NMCC offers critical care class
Seventeen nurses and paramedics from Maine, Florida, New Mexico, Washington, Kentucky and New York recently spent two weeks at Northern Maine Community College completing a 100-hour certification class for Critical Care Transport.
Photo courtesy of Northern Maine Community College
SEVENTEEN NURSES and paramedics were recently trained to use specialty equipment as part of the critical care transport certification class held at NMCC. Participants included, from left, front row: Bangor paramedics Corey Cole and Kelly Mims. Back row: Josh Dickson, class instructor and flight paramedic with LifeFlight of Maine; Walter Mosher, paramedic from Mars Hill, and Jeff Leighton, paramedic from Fort Fairfield.
The class, offered once every two years by NMCC’s Continuing Education Division, teaches professionals the special skills needed to transport critically ill patients from the field or a hospital in ground, air or fixed wing environments to tertiary care facilities which are typically hundreds of miles away.
This program is a collaboration between the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and NMCC.
“NMCC is one of only two sites in Maine and only 49 nationwide approved by UMBC to provide this training; the other Maine site being Southern Maine Community College in South Portland,” said Scott Michaud, coordinator for the Critical Care Medical Transport Professional (CCEMTP) program, who also serves as training coordinator for the Northern Maine Area Health Education Center at NMCC.
All the students successfully passed the intensive three-hour, 110-question exam and received CCEMPT certification. In addition to the initial certification, the course provided an opportunity for current critical care providers in the area to update their skills; an additional 15 students participated in modules of the course to recertify as a practicing CCEMTP, as required every three years by UMBC.
NMCC offered on-campus housing for those students who traveled from away.
“Since this is an intensive two weeks for the students, the convenience of having housing and meals available on campus provided a positive experience and allowed them to focus entirely on the class,” said Michaud.
The instructors for this program were area physicians, physician assistants and family nurse practitioners from Cary Medical Center, Pines Health Services, TAMC, Horizons Health Services and LifeFlight of Maine. These specialty practitioners, through lecture and hands-on training, taught the participants how to manage critical patients during high-risk transfers involving respiratory and cardiac emergencies, trauma situations and obstetrics. Topics covered included burn care, pediatric considerations, sepsis, pharmacology, advanced airway management, neurology, hematology and lab interpretations.
