Education & Training

Education & Training

Education and training programs play a crucial role in LifeFlight of Maine’s ability to train the crew and our efforts to improve the skills of EMS providers across the entire system. LifeFlight of Maine is just one link in the chain of survival for critically ill and injured patients. When the entire team of 911 dispatchers, first responders, paramedics, emergency room nurses and physicians, and specialists at regional healthcare centers works together seamlessly, we improve outcomes for critically ill and injured patients.   

LifeFlight’s education and training programs include:

• Critical Care Academies
• Bangor Savings Bank Simulation and Learning Labs
• Pediatrics on the Edge
• Ground Safety and User Courses

Advanced clinical education and frequent team training help maintain a strong chain of survival and, in addition to attending annual training and education competencies for themselves, the LifeFlight crew also provides critical care training to emergency medical professionals across the state. Many of our standard courses are approved for CME by applicable agencies including Maine EMS.

Request Information

To request a program and find information on costs and requirements, please contact Tom Gutow, flight nurse and Senior Clinical Educator, at 207-266-8331 or tgutow@lifeflightmaine.org.

Bangor Savings Bank Simulation and Learning Labs

One of the key components of LifeFlight’s internal and external education program is simulation. With generous support from the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation, LifeFlight has been able to build simulation labs at each of the three bases in Bangor, Lewiston, and Sanford. High-fidelity human patient simulation is essential to LifeFlight’s training and education work, and all three locations are virtually connected to provide advanced critical care training with “real” patients for LifeFlight staff, community hospital staff, and EMS providers across the state of Maine. 

The simulation recording platform captures live video, audio, and vital sign monitor data so medical providers and proctors can debrief a simulation and conduct a real-time review of how various interventions affect patient care. The completion of the labs ensures that nurses and paramedics from LifeFlight and across Maine can engage in a realistic and immersive patient care experience, similar to what they will encounter in a helicopter, hospital, or other EMS setting. 

In addition to providing 24-hour access for clinicians, each lab will also host a remote learning platform, which is particularly useful for LifeFlight Academy education programs. Lead instructors will present programs from one site, with smaller groups of trainees practicing at each remote site/education lab.

All the simulators are mobile, and we have provided programs on islands, at fire stations, and at community hospitals, bringing advanced medical education directly to rural communities in Maine. This mobile training opportunity features life-size manikins capable of breathing, talking, and reacting to healthcare provider interventions. Through this program, facilitators from LifeFlight provide a unique, hands-on experience fully customized to meet the assessment, critical thinking, procedural skills, and team-based training needs of any hospital, EMS agency, or educational institution.

Human Patient Simulator

Facilitators develop patient scenarios based on current best practices, then present the scenario to a group of medical professionals who respond to the manikin’s symptoms. The manikin will then react appropriately to the treatment given by the participants.

Scenarios can be chosen from an archive or constructed to meet practitioners’ specific needs and include:

• Didactic and practical education
• Integration into certification classes like ATLS, PALS, TNCC, and PHTLS
• Specifically requested scenarios
• EMS-specific topics
• Physician-specific topics facilitated by physicians

Services and institutions can request a visit from the HPS, lasting anywhere from a day to a week, depending on the needs of the requestor. Programs offer CEUs for nurses and respiratory therapists, CEHs for paramedics, as well as Category 1 CMEs for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

The HPS is facilitated by LifeFlight nurses and paramedics with statewide physician oversight to ensure best practice teaching points. To request a visit from the HPS or for more information, contact LifeFlight at education@lifeflightmaine.org.

LifeFlight Critical Care Academy

Several years ago LifeFlight of Maine created a “virtual” Critical Care Academy for both LifeFlight staff and external clinicians. The Academy is run in either intensive modules across several weeks or with multiple days a week across three months. The goal of the program is to help transform the practice of our critical care workforce with new skills improving care in our hospitals, for our colleague EMS agencies, and creating a pipeline of highly qualified clinical staff who are fully prepared for flight duty with LifeFlight or for appointment to hospital ICUs or emergency rooms.

The sessions focus on situational assessment, procedural skills, critical thinking, and developing a team approach. The subject matter covered includes airway and ventilation management, cardiac and hemodynamic management including medications, laboratory, ultrasound, and radiology assessment and interpretation, management of neuro and metabolic emergencies, assessment and care of children, and specific skills in airways, trauma, cardiac care, and ultrasound.

The Critical Care Academy would not be possible without the collaboration of partners. Recent partners include Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Central Maine Medical Center, Maine Medical Center, Mid Coast Hospital, Augusta Fire Department, Gorham Public Safety, Brunswick Fire Department, Rockland Fire Department, Central Lincoln County EMS, and Northern Maine Community College.

The candidates going on to LifeFlight then spend months in the hospital critical units and in high-fidelity simulation including adults, children, high-risk obstetrics, neonates, and specialized cardiac transport.

For more information, please contact LifeFlight at education@lifeflightmaine.org.

Pediatric Patients On The Edge

Hands-on practice for high-risk patients

This intensive, full-day conference combines classroom lectures with hands-on training using the newest patient simulation technology. The conference focuses on pre-hospital assessment and management of critically ill or injured children. Topics covered include recognizing respiratory failure and shock in children; rapid assessment and management of the ABCs; fluid support; cardiac emergencies; sepsis; recognizing abuse; and trauma. All levels of advanced emergency medical providers are welcome, with a curriculum geared toward physicians, nurses, and paramedics. Program faculty are specialist Pediatric Intensive Care Physicians from EMMC, MMC, and MaineGeneral as well as LifeFlight clinicians. The program is a three-part day with didactic, procedural skills, and high-fidelity simulation for teamwork development.

With support from the LifeFlight Foundation, Dylan Gold Fund, the cost for the conference is $75 for paramedics and $150 for nurses and physicians, and includes a light breakfast and lunch. Participants are invoiced after they attend the conference.

For information on bringing this conference to your area, contact education@lifeflightmaine.org.

Programs offer continuing education hours (6.15) for nurses, respiratory therapists, providers, and emergency medical personnel.

Ground Safety and User Courses

Assuring the safety of operations is LifeFlight’s first priority. This is even more critical for an emergency scene call landing zone that needs to be developed on the fly by public safety personnel. 

LifeFlight offers a no-cost Ground Safety and Users Course (GSUC) with Maine EMS-approved CME hours. The program is a combination of didactic and hands-on with the LifeFlight teams and aircraft. 

The two+ hour program details the following:

• When to call LifeFlight
• How to access the LifeFlight system
• Information needed by LifeFlight
• How to create a safe LZ from scratch
• Communications and coordination
• Patient packaging
• Operating around the helicopter
• Emergency operations for an aircraft incident

Click here to request a Ground Safety and Users Course