Planning a Training Session

By Michael James Azevedo, Jr., EMT-B; Chief, Carmel Fire & Rescue

Greetings fellow EMS providers in the great State of Maine. My day has been very eventful. A full day at work, children’s baseball game, another after-school event with my daughter, and I just realized we have an ambulance meeting tonight. I am noticing that more and more of the emergency medical personnel that I work with are as busy as I am. So the thought of going to another meeting and sitting there for two hours really does not excite me.

Let’s take a look at the people we work with. Many like the excitement of EMS, the thrill, the challenge, the camaraderie, the trauma (I hate blood), and the light and sirens. Many of us cannot sit still for five minutes, let alone suffer through eight hours of lecture and clinical rotations. So how do you keep my interest when I come to training?

Training exercises need to be practical, realistic and interesting. Please remember that most of your people are not EMTs full time, have children and spouses at home, have full time jobs, church, scouts, baseball and many other activities that take up their time. Please remember that their time is very important and so is yours.

Good training starts with Good Objectives. What do you expect me to take away from this training session? Tell me up front what you expect me to leave the training session with. If you tell me up front, I can help you make sure I have met the requirements. Every training session should start out with the important points, generally in this order:

1.) Welcome and thanks for coming.

2.) The location of bathrooms and coffee pot.

3.) The locations of the smoking area (for those who can afford.)

4.) The objectives of tonight class.

Only after these four points can we begin to have a successful training session.

As I come up with an idea for training, I need to have some goals in mind. Why am I doing this training session? What do I hope to accomplish? Who does this session benefit? What equipment can I use? Test? Maintain? How can I use this training session to benefit my patients?

As I attend my Protocol Update class, I have just learned that I will be able to use a Glucometer. So let’s put to use what we have learned in this column. After a training session on the glucometer, what are some of the objectives I might leave with?

1.) Know when I can use the glucometer.

2.) Know the location of the glucometer.

3.) Know what pieces are needed to use the glucometer:

a. Control solution

b. Strips

c. Machine

d. Case

e. Owners manual

4.) Know how to turn on the glucometer.

5.) Know how to get a blood sample.

a. What to use for blood

b. How to get the sample

6.) Know how to clean and disinfect the glucometer.

7.) Know how to record the fact I used the glucometer.

8.) Know how to request more control solution and strips.

9.) Return the glucometer to its spot in the ambulance.

A practical station would be to obtain the glucometer and run a control on it. It is no longer safe to practice on each other, but by running the control, you will be able to show you can use the glucometer. This is what I am going to require of each of my EMTs prior to allowing them to use this in the field.

We tend to think about glucometers when we are thinking about diabetes. This would be a good time to have a solid review of the types of diabetic issues. And these are becoming more common emergencies for emergency medical personnel. Remember that if you use the glucometer as a basic EMT, you must make sure that ALS is responding.

Also by setting objectives, the people that already have a solid foundation on the task at hand can quickly meet the objectives and go home (or work with someone who is struggling). This allows more time for others to practice without distraction. You can also use this outline with new people that may join your service. They may already have the training, but you can make sure they can use your equipment.

Until next time, THANK YOU for the people you train and the lives that are saved as a result.

© 2008 by Jacqueline B. Vaniotis