Training to respond to emergency situations

UW Health's paramedic course offers a robust education and training experience. Students earn ACLS and PALS certification and receive significant instruction in difficult airway and neonatal rescue skills. Classroom learning occurs at our Emergency Education Center in Madison. Students participate in labs and clinical observation and benefit from simulation scenarios and hands-on experience. The course takes students to more than 20 clinical settings, both within UW Health and at Madison-area partner organizations. At $4,610, our paramedic training fee is lower than most paramedic courses across the country and includes required textbooks.

Course schedule

This course is not currently offered.

Location

Emergency Education Center
610 N. Whitney Way, Madison 53705

Applicants must have a basic or advanced Wisconsin EMT license prior to starting paramedic trainings.

Please download the fillable Emergency Education Center Initial Paramedic Program Application (pdf) to your computer. Complete the form and save it to your computer before uploading it with your other documents to officially apply to the program.

For more information on Initial Paramedic Training, please contact Shannon DiMarco at sdimarco@uwhealth.org.

Paramedic Training Program Outcome Data (pdf)

The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP).

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
25400 US Highway 19 N., Suite 158
Clearwater, FL 33763
727-210-2350
www.caahep.org

To contact CoAEMSP:
8301 Lakeview Parkway Suite 111-312
Rowlett, TX 75088
214-703-8445
FAX 214-703-8992
www.coaemsp.org

UW Health Emergency Education Center 2021 Paramedic Refresher Course.

Dates

• Registration deadline: Dec. 31, 2020

• Course start date: Jan. 9, 2021

• Course end date: March 13, 2021

• Enrollment: Unlimited

The UW Health Emergency Education Center (EEC) is taking steps to continue to provide remarkable education opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UW Health EEC is excited to offer the 2021 Paramedic Refresher course. The course will be held in person with limited registration. Physical distancing precautions will be taken to provide a safe learning experience to protect students while allowing hands-on skills sessions.

The State of Wisconsin has increased to 60 hours of education during the 3-year renewal course, increasing from the previous 48-hour requirement. The UW Health EEC refresher course will reflect the additional 12 hours of content needed to meet this requirement.

The 25 hours of live education (mandatory) will be held the following days:

• Jan. 9, 2021: 8am-5pm

• Feb. 6, 2021: 8am-5pm

• March 13, 2020: 8am-5pm

If you have any questions, please contact Mitch Reuter at mreuter@uwhealth.org or (608) 262-5735.

This course takes place over 112 hours and covers a wide array of critical care/emergency medicine topics to include the following:

• Basic and advanced airway management

• Pulmonology and ventilator management

• Cardiovascular A and P with advanced therapies (IABP/VAD)

• Hemodynamic monitoring

• Critical care pharmacology

• Neurologic emergencies and monitoring techniques

• Advanced trauma assessment

• Radiology (x-ray and CT)

• Lab interpretation

• Infectious disease and sepsis management

• Multi-organ dysfunction

• Pediatric and neonatal transport considerations

• Air medical operations, flight physiology and safety

This course is geared to prepare experienced clinicians for a career in critical care transport while preparing them for advanced certifications such as CFRN or FP-C.

2021 classroom dates

• June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

• July 6, 13, 20, 27

• August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31

This course will run from 8am-5pm, with a 1-hour lunch break.

Class details

• Location: UW Health Emergency Education Center, 610 N. Whitney Way, B30, Madison

• Cost: $1,250, includes textbook

• Registration: Please complete the application packet (pdf) and return to mreuter@uwhealth.org. You also may fax the application and materials to (608) 265-4429 or mail them to:

UW Emergency Education Center
610 N. Whitney Way, Suite 430
Madison, WI 53705
All applications are due by May 14, 2021.

An email will be sent the following week after the above-mentioned dates to update students to their status with the UW Health EEC CCT course.

Critical care minimum requirements

• Must be at least 21 years of age by the date of enrollment

• Must possess a high school diploma or its equivalent (GED)

• Currently practicing as a paramedic, registered nurse or respiratory therapist

• Must have a least two (2) years of experience in a high-call volume as an advanced life support provider.

• Current certifications:

  • BLS - Healthcare provider

  • ACLS

  • PALS

Note: If this course has fewer than six appropriate applicants by May 15, 2021, it will be canceled.

This course is designed to be taken in conjunction with a State of Wisconsin approved paramedic refresher and satisfies the requirement for Wisconsin critical care paramedic refresher educational hours. The course is offered as a hybrid model composed of both online and in classroom education.

The Emergency Education Center has established a scholarship for United States Veterans who have been accepted into our paramedic training program. The scholarship covers tuition for this part-time, less than one-year course.

Who is eligible for the scholarship?

Candidates must:

• Have served in a branch of the United States military and received an honorable discharge

• Have a valid EMT or AEMT license in the State of Wisconsin

• Provide two letters of support from non-family members, including one from a manager, supervisor or commanding officer

• Pass a basic math exam and the EMT basic exam

• Complete an in-person interview with a panel

• Maintain academic eligibility throughout the program

• Submit to a background check

Applying for the Paramedic Training Scholarship

Applications are not currently being accepted. Please check back for updates.

Candidate applications must include:

Completed application form (pdf)
Two letters of support (1 page), including a description of why the individual is a good candidate for the scholarship
Personal statement (1-2 pages) written by the candidate describing her/his career goals and how this scholarship will help the candidate reach these goals
Résumé outlining education and professional experience, including any medical experience, honors and achievements
Form DD-214, showing an honorable discharge
Original signed copy of this description and requirements document (pdf)

Sending in the application documents

Scholarship application documents should be mailed to the address below or scanned and e-mailed to sdimarco@uwhealth.org.

Emergency Education Center
Primary Paramedic Training Scholarship for Veterans
610 North Whitney Way
Suite 430
Madison, WI 53705

This course will follow American Burn Association guidelines.

The course provides guidelines in the assessment and management of the burn patient during the first 24 hours post-injury. Following a series of lectures, case studies are presented for group discussions. An opportunity to work with a simulated burn patient to reinforce the assessment and stabilization and the American Burn Association transfer criteria to a Burn Center will be given. Final testing consists of a written exam and a practical assessment return demonstration.

The registration fee covers the tuition, manual, study guide, test and continuing education credits. The ABA designates this continuing medical education activity for up to seven credit hours in Category 1 of the Physician’s Recognition Award of the AMA. This program also has been approved by AACN Certification Corporation guidelines for eight contact hours, CERP Category A.

Course Objectives

• Evaluate a patient with a serious burn

• Define the magnitude and severity of the injury

• Identify and establish priorities of treatment

• Manage the airway and support ventilation

• Initiate and monitor fluid resuscitation

• Apply correct methods of physiological monitoring

• Determine which patients need a burn center

• Organize and conduct the inter-hospital transfer of a seriously injured burn patient

Registration

Contact Andrea Wipperfurth at awipperfurth@uwhealth.org or (608) 263-8024.

The Advanced Trauma Life Support course is an organized approach for evaluation and management of seriously injured patients.

Designed for doctors who care for injured patients, the course provides a foundation of common knowledge for all members of the trauma team. It is applicable in both large urban centers and small rural emergency departments. The doctor who first attends to the injured patient has the greatest opportunity to impact outcome.

ACS verifies doctors successful course completion based on ACS standards for trauma life support and care. The price of injury is excessive in dollars as well as human suffering. Injury is precipitous and indiscriminate. The ATLS is one safe, reliable method for assessing and initially managing the trauma patient.

The course content includes core lectures, case presentations, triage scenarios, hands-on skill stations with the utilization of the Trauma-Man® Simulator and testing.

Objectives

Objectives include:

• Demonstration of concepts and principles of primary and secondary patient assessment

• Establish management priorities in a trauma situation

• Initiate primary and secondary resuscitation necessary within the first hour of emergency care for acute life-threatening emergencies

• Demonstrate the skills necessary in initial assessment and management of patients with multiple injuries

Audience

Primary care physicians, surgeons, emergency medicine physicians and physician extenders who care for trauma patients within their realm of practice. Physician assistants and nurse practitioners can register as either auditors or students. Mid-levels may receive ATLS certification if registering as a student.

Please call (608) 890-8245 with questions.

This 16-hour course is designed to teach a full range of airway management techniques including:

• Prediction of the Difficult Airway

• Video laryngoscopy and other advanced imaging devices

• Medication-assisted intubation

• Pediatric intubation

• Endotracheal tube introducers

• Cricothyrotomy

• Extraglottic devices

During the course you will experience challenging patient scenarios in a no-risk environment such as: elevated ICP, pulmonary edema, cardiogenic shock, status asthmaticus, foreign body obstruction, direct airway trauma, multiple trauma with associated shock and more.

Completion of this course awards students a certification from the Difficult Airway along with 16.0 hours of advanced CAPCE credit or 16 contact hours from ASTNA (Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association)

Cost: $200.00

How to enroll in American Heart Association classes (CPR/BLS, ACLS, PALS) in ULearn.

Most courses for UW staff are included for your continued education and certification. For outside customers, the course fees are as follows:

• CPR: $65

• ACLS Recognition: $190

• ACLS Renewal: $160

• ACLS-EP: $160

• PALS Recognition: $190

• PALS Renewal: $160

• TNCC: $240

• ENPC: $240

• Critical Care Transport Course: Call for details

• Paramedic Program: Call for details

If you have not taken a course with the EEC in the past you will need to bring your certification card for that course. If you are enrolled in an ACLS or PALS class, bring your current BLS certification. If you are attending a ACLS or PALS update class, please bring current ACLS and PALS certification.

You can sign up for classes six months in advance. The EEC uploads a new calendar month at the end of every month (example: July's calendar is uploaded at the end of January, August's calendar is uploaded at the end of February, etc.). You will only be permitted to sign up for one class date/time per course.

No. There are no waitlists for any of the courses at the EEC. If a student withdraws from a class, their spot will show back up on our registration site.

If your current certification is expired, you will be required to sign up for a two-day recognition course for ACLS and PALS. All BLS classes fill the requirements of an initial course; no previous certification is required.

It is your responsibility to cancel the class in advance. If the class is not canceled, it will be counted as a "No Call, No Show" on your record. If you cannot make it the day of the class, please call (608) 263-7259.

To withdraw from a class, follow the instructions below:

• Log in to your ULearn home page

• Click on “My Learning” in the middle of the page

• Click on the down facing arrow to the right of the class you wish to withdraw from

• Select “Drop”

• If you are sure you want to remove this class, click “YES”

Note: To completely withdraw from a class, this must be done for both the Web-Based Training and the Skills and Test Out portions of each course from which you wish to withdraw.

If you wish to withdraw from a class and need a refund, please call the EEC at (608) 263-7259.

All AHA course completion cards are valid for two years through the end of the month in which the course completion card was issued (Example: Card was issued 3/7/2015, the card expires 3/31/2017).

ENA course certification cards are valid for four years through the end of the month in which the course completion card was issued.

Please call the EEC at (608) 263-7259 and we can look up your records if you took the course here. If you took the course at an outside facility, please contact that facility.

The EEC and UW Health accept American Heart Association cards. Questions about cards from other organizations should be referred to the EEC, to be reviewed on a case by case basis. Please be aware of online certifications that are not AHA. They look similar, but are not accepted. The EEC and UW Health only accept American Heart Association cards for ACLS and PALS.

For UW employees, each UW unit should have a library of books that employees can check out on a rental basis.

If you prefer to purchase your own, please call or stop by the EEC and we can provide one for you. You also can purchase books online through the registration website and the book will be sent to the address you provided.

Book prices are as follows:

• CPR: $15

• ACLS: $45

• ACLS-EP: $87.50

• EEC Handbook: $30

• PALS: $55

• TNCC: $78

• ENPC: $78

After successful completion of the course you will be emailed an eCard. It is your responsibility to keep this card with you and provide a copy to your manager. If you misplace your e-card, the AHA website suggests the following:

How to view your claimed eCard

1. Visit the eCards Search page. On the “Student” tab, enter your First Name, Last Name, and Email (ensure this is the email address that was used to sign up for the course) OR enter your eCard Code at the bottom of the page. Click “Search.”

2. Answer your security question.

3. If all the information entered is correct, you will be brought to a page that shows “My eCards.” If your eCard cannot be found, contact your Training Center to verify your information.

4. To download an eCard, select the size you would like (Full or Wallet) where it says, “View eCard.

5. To email an eCard, select “Email Cards,” enter the email address, and click “Email.”