Association Update: July 2022

ACS COT Releases Revised Field Trauma Triage Guidelines

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has released an update of the Field Trauma Triage Guidelines (FTTG) for use by clinicians nationwide. The guidelines, in use since the late 1980s, provide evidence-based criteria for making care and transport decisions for patients with traumatic injuries in the prehospital setting. 

Download the updated guidelines at www.amtrauma.org/news/604276/ACS-Committee-on-Trauma-Releases-Revised-Field-Trauma-Triage-Guidelines.htm. 

The FTTG update—developed with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C) program—is based on feedback from EMS clinicians and intended to enhance the utility and applicability of the guidelines with the ultimate goal of improving trauma patient outcomes.

—American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma

NHTSA Names New 9-1-1 Program Coordinator

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) Office of Emergency Medical Services announced Brian Tegtmeyer, ENP, will assume the role of national 9-1-1 program coordinator. He brings more than 26 years of experience in public safety communications to the position.

Tegtmeyer began his career as a dispatcher at the Hazel Crest Police Department in Illinois and served in various leadership roles in 9-1-1 systems before assuming his most recent position as executive director of DuPage Public Safety Communications in 2007. There he managed a 9-1-1 center with 44 agencies serving a population of more than 850,000.

“Next-generation 9-1-1 is the future of public safety communications. This evolution will impact every aspect of a communications center, from the technology to operations to our most valuable resource: our telecommunicators,” said Tegtmeyer. “I am excited to join the national 9-1-1 program’s efforts to help state and local 9-1-1 systems provide optimal 9-1-1 services to their communities.”

—NHTSA Office of EMS

Scoping Review Weighs Medics’ Role in Integrated Care

A scoping review published in the International Journal of Integrated Care that looked at integrated care in the health system found paramedics “bridge reactive and preventative care for a spectrum of population needs through partnerships with hospitals, social services, primary care, and public health.”

A team led by Canadian paramedic Amir Allana analyzed content on 108 unique programs from around the world to identify common patterns, challenges, and gaps. It identified 5 concepts for fostering integrated care in local systems: single-point-of-entry care pathways; flexible and mobile workforces; geographically based cross-cutting organizations; permissive regulation; and assessing system-level value. 

“Expanded paramedic roles fill gaps [between] scheduled (primary) care & unscheduled (acute) care, for [the] general public and specific populations,” Allana tweeted of the findings. They provide a “responsive, adaptive function in the system” that’s much needed. 

Find the study, “Designing and Governing Responsive Local Care Systems—Insights from a Scoping Review of Paramedics in Integrated Models of Care,” at www.ijic.org/article/10.5334/ijic.6418/. 

—International Journal of Integrated Care