Due to the large amount of lecture topics I now have to chose from (over 45 to date) I have had to resort to just providing a pdf of my List of Topics. 12-2024_list_of_topics.pdf Also due to the large amount of lecture topics, we have retired a few of the ones that haven't been picked up by conferences in the last couple of years. That doesn't mean we can't bring them out of retirement though! Shoot us a message and let us know what you are looking for: we may already have one ready to update and refresh for your class/conference needs.
ALL topics have 30 and 60 minute options available. A few have 90 minute options and are indicated on the list.
This list is continually being updated and posted so make sure and check in often to see what might have changed. The newest releases will be listed at the top of the list on this page as well as under the "Coming Soon" tab.
Please note that the list above also contains a few additional nursing topics that have been asked about in the past. ESI and Basic Cardiology are designed for new nurses and EMTs that haven't had any cardiac training.
New for 2024:
History's Mysteries II: More interesting ways famous people have died. Back by popular demand, Janet now has enough to feature another hour of interesting famous people and how they died.
Harder to Breathe: ARDS Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) was previously known as double pneumonia or walking pneumonia. Now we have a better understanding of the pathophysiology of ARDS, we can better recognize it and treat it. Even with the best treatment, ARDS still has a 43% mortality rate. What are the criteria for diagnosing ARDS? What can we do to prevent intubation?
Getting Under My Skin: Non-burn injuries that go to the Burn Unit
Why is it that serious road rash and frost bite gets admitted to a Burn Unit? They aren't burns and isn't that what the Burn Unit is for? Rather than looking at a Burn Unit as strictly for burns, it would be more accurate to think of it as a "skin unit", where anything cutaneous can be treated. We will review the anatomy of skin and some special cases, including specific burns that are treated in a Burn Unit.
Bang Your Head: Traumatic Head Injuries What would you see that is different in a frontal head injury versus a basilar skull fracture? What other part of the skull would you expect to have a fracture if the patient has a basilar skull fracture? What type of head injury causes personality changes? And what is Axial loading anyway? We go into detail with the different types of head injuries and specific findings that you would expect to see. This isn’t your “normal” neuro assessment (that’s a whole other lecture )
Industrial Revolution: First response in an industrial setting
Responding to a trauma in an industrial setting can be challenging just with the different settings possible in your service area. Welding shops, paint shops, farms/ranches, auto mechanics, and construction sites are just a few examples of what we can respond to. While general trauma care is still utilized, we need to understand specifics with industrial settings. In this presentation, we will address some of the specific injuries we would see in industrial settings. We will go over chemical exposures and decontamination, ocular injuries, high pressure injection injuries, degloving, impaled objects, burns and Harness/Suspension syndrome to name a few. (Trauma, Operations)
New for 2023: Live and Let Die...with Dignity: Handling Death and Honoring DNRs' How many times have you responded to the residence of someone who is dying and when asked about DNR paperwork, the family responds, “Oh, we’ve been meaning to get that done”, or, “It’s here somewhere…” We will review the difference between dying and actively dying, and how to honor what your patient would have wanted, maybe even if the family isn’t willing. (Medical, Operations)
"Them Bones: Handling Extremity Injuries" Is it broken? What is the difference between a sprain and a strain? When are you allowed to walk on a broken leg? Which is better, a pillow splint or a flexible aluminum splint? What is compartment syndrome? When should we worry about this? Trauma
Clue Me In: Using Critical Thinking Skills to Answer Questions about Your Patient Sometimes your patient can’t or won’t tell you what is wrong. Maybe they are a poor historian, unresponsive or just not understanding your need for information to complete a SAMPLE history. But what about the things around them? It is not uncommon to find clues on or around your patient to help clue you in to what is going on. This presentation will help you focus on the scene around you and to help you make sense of certain medications, items, and behaviors to help clue you in.
There's Something In The Water: Drowning In 2002, the World Health Organization released its new guidelines regarding the definition of drowning, but no one noticed. 20 years later, we are still behind in proper identification of drowning and, more importantly, treatment. We will go over the pathophysiology behind drowning, and why we need to change our thinking when someone walks up to you and reports, “I drowned”.
Take My Breath Away: Ventilator Management Good ventilator management can make a difference on a patient based on your critical thinking skills and vent settings. Every vent is basically the same, but some have more bells and whistles than others. The main goal is to mimic the patient’s own respiratory function for his/her condition to improve ventilation and perfusion and decrease ICU/ventilator days. Why would you want to increase the minute volume on an acidic patient? Why doesn’t an increase in FI02 always improve Sp02? Based on which version you chose for your participants will decide on how in depth we can get with vent management. Many of the major brands of vents will be represented here so we can see just how “easy” it can be. J New for 2022: Special Delivery: Postpartum care in the 1st Hour. We’ve all had to take the obligatory childbirth class but what happens in the hour following delivery? What should we expect? The number of elective home births has surged since the beginning of the pandemic, and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down. What should mom and baby being doing? Can mom get up and shower? What if the placenta doesn’t deliver when it should? When SHOULD a placenta delivery occur?
New for 2021 The Final Cut: Field Amputations While being faced with doing a field amputation is considered rare, caring for a patient who has already cut off a limb in an accident is common and most of us have a couple of these types of calls under our belt already. We will review ALL aspects of an amputation including mechanism of injury, recovering a limb, partial versus complete amputations, and what criteria is considered IF you were, in fact, faced with the possibility of doing the amputation yourself.
Short Circuit: Seizures We will review the newest seizure classification as well as treatment protocols and Seizure mimics include pseudo-seizures and Pseudo Seizures (hint, there IS a difference)
Time is Brain: Stroke Assessment and Treatment Guidelines Based on the 2020 AHA guidelines for CVA recognition and treatment, we will review the different types of strokes as well as the different assessments you will find based on what portion of the brain a stroke is effecting. Assessment, recognition and timely decision making as to where we will transport a patient for intervention is discussed.
The Right Stuff: Critical Thinking Application ALS version (1 hour) Being able to apply critical care knowledge to actual cases will help reinforce your knowledge and help “work out the kinks” of critical thinking and differential diagnosis. In this presentation, you will see actual case studies of patients, some with a lot of detail and some with very little detail for you to go on. From this, you must decide what is wrong with the patient, and what YOU need to do to improve the patient’s outcome. ** Keep in mind this is an ALS version. There is a critical care version available also.