The Critical Care Leadership Network (CCLN), a joint initiative of GNYHA and the United Hospital Fund, ended its first year of educational programs on June 17 with two half-day programs,  “Burn Management: The First Three Days” and “Fundamentals of Surgical Critical Care.” More than 100 physicians and nurses from 33 hospitals attended the program, which was designed to provide practical instruction on caring for burn and post-surgery patients in the non-specialty critical care setting. As with the other programs in the series that began last fall, the June 17 sessions strived to promote better adherence to evidence-based practice guidelines, and, ultimately, better patient outcomes. The programs also featured local expertise in critical care and highlighted the New York region as a national leader in critical care medicine.     

The first half of the day focused on early care of patients with major burns. Starting with the premise that care of patients with major burns is best provided by a multi-disciplinary team at a burn specialty facility, the training prepared health care providers at other (i.e., non-burn specialty) facilities who may be responsible for the early care of such patients before they can be transferred to a burn facility, especially in the case of multi-casualty events or disasters. The session reviewed the fundamentals of the comprehensive management of major burn victims up to 72 hours after a burn incident and covered many topics including resuscitation, inhalation injury, early wound treatment, physiologic support, as well as special topics like mass casualty triage protocols, chemical and electrical injuries, abuse, preservation of function, and environmental and pain control.

John McNelis, M.D., Winthrop-University Hospital; Joseph Cooke, M.D., NYP-Weill Cornell Medical Center;  John Oropello, M.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine

The second half of the day examined issues specific to surgical critical care and the management of patients by critical care professionals who are not surgical specialists. A number of cross-cutting themes, such as resuscitation versus diuresis, surgical versus non-operative management, and when to call for surgical support, framed the sessions; however, the program included specific training in the areas of hemorrhagic shock, pancreatitis, thoracic and pelvic trauma, as well as ischemic bowel and colonic ischemia. 
     
The CCLN will spend the next few months reviewing the feedback and lessons learned from the educational programs offered over the last year to develop its schedule of programs for the coming year. For more information on upcoming critical care educational programs, as well as other activities of the CCLN, contact Terri Straub or Zeynep Sumer at GNYHA.