All hospital emergency departments occasionally see burn patients. Recently, 22 members of the OLVH team participated training to enhance their ability to treat burn injuries. An additional 15 people will be taking the course in the future. Carol Meyer, Risk Manager at OLVH says, “In any emergency or trauma situation, the first hours are critical. This training allows us to effectively treat burn patients when they come through our doors. We can begin the critical fluid resuscitation and stabilization prior to transfer to a burn center.”

The Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS) training is an eight-hour course for hospital-based physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, therapists, and paramedics. The course provides guidelines in the assessment and management of the burn patient during the first 24 hours after the injury.

During the course, the team learned how to:

Evaluate a patient with a serious burn
Define the magnitude and severity of the injury
Identify and establish priorities of treatment
Manage the airway and support ventilation
Initiate and monitor fluid resuscitation
Determine which patients should be transferred to a burn center based on set criteria
Organize and conduct the inter-hospital transfer of a seriously injured burn patient

People who completed the training were:

Mary Chaplinski, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Casey Dorn, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Cynthia Frese, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Deanne Gintner, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Peter Gintner, PAC, Emergency Department

Roxanne Greene, RN, Vice President of Nursing

Zahid Hameed , MD, Emergency Department Physician

Mary LaRue, RT, Respiratory Therapy

Barbara Lato, RN, Acute Care Nurse Manager

Mary Leech, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Debra Lewan, RN, Operating Room/Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Mary Mahr, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Carol Meyer, RN, Disaster Preparedness, Emergency Department

Jennifer Mincoff, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Mary Morello, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Stephanie Nichols, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Dwight Perkins, CRNA/APNP, Anesthesia

Emile Salvo, MD, Emergency Department Physician

Debra Savina RN, Operating Room/Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Toni Smith, RN, Emergency Department Nurse Manager

Jenny Simon, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse

Scott Turenne, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse