Number of Courses:  One Live 2-Hour Class
Credit Awarded:  2 Hours
Credit Type: Basic/Advanced
Accredited: CAPCE (F5-VILT), CE Broker (FL & TN), Pennsylvania Bureau of EMS, and Virginia Office of EMS
Enrollment Period:  One year or until completed, whichever comes first
Topics:  Heart Failure and VADs & Trauma Assessment

This CE activity is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Pre-Hospital Continuing Education for a total of 2 EMT/Paramedic CEH.

Are you in need of a few hours to round out your recertification? This individual NCCP course will meet those needs and is offered several times a month with a varying schedule.

Want to see when classes are offered, click here DistanceCME Course Calendar

Topics covered in this Live NCCP L5

  • Heart Failure and VADs & Trauma Assessment (2hr)

If you need more than a few hours, these bundles are perfect for your continuing education. You’ll complete your NCCR requirements and also gain access to our Anytime EMS CEU Package, offering over 100 on-demand learning modules with CEUs.

EMTs choose Live 20 Hour NCCP + Anytime

Paramedics/AEMTs choose  Live 30 Hour NCCP + Anytime

Heart Failure & VADs Overview
Heart failure remains one of the leading causes of hospitalization and emergency medical response in the United States. As patients live longer with chronic cardiovascular disease, EMS clinicians are increasingly called upon to recognize acute heart failure exacerbations, initiate evidence-based treatment, and care for patients supported by advanced cardiac technologies such as ventricular assist devices (VADs). This course provides a comprehensive review of heart failure physiology, prehospital management, and the unique assessment considerations for patients living with mechanical circulatory support.

Understanding Heart Failure
Participants explore the pathophysiology of heart failure, including the effects of impaired cardiac output, pulmonary congestion, and reduced tissue perfusion. The course reviews common causes such as coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, hypertension, valvular disease, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease while examining the physiologic changes that produce acute decompensated heart failure.

Assessment & Classification
Learners develop a systematic approach to evaluating patients with suspected heart failure through focused history taking, medication review, physical examination, and trending symptoms. The course reviews the New York Heart Association functional classifications, stages of heart failure progression, classic clinical findings, nighttime symptoms such as orthopnea and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, and methods for distinguishing worsening heart failure from other causes of respiratory distress.

Evidence-Based Prehospital Management
Participants review current evidence-based treatment strategies including patient positioning, oxygen titration, cardiac monitoring, twelve-lead ECG acquisition, nitroglycerin administration, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Indications, contraindications, and physiologic effects of CPAP are discussed in detail, along with appropriate patient selection and ongoing reassessment throughout transport.

Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs)
The course introduces ventricular assist devices as an advanced treatment option for patients with end-stage heart failure. Learners examine the function of left, right, and biventricular assist devices; understand the components of implantable VAD systems; recognize continuous-flow versus pulsatile devices; and identify common complications including thrombosis, infection, device malfunction, and right ventricular failure.

Managing the VAD Patient
Participants develop the knowledge necessary to safely assess and manage patients with ventricular assist devices in the prehospital environment. Topics include evaluating perfusion without relying solely on traditional vital signs, recognizing normal device function, troubleshooting alarms and power failures, communicating with VAD coordinators, protecting the driveline system, and determining when resuscitative interventions may be appropriate.

Who Should Take This Course?
This course is designed for EMTs, AEMTs, and Paramedics who care for patients experiencing acute heart failure or advanced cardiac disease. It is particularly valuable for clinicians seeking to strengthen their understanding of evidence-based heart failure management while developing the confidence to assess and care for patients supported by ventricular assist devices in the prehospital setting.

Trauma Assessment Overview
Effective trauma care begins with a structured assessment. This course provides EMS clinicians with a systematic approach to evaluating injured patients, identifying life-threatening conditions, and making sound transport and treatment decisions in dynamic prehospital environments. Participants learn how to perform comprehensive trauma assessments while avoiding common pitfalls such as tunnel vision, delayed recognition of shock, and missed injuries.
Through realistic trauma scenarios and evidence-based assessment strategies, learners will strengthen their ability to rapidly recognize critical findings, prioritize interventions, and continually reassess patients as their condition evolves.

Primary & Secondary Trauma Assessment
Participants review the complete trauma assessment sequence beginning with scene safety, mechanism of injury, and the primary assessment of airway, breathing, circulation, disability, and exposure. The course then progresses into the secondary assessment, rapid trauma examination, focused assessments, detailed examinations, and ongoing reassessment while emphasizing a consistent, organized approach to every trauma patient.

Clinical Assessment Principles
The course explores key assessment concepts including general impression, AVPU, Glasgow Coma Scale, DCAP-BLS-TIC, SAMPLE history, trending vital signs, and recognition of compensated versus decompensated shock. Participants learn to recognize subtle clinical findings that may indicate significant internal injury long before obvious signs develop.

Clinical Decision-Making
Using realistic patient scenarios involving blunt trauma, falls, penetrating injuries, and multisystem trauma, learners apply systematic assessment techniques to determine patient priorities, recognize evolving life threats, avoid common assessment errors, and decide when rapid transport is indicated. Emphasis is placed on integrating mechanism of injury with clinical presentation rather than relying on either independently.

Special Trauma Populations
Participants examine assessment considerations unique to elderly patients, pediatric trauma, individuals taking anticoagulant medications, patients with obesity, and those encountered in resource-limited environments. Discussion focuses on adapting assessment strategies while maintaining a high index of suspicion for occult injuries and physiologic deterioration.

Evidence-Based Trauma Assessment
Throughout the course, current trauma assessment principles are reinforced through scenario-based learning that emphasizes early recognition of life-threatening conditions, continuous reassessment, efficient resource utilization, and effective communication with receiving facilities. Learners gain practical tools that improve patient safety while supporting evidence-based prehospital trauma care.

Who Should Take This Course?
This course is designed for EMTs, AEMTs, and Paramedics seeking to strengthen their trauma assessment skills. It is ideal for providers who want to improve clinical decision-making, perform more systematic patient evaluations, recognize subtle signs of deterioration, and confidently manage trauma patients from initial contact through transfer of care.