Article posted on December 4, 2024
High performance CPR instructor sessions continue throughout province
The AHS EMS Medical First Response (MFR) Program continues to roll out high performance CPR train-the-trainer sessions across the province.
Most recently, the full-day instructor training sessions were held in Strathmore and Taber on November 4 and 15 respectively allowing for 24 separate agencies attend. Once trained, members return to their services to train their members and their neighbouring agencies in high performance CPR.
“It is great to see the enthusiasm and interest that participants are bringing to training events and bringing back to their home departments,” said Marissa Crane, senior staff development officer for the MFR program.
AHS EMS adopted high performance CPR training as a standard for all frontline EMS practitioners as a part of annual training as of the 2023/24 Training Cycle. Going forward, all practitioners will receive refresher training on high performance CPR at their annual training day.
To date, 70 agencies and organizations outside of AHS EMS have received high performance CPR instructor training through the MFR program. The content is tailored for each group of participants, recognizing the unique assortment of training and experience in the room.
“Our sessions have been mixture of all levels of MFR responders including standard first aid through to advanced care paramedics and this dynamic creates such a unique learning environment for all participants,” said Crane. “The tailoring of content is something we are encouraging our participants to take back to their departments as well, for example our MFR agencies that have mechanical CPR devices are encouraged to spend some time incorporating the concepts of high performance CPR into their device application.”
Dr. Wes Orr, MFR medical director attended the Taber session and was able to answer participant questions and take part in some of the hands-on portions of the training.
“The attendance engagement and enthusiasm from so many different services in southern Alberta was amazing. Seeing all the various departments actively engaged in improving their individual skills to help care for people in their communities was inspiring,” said Orr.
High performance CPR originated in Seattle, Washington at the fire department level when Captain Craig Aman led its development after recording metrics such as compression rate, depth and chest recoil. Through this collection of data, he realized that there were too many pauses by members when performing CPR and sought to develop a training program that minimized time off the chest.
The training focuses on refining the delivery of CPR through optimizing existing skills. There are no formal certifications for this course, but many services throughout the world have begun to blend it into their standard teachings. Red Cross, St. John’s Ambulance and Heart and Stroke have not yet incorporated high performance CPR into their programming, so standard CPR certification is still required even for those who take this training.
“This training really opened my eyes to how critical it is not to lose time while doing chest compressions,” said George Kleinsasser, MFR captain with Jenner Fire Department. “You don’t realize how much time you can lose when working on the airway or when switching compression partners.”
After attending the instructor session, Jenner Fire Department taught the rest of their members within a week.
The MFR program is now working toward hosting sessions in central and northern areas of Alberta, as well as near Edmonton. If your department is interested in hosting or attending, please email mfr@ahs.ca.
Above: Dr. Orr, (top, second from right) observes MFR members from southern Alberta practice high performance CPR at the Town of Taber Fire Department.
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 04, 2024