A Bright Future for Critical Care
The 36th Critical Care Congress upheld and surpassed the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s outstanding reputation for providing quality educational opportunities to all members of the critical care team. More than 5,000 healthcare professionals, faculty and industry partners gathered in Orlando, Florida, USA, to participate in the Society's largest educational event.Themes reiterated throughout this year’s Congress included messages about the importance of mentoring and teaching, professional growth and disaster preparedness.
During his presidential address, Frederick Ognibene, MD, FCCM, set the mood for these five days of learning, stressing the importance of mentoring and sharing with colleagues the knowledge gained during Congress. As he encouraged participants to play an active role in their critical care community he asked, “Who will remember your name? Who will call you “mentor”? Who will credit you for starting their life in critical care?” He challenged the healthcare professionals in the audience to help younger generations develop careers and form strong, healthy relationships with industry partners and administrators.
Guests Observe FDM Program
Among the participants at the Fundamentals of Disaster Management (FDM) pre-course were two guests from Lockheed Martin Information Technology, contractors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). Health scientists Eileen Malatino, RN, and Debraelee Esbitt, RN, were invited by FDM subcommittee chair Lewis Rubinson, MD, PhD, to observe the course and its use of SNS ventilators as well as its new focus on training critical care professionals specifically.
The Society used SNS ventilators during the course to familiarize students with the equipment they likely will use in the event of a man-made or natural disaster. “The CDC wants to be able to facilitate opportunities for training at a state or regional level. Allowing end users the opportunity to become acquainted with unfamiliar equipment before it is needed in an emergency just makes sense,” said Ms. Malatino. “The lecture sessions before the skill stations provided relevant information on the various aspects of disasters. The FDM program is one way to provide the hands-on experience needed to familiarize persons who will be providing ventilator care.”
The CDC established the SNS in part to develop an inventory of life saving pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and equipment. Ventilators are considered critical equipment that would be needed during events that resulted in mass-casualties. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) working at the New Orleans International Airport requested a shipment of ventilators in case they were needed. DMATs are part of the National Disaster Medical System and operate under the department of Health and Human Services. The SNS deployed 28 ventilators that remained on site throughout the response. Fortunately, there was never a need to use the ventilators, but the SNS was able to test its deployment procedures and to evaluate its recovery procedures as a result of this deployment. The FDM course prepares healthcare professionals for similar situations, and training with the actual ventilators used during such events is vital to training. Just-in-time instruction for the end-users of the ventilators may not be sufficient to save lives.
“The individuals providing the skill station training during Congress did an exceptional job at demonstrating the ventilators and answering questions. It was a very thorough and well-organized program,” said Ms. Malatino. The Society was pleased to host these guests and hopes to continue to build healthy relationships with the CDC. A demonstration of the Society’s new Hospital Mass-Casualty Disaster Management (HDM) Course also was presented during Congress to those eager to see what this program will offer. The demonstration explained the core principals of the HDM program, including its focus on preparing non-critical care providers with the tools to augment hospital inpatient capacity, specifically critical care capacity. More information about this course will be available soon, but it was very well received during the program overview at Congress.
Save the Date
The Society would like to thank all participants who were able to enjoy this premiere educational experience. Save the date for the 37th Critical Care Congress in Hawaii, to be held February 2 to 6, 2008. More information will be available in the June issue of Critical Connections.
