All residency trained board-certified physicians are required to have a common cognitive base and acquire specific manual skills required for the practice of emergency medicine, hospitalist medicine, and critical care medicine. However, not all physicians have the same experience and expertise in the area of procedural skills. Additionally, Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner colleagues, referred to collectively as Advanced Practice Providers, or APPs, have on even greater variability in their clinical and procedural skills training.

 

Modules is to identify the most commonly performed skills and/or those skills required for life-saving intervention that must be mastered for practitioners in high-risk fields of medicine. These skills will be taught both in a didactic format through on-line modules, as well as in a clinical lab setting (separate activity). The goal is to narrow the variability of practice among providers, raise the quality of care. and reduce risk to patients and providers. Outcomes will be measured and monitored by Risk Management (corporate) and hospital site Quality Directors and Medical Directors. Annual review of this data will be used to pian future educational.

 

What is true of all emergency and critical care skills is that the most difficult part is often cognitive: knowing with certainty that the procedure must be executed as quickly as possible to prevent deterioration or demise of the patient. These skills, though rarely executed, should be at the fingertips of every provider. By providing this training, we strive to remove the time urgency associated with these conditions, and give the provider solid foundation of the regional anatomy involved. We are not advocating for procedures to be done without a specialist available, but in reality, that is not always the case. 

 

1.    Recognize the pertinent anatomy, pathophysiology and radiographic findings associated with epidural hematomas
2.    Discuss the indications, contraindications, and potential complications associated with cranial trephination.
3.    Discuss the post-procedure care and definitive treatment of epidural hematoma, including admission/transfer to the care of a neurosurgeon