| EVENT: |
Advanced HAZMAT Life Support Courses |
| DATE/TIME: |
Monday, March 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| LOCATION: | The University of Arizona Memorial Union, Rincon Room |
| NOTE: | Participants, including Capt. Bud Paine from the Ganado Fire District, (paramedics, nurses and physicians) and instructors of the course will be available during course breaks to talk about their previous experiences with treating hazardous materials. The course is primarily classroom instruction, with interactive group exercises on the afternoon of March 4. Please contact Beth Pouska at (520) 626-5540 to coordinate interview times. |
Several national reports on the state of readiness of the nation and individual states have recommended the need for more training of those responding to the medical needs of those affected by such accidents - or worse, an act of terrorism using biological, chemical or nuclear agents. More than 45 Arizona paramedics, nurses and physicians will come one step closer to being prepared to respond to patients exposed to hazardous materials after the Advanced HAZMAT Life Support (AHLS) course in Tucson, Monday and Tuesday, March 3 and 4.
One of the participants, Capt. Bud Paine from the Ganado Fire District on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona, was a member of one of the departments effected by one of Arizona's largest transportation-related hazmat incidents in Kingman, Ariz. in 1973 that killed 13. Remembering this incident, and currently being located close to major roads with large cargo shipments (11 miles from I-40, U.S. 191 and Highway 264) incidents, Capt. Paine is taking the AHLS course to ensure he has the knowledge to treat patients exposed to hazardous materials. "I am trying to learn as much as I can about hazmat, and especially about being able to help someone who has been exposed to a hazardous environment," he says.
AHLS is an international continuing medical education course that teaches emergency medicine professionals how to identify hazardous materials based on patient's signs and symptoms and how to treat patients for particular substances.
"Hazmat happens," says Frank Walter, MD, associate professor of emergency medicine at the UA and the medical director for the Critical Response Emergency Systems Training program at the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center (AEMRC). "With thousands of toxins that can cause harm to individuals, our emergency responders get a solid understanding of what to look for and how to provide life-saving treatment for patients."
AHLS has trained more than 9,000 health-care professionals (including 630 from Arizona) from 46 nations. The Tucson course is being offered in partnership with the Critical Response and Emergency Systems Training (CREST) program at the AEMRC. CREST has provided continuing medical education courses in Arizona to more than 3,000 health-care professionals as part of a $4.46 million federal grant. AHLS was developed at the Arizona Emergency Medical Research Center (AEMRC), a Center of Excellence at The University of Arizona College of Medicine, in collaboration with the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology.
For more information about the AHLS program, visit www.ahls.org.
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Hazardous Materials Safety: http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/inc/hmisframe.htm
Established by the Arizona Board of Regents in 1990, the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center is a Center of Excellence at The University of Arizona College of Medicine. AEMRC's mission is the advancement of research, education and training in emergency medicine. For more information about AEMRC visit its Web site at www.aemrc.arizona.edu.
