently working in the field of prehospital care and in location-based settings. The care of the patient with abdominal trauma can range from simple interventions such as keen observation, intravenous fluid maintenance, and transport, to serious hemorrhage control, protecting eviscerated organs, and rapid transfer to advanced trauma centers. As with all aspects of individual patient presentation there are associated difficulties with abdominal trauma that can easily change the care necessary. You must have a basic understanding of medical terminology and human anatomy and physiology (A&P). The material in this course will increase basic and intermediate level A&P of the abdominal and pelvic region; therefore, prerequisite knowledge of this information is suggested, although not required. The care and treatment of all patients encountered should fall within: the level of training, the scope of care of the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and/or Paramedic, the medical protocol of the supervising medical director, and, as it pertains, your current medical standard operating procedures (SOPs). The details provided in this course revolve around the abdominal trauma patient population and incidents, management, and care of those conditions and situations.