Raven EMS Education Program Manual
RAV-461 PreHospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) Course

Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) is recognized around the world as the leading continuing education program for prehospital emergency trauma care (NAEMT, 2024).

Course Description

The mission of PHTLS is to promote excellence in trauma patient management by all providers involved in the delivery of prehospital care. PHTLS is developed by NAEMT in cooperation with the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma. PHTLS courses improve the quality of trauma care and decrease mortality. The program is based on a philosophy stressing the treatment of the multi-system trauma patient as a unique entity with specific needs. PHTLS promotes critical thinking as the foundation for providing quality care. It is based on the belief that, given a good fund of knowledge and key principles, EMS practitioners can make reasoned decisions regarding patient care. PHTLS is the global gold standard in prehospital trauma education and is taught in over 80 countries. PHTLS is appropriate for EMTs, paramedics, nurses, physician assistants, physicians, and other prehospital practitioners. PHTLS is accredited by CAPCE and recognized by NREMT. The Trauma Life Support Course is designed to increase the knowledge and skill level of the emergency medical technician in assessing and treating any trauma-related injury. It is designed for the student to better recognize possible trauma injuries due to mechanism of injury, better assess the patient and more aggressively treat shock and trauma in general (NAEMT, 2024; NC Community Colleges, 2024).

Prerequisites

Course Options

• Provider Course: 16-hour course for EMTs, paramedics, nurses, physician assistants, physicians and other prehospital providers. Upon successful completion of the course, students receive a certificate of completion, a wallet card recognizing them as PHTLS providers for 4 years, and 16 hours of CAPCE credit.
• Refresher Course: 8-hour classroom course for individuals who have successfully completed the 16-hour PHTLS provider course within the past four years. Current PHTLS provider certificate or wallet card required. Upon successful completion of the course, students receive a certificate of completion and 8 hours of CAPCE credit.
• PHTLS for First Responders (PHTLS-FR) Provider Course: PHTLS for First Responders (PHTLS-FR)is an 8-hour classroom course that takes the world-class trauma care content from the 9th edition of PHTLS and delivers it in a style that is relevant to and accessible by first responders, including emergency medical responders (EMR), firefighters, rescue personnel and law enforcement officers. Covering life-saving interventions such as hemorrhage control and airway management, this course teaches critical trauma concepts, demonstrates skills, and walks students through potential patient scenarios. Upon successful completion of this course, students receive a certificate of completion, a wallet card good for 4 years and 8 hours of CAPCE credit.
• Online PHTLS Module: 8-hour online module that covers the didactic portion of the 16 hour provider course. Upon successful completion of the module, students receive a certificate of completion and 8 hours of CAPCE credit.

Course Topics

The course utilizes the internationally recognized PHTLS textbook and covers the following topics.

• Physiology of life and death
• Scene assessment
• Patient assessment
• Hemorrhage control
• Airway
• Breathing, ventilation, and oxygenation
• Circulation and shock
• Special populations

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