All 141 emergency responders working for the Lakeland Fire Department are now certified in pre-hospital trauma life support, the agency announced.
PHTLS, designed by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, improves the quality of trauma care provided by emergency responders and decreases patient mortality. The of skills developed by the training also allow EMTs to recognize traumatic injuries and illness in the field so that patients can be better prioritized based on need, the fire department said.
PHTLS is usually reserved for paramedics because of their ability to offer Advanced Life Support services. But to better bridge the gap in the level of service provided between paramedics and emergency medical technicians, Lakeland FD decided to train all of its emergency responders in PHTLS. The agency becomes one of the few in the region to have all emergency responders certified in PHLTS.
The PHTLS program is recognized internationally as the premier pre-hospital education program, according to the Lakeland officials It was developed and provided by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, which is the national professional association that represents all EMTs and paramedics.