PHTLS Course (Prehospital Trauma Life Support)

Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) courses are nationally recognized continuing education programs, 16 hours for prehospital emergency health care professionals that bring the care of the trauma patient into a single focus.

PHTLS courses provide a prehospital trauma care philosophy, stressing the need to treat the multisystem trauma patient as a unique entity with specific needs. This may require an approach to the trauma patient that varies from traditional treatment modalities.

PHTLS courses are based on the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), a course for physicians developed by the American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma. More importantly, PHTLS courses follow the principles of care of trauma patients as developed by the Committee on Trauma.

The primary goals of Prehospital Trauma Life Support are as follows:

To provide a description of the pathophysiology and kinematics of injury
To provide an understanding of the need for a rapid assessment of the trauma patient
To advance the participant's level of knowledge in regard to examination and diagnostic skills
To enhance the participant's performance in the assessment and treatment of the trauma patient
To provide an overview and establish a management method for the prehospital care of the multisystem trauma patient

The PHTLS course is designed to provide the practicing prehospital care provider with a specific body of knowledge related to the prehospital assessment and care of the trauma patient. It is stressed that this is a continuing education program and contains information that may be a review for some or all participants. The uniqueness of this program rests not with an entirely new body of knowledge but instead with advances in prehospital trauma intervention techniques. We are using new combinations and application of existing skills and knowledge to better our patients' chances at surviving traumatic events.

The Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons provides the medical direction and content oversight for the PHTLS program. They are represented by the medical directors on the Executive Council of the PHTLS Division of the National Association of EMTs. (Reproduced from the PHTLS 5th edition Instructor Text-Copyright 2003, Mosby, Inc.