EMS1 Academy has added many new system features and functionality this year, continuing to improve our training management solution for EMS agencies. Most recently, we turned our focus to our course library and making it easy for administrators to find exactly what they’re looking to assign to personnel. As a result, we’ve re-organized our set of available course topics. Our content development and accreditation teams works hard to ensure we continue to offer the most relevant training topics for the safety and preparation of our first responders, as well as provide the best user experience in our learning management solution.

On January 11, 2019, the new categories will go into effect and will be available to administrators in the ‘Topics’ drop-down menu within EMS1 Academy. Some of the topics will look familiar and will not have changed. There will also be a new set of topics not previously offered. All courses, including any custom courses you may have created within the system specific to your agency, have been moved accordingly to the most appropriate topic.

An added bonus? As we overhauled the categories used across our nearly 3,300 courses at Praetorian Digital, we identified nearly 125 courses that cover highly-requested professional development needs like Human Resources, General Safety, Professional Skills and more, which we’ll be adding to department accounts when we make the change later this month. All courses are in the process of being submitted to the appropriate accrediting bodies for review for possible credit towards license requirements. Additional details will be provided as they become available.

A full mapping of the topic changes are included below for easy reference. You can always contact your Customer Success Manager with any questions you may have as well.

View the topic changes below:

EMS1 Academy recently released a new one-hour course on Medication-Resistant Pathogens (MRSA) and 23 new short video courses. To address EMS related incidents across the country, EMS1 Academy continues to create courses to help first responders learn and apply the training in everyday situations. With a subscription to EMS1 Academy’s online training system, EMS agencies gain exclusive access to some of the best training online for first responders and EMS professionals.

With more than 225 EMS courses and over 275 hours of EMS CE credit available in our online library, personnel gain access to training on-the-go, in multiple formats, to accommodate the pace of the profession. Simplify agency management and meet training compliance using features to easily track course completions, manage internal policies, create custom courses, organize credential requirements and more!

Newly Released Courses

• Medication-Resistant Pathogens (MRSA)
• 4 Types of Shock
• Birth Positions & Cord Clamping
• Clinical Complications of Tracheostomy Tube
• Crossfit: A Fitness Program Well-Suited to EMS Professionals
• Everyday EMS with Greg Friese: Keeping Patients Warm
• HIPAA: Permitted Uses and Disclosures
• Nitrous Oxide Field Unit Training
• Remember 2 Things: Becoming a Critical Care Paramedic
• Remember 2 Things: Becoming a Critical Care Paramedic 2
• Remember 2 Things: Employee Turnover
• Remember 2 Things: Exit Interviews and Employee Retention
• Remember 2 Things: High Performance Disaster Response Teams
• Remember 2 Things: Using Lay Providers in Disaster Situations
• Remember 2 Things: Workplace Incentives
• Remember 2 Things: Aggressive EMS Treatment of Sepsis
• Remember 2 Things: Debunking Obsterical Practices
• Remember 2 Things: Disaster Medical Teams
• Remember 2 Things: Disaster Response
• Replacing a Pediatric Tracheostomy Tube
• Scenarios About Applying HIPAA in the Real World
• Sepsis and Capnography
• Tactical Yoga for EMS
• Tips for Better Patient Assessment

For more information on EMS1 Academy, click here to schedule a demo, email our Customer Success Team or call 800.671.9411 to speak with one of our EMS1 Academy representatives.

Whether you’re a small, midsize or large agency, ensuring that personnel are earning CEU and getting the hours they need before recertification can be a challenge. With EMS1 Academy, EMS Coordinators can stay on top of credential compliance. Accessible through our online platform, the credential manager allows administrators to document and maintain employee licenses, generate reports, build dashboards to track progress. They can also set automated notifications for when credentials are nearing expiration.

In addition to tracking state EMT or Paramedic licenses, the system can also track National Registry certifications and cards like CPR, ACLS and more. EMS1 Academy offers nearly 225 hours of continuing education that can be used to meet training needs. Or, your agency can track offline training in the system and count it towards a specific credential template that requires hours be earned in certain categories.

Documentation and management should be easy. With this feature, your agency can simplify the process and ensure everyone is in compliance at any given time.

To see this feature in action, click here to schedule a demo.

For more information on EMS1 Academy, click here to schedule a demo, email our Customer Success Team or call 800.671.9411 to speak with one of our EMS1 Academy representatives.

Online learning is becoming a popular training and organizational tool for EMS agencies. Learn why online learning should be your agency’s next investment.

Many people associate online learning with college courses but are unfamiliar with its applications outside of attaining a college degree. While online learning is a fast-growing training and organizational tool for a variety of businesses, it is particularly well-suited for emergency rescue given the nature of the job – which includes a heavy training requirement, regular policy updates and emergency responders working varied schedules around the clock.

Online learning management systems are highly flexible, accessible anywhere, offer a wide variety of content, and can streamline processes for the entire EMS agency.

Here are six reasons why you should consider implementing an online learning platform at your agency.

1. REDUCE TRAINING COSTS

Online learning can replace or reduce in-person training costs by allowing training coordinators to assign pre-course work before a classroom session. Emergency responders can read policies or memos, as well as watch lecture videos before arriving to class lectures which can help improve the effectiveness of hands-on training.

For example, before bringing first responders into a training simulation, have them watch a video, assigned to them for completion in the learning management system, that introduces how the simulator works and read a training bulletin about the learning objectives for the simulation session. When personnel arrive, they can immediately receive the scenario briefing and begin the hands-on training experience, foregoing a lengthy lecture.

Further, online training is ideal for annual training updates, such as a bloodborne pathogens refresher, that often require hiring an outside trainer or assigning an employee to deliver bloodborne pathogens training throughout the organization. Either route is time and budget consuming. A bloodborne pathogens course, loaded into the online training system, can be used for several annual training cycles and completed by first responders without bringing them to a classroom or an instructor to them.

Additionally, by decreasing the amount of off-site training required, agencies can cut down
overtime costs as well as costs for travel and shift coverage during off-site training.

2. ACCESS COURSES WITH EASE AND FLEXIBILITY

For most agencies, training is a burden because it’s not always accessible; First Responders need to travel to training, or an agency needs to coordinate with an in-person trainer. And apart from expenses, it’s often inconvenient.

With online learning, training is available anytime, anywhere on the following devices:

• iPhone and Android powered smartphones
• Desktop computers
• iPads, Kindle Fires, and Android powered tablets

This 24/7 accessibility means that first responders can access the online training system – a knowledge base of courses, policies, and resources – to complete training while on shift, during downtime or even during their off time if allowed by their agency. Off-duty training is especially well-suited to part-time responders, volunteers or personnel who work at more than one agency.

Online learning also opens the doors to a newer concept called microlearning. Training doesn’t need to happen in only 1-hour, 4-hour or 8-hour increments. Fifteen minutes during briefings might be enough time to quickly update first responders on a policy revision or to view a short video on a feature update to the tracking software.

Unlike in-person training, online learning can be broken into smaller sessions that can be paused and restarted over multiple sittings.

3. PROVIDE THE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES MILLENNIALS EXPECT

According to Pew research, millennials are the largest cohort in the U.S. labor force. If your agency’s ratio of young first responders to veteran personnel hasn’t shifted yet, it soon will.

And millennials have different expectations from their employees than generations past.

Harvard Business Review released a study in 2017 about what millennials want in a work environment. The study spanned multiple industries, but the results were strongly focused on generation versus occupation. One of the primary outcomes was the millennials look for the opportunity to learn and grow within their occupation more than any previous generation.

Appealing to millennials’ desire for educational opportunities, through cutting-edge technology, is a great tool for recruitment and retention.

In addition to assigned courses, leverage the learning management system (LMS) vendor’s course library to offer optional or elective courses to all personnel. Promote the availability of these courses, especially to millennials, who want to continue learning on the job and broadening their skill set.

4. IMPROVE TRACKING OF TRAINING

A combination of online training features like ease of use and high volumes of courses helps first responders with retraining and recertification.

Emergency responders have access to accredited courses that can be utilized more frequently than off-site or in-person training schedules allow. Digital time tracking means more training hours are counted, too. An online training system makes it easy to earn and document training hours for:

• Attending shift briefings
• Completing pre-course work before a hands-on training event
• Documenting participation in an inter-agency training exercise like an active shooter response drill

How does your agency currently track these hours and apply it toward annual requirements?

Can you make the process stronger? When Door County EMS starting tracking their training with more efficiency and increased their volume of content through online learning, they noticed a better streamlined process for tracking training and credentials.

5. INCREASE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR REQUIRED CERTIFICATION

With online learning, training is tracked and progress is easily monitored by administrators, which means credentials are less likely to expire and compliance requirements are more easily adhered to.

In the event that a lawsuit arises, training records are subpoenaed or a regulatory audit occurs a training management system provides tracked, centralized documentation to report first responder agency-required credentials. This ability to track and grant credentials reduces liability.

6. ELEVATE FIRST RESPONDER SAFETY

As any training coordinator knows, training is a sound foundation for a first responder’s career, but continuing education beyond minimum requirements for these topics — and addressing a wider-breadth of issues — is imperative for a first responder’s overall effectiveness and on-the-job safety.

Finding an online solution provides your personnel access to these critical training topics, as well as topics more specifically related to your community.

For example, if the opioid epidemic is currently plaguing your jurisdiction, online learning tools can provide your agency continuous access and up-to-date education to help keep your first responders safe and effectively responding to overdoses and investigating narcotics trafficking.

When Tipp City EMS implemented a better training program, it not only helped retain their EMS personnel because they felt more equipped to handle their job, but their training coordinator described how improved training about safer emergency response saved their lives.

Learn how EMS1 Academy can help your department.

For more information on EMS1 Academy, click here to schedule a demo, email our Customer Success Team or call 800.671.9411 to speak with one of our EMS1 Academy representatives.

EMS1 Academy recently released new courses, expanding our training library of quality, high-liability topics that address today’s EMS related incidents. With a subscription to EMS1 Academy, we offer exclusive access to some of the best training online.

With nearly 225 CAPCE-accredited EMS course, first responders have access to training 24/7, in multiple formats, to meet compliance and credential requirements. Along with new and updated courses released regularly, our training solution offers features that simplify agency training, like course tracking, policy management, custom course creation, and more.

New/Updated Courses Released

• Managing Chronic Care Patients (ALS/BLS)
  This one-hour Medic Monthly course provides instruction on managing chronic care patients and their overuse or abuse of the EMS system.
• Patient Communication During Disaster (ALS/BLS)
  This one-hour Medic Monthly course provides instruction on patient communication during disasters and how to interact with individuals who are emotionally and physically overwhelmed.
• Return to Spontaneous Circulation
  This Medic Monthly course for ALS providers presents instruction on the procedures that are necessary for treating the return of spontaneous circulation of patients in cardiac arrest.
• Opioid Crisis: Protecting our First Responders
  The increased availability of synthetic opioids coupled with the heroin epidemic has not only led to a significant increase in overdoses and deaths, but also an increased risk to first responders who must come into contact with these substances during the course of their duties. Exposure to small amounts, the size of a grain of sand, can lead to respiratory depression and even death. Proper identification and knowledge of the various opioids, signs and symptoms of exposure, and immediate life-saving measures to be employed in the event of exposure are critical to saving the life of yourself or others. Additionally, the likelihood of first responder exposure requires the implementation of universal precautions including but not limited to personal protective equipment (PPE), Narcan training, and specific procedures for testing of suspected substances.
• Emergency Vehicle Driving Techniques
  This course introduces the student to actually operating an emergency vehicle under emergency response conditions. A number of important factors will be discussed, including the Driver Operators Capabilities, Safety and Adverse Driving Conditions, Basic Emergency Driving Maneuvers, and Crash Factors. The final segments of the course will draw the students attention to some fairly new concepts such as Due Regard, True Emergencies, Defensive Offensive Driving, S.I.P.D.E. and Aiming High. Although some of these concepts might sound strange, the student will appreciate the value of each of these concepts as they relate to the safe operation of all types of emergency vehicles.

*ALS and BLS versions of courses available.

For more information on EMS1 Academy, click here to schedule a demo, email our Customer Success Team or call 800.671.9411 to speak with one of our EMS1 Academy representatives.

With budget cuts and staffing issues plaguing many EMS agencies, finding the bandwidth to meet, manage and document required or mandated training can be an uphill battle. As a response, EMS providers have begun to turn to online learning as an ideal training solution.

Training online offers inherent advantages. It’s cost-effective, it’s always available and it’s easy to track and manage. Online learning can also reduce risk.

Here are a few ways your online learning provider should help your agency meet its annual training requirements and decrease liability.

1. ONLINE TRAINING CATERS TO STATE REQUIREMENTS

   Online learning is customizable. So whether your agency needs to adhere to CAPCE (Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education) guidelines for EMS recertification or internal requirements, you can ensure your program is compliant.

   Your online learning provider should work with you to help you meet requirements in your state or region, regardless of how quickly mandates change. For example, our EMS1 Academy Platform is an organizationally accredited online education provider by CAPCE, and continually adds and updates new courses to be in line with the latest industry standards.

   Additionally, many modern online training solutions can deliver content on smartphones, tablets, or desktop computers, making them available anywhere, at any time. Tracking time, even if it’s short bursts during the day— like 15-minute videos with tests—can help your personnel reach annual certification requirements.

   For many agencies, EMS providers must complete annual continuing education to maintain their certification. It can be difficult to accommodate coverage when you have an understaffed agency. Thanks to the accessibility of online learning, agencies can increase the number of training hours while reducing the number of hours a responder is absent.

   “One of the primary reasons we chose to train using EMS1 Academy was the platform’s ease of use. Our personnel are able to easily complete course training and our administrator can simply track compliance and pull reports to view course completion records. Compared to our previous training solution, EMS1 Academy is much more streamlined and the course content is just what we need to provide proper training for our agency. We would definitely recommend this training solution to anyone looking for a valuable training resource for their agency.” – Door County Emergency Services, WI.

2. ONLINE COURSES CAN HELP FILL TRAINING GAPS AND DECREASE LIABILITY

   It’s likely your agency needs to meet a number of specialized training requirements or mandates. You may currently be on the hook for identifying—and paying for—a range of instructors to conduct multiple, in-person training sessions. Online learning can greatly ease if not eliminate this burden.

   An online learning provider with a comprehensive course library can efficiently deliver training for a large number of specialized topics that might prove costly to provide in a classroom setting.

   In addition, by offering increased training opportunities, you are reducing liability costs at your department, too—which can take a huge bite out of your department’s budget. For example, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over a 20 year period, from 1992 to 2011, there have been a reported 6,500 accidents involving ambulances each year.

   High-liability categories, which are all offered on the EMS1 Academy platform, include:

   • Airway Management
   • Cardiovascular Emergencies
   • Emergency Vehicle Operations
   • Patient Assessment
   • Trauma

   Having access to a broad library of online training courses is a viable solution to help improve the safety of your EMS’s and paramedics, productivity and performance and decrease risk while staying within budget.

3. REPORTING AND TRACKING PROGRESS MINIMIZES RISK

   Maintaining accurate training records is as important as actually taking the required courses. Without proof of course completion and department compliance, one audit or legal issue can completely disrupt your agency.

   One of the benefits of online learning is the streamlined electronic record of your agency’s training activity. A learning management system (LMS) enables EMS agencies to eliminate any makeshift or paper processes currently in use. This improved workflow benefits everyone, from personnel to the administration and leadership divisions.

   For instance, if an EMT is unable to complete training in one sitting, courses can be bookmarked and completed at a later time. Training administrators and leaders can easily monitor the progress and the completion of assigned tasks. Then, anyone within the agency can easily pull a report for compliance in the event of an audit. Digitally organizing and tracking your agency’s compliance can also reduce liability in the case of a lawsuit.

 

4. AN ONLINE TRAINING SOLUTION LESSENS BUDGET AND TIME COMMITMENTS

   Often, EMS agencies budgets don’t align with the resources and time needed for first responders to meet annual training requirements. This becomes a challenge for the Training Coordinator as an EMS professional cannot be on call and scheduled for in-person training at the same time. So will your agency plan training during work hours? Or will you pay for overtime?

   What if some of those training sessions are only available in particular regions in your state and your personnel have to travel? Additionally, managing work schedules when emergency medical personnel are away at training adds another layer of complexity.

   An online training platform can be the solution to these problems. The flexibility opens the doors to allowing emergency responders to complete training in between runs while on call, which cuts overtime costs and keeps your agency compliant. Further, it provides administrators with a tangible return on investment from both a time and monetary perspective.

   Today’s EMS agencies are faced with complex training requirements and need cost-effective ways to ensure personnel is compliant with state standards. An LMS that offers high-quality courses and tracking can meet those needs.

For more information on EMS1 Academy, click here to schedule a demo, email our Customer Success Team or call 800.671.9411 to speak with one of our EMS1 Academy representatives.