This course describes the initial treatment of a burn patient, and how to manage, evaluate, and prepare the patient for transfer to a burn center following an ABC model — airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure and examination, and fluids. Inhalation injury and pediatric burn considerations are also reviewed.

This module provides nurses with an understanding of the history, types, and methods of ED triage, with an emphasis on the five-level triage systems.  A reliable and valid triage system can help you effectively care for your ED patients. How can you determine which patients needs care first?

Patients with abdominal trauma can rapidly progress to hypovolemic shock or death, making it an ED priority. This module provides healthcare providers with information about the incidence, etiology, identification, and treatment of abdominal trauma. The most common mechanisms of injury are reviewed, as is the need for rapid diagnosis and stabilization.

The goal of this two-part series is to familiarize healthcare providers with bioterrorism and its implications for care. Biological warfare remains a concern in the U.S., which suffered anthrax attacks in 2001. This module gives an overview of anthrax and plague, including their history, natural causes, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

Part 1 explored the history of bioterrorism, healthcare providers’ roles in recognizing symptoms produced by a biological terrorist attack and information about anthrax and plague. Part 2 discusses botulism, smallpox and the healthcare provider’s role in emergency preparedness in the event of an attack.

Trauma patients are at increased risk for hypothermia, which in turn increases their mortality risk. ED and trauma nurses must be well-informed about hypothermia so they may intervene appropriately. This module explores the risk factors and effects of hypothermia on the critically injured patient and examines the nurse’s role in recognizing, preventing, and treating this potentially deadly condition.

ED overcrowding is a problem with hospitalwide implications. While, most people seek care in the ED for an acute injury or illness, many seek ED care for non-urgent reasons. In fact, the ED has become the largest provider of unscheduled primary care visits, seriously stressing the healthcare safety net.

Penetrating trauma involves wounding instruments that penetrate the skin and directly injure body tissue. There are numerous examples of penetrating trauma, including firearm wounds and stabbings. This module discusses the mechanism of injury involved in firearm injuries and stab wounds. The healthcare providers should have a baseline understanding of the mechanisms of injury surrounding this form of trauma.

Crisis is broadly defined as an exceptional event that is disruptive and beyond a person’s usual coping skills. Nurses need to understand crises and assessment and intervention strategies because they are often the first medical personnel to spend enough time with patients to recognize the signs of crisis.

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