posted September 16, 2024

Event generates collaboration, provides specialty critical care education  

SAN DIEGO, CA – Sept. 16, 2024 – Mercy Air ambulance and medical provider partners, including Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego (RCHSD) and UC San Diego (UCSD) Health System, hosted the annual Southern California Emergency Care Conference on Sept. 14 in San Diego. The conference is unique to Southern California as it brings together physicians, registered nurses, paramedics, first responders, and other critical care specialties in the prehospital, interhospital (transport), and hospital settings.

“When the conference first started, we were filling a need in the Southern California industry with critical care training,” said Mercy Air Area Manager Bill Hinton, who helped stand up the conference 11 years ago. “This conference helps participants collaborate, ensures providers stay up to date on their reoccurring clinical training, and creates a lot of muscle memory so when the call to action is real, they are ready to provide the highest level of care.”

Reiterating the need to stay sharp in critical care skills was delivered in the keynote session, “A Miracle In Motion,” by Mercy Air Flight Nurse Amy Marquez and UCSD Emergency Medicine Resident Zac Fica who both helped save the life of a young patient who was in critical condition following a bike accident puncturing a main artery to the liver.

This year’s hands-on learning labs focused on wilderness emergency medicine, led by UCSD, and neonatal resuscitation, led RCHSD. The pre-conference human cadaver lab, led by UCSD and Mercy Air, also helped make the event unique.

“There are not many human cadaver lab training opportunities in Southern California,” said Hinton. “While many clinicians are trained on lifesaving procedures, many providers will perform them infrequently in their clinical practice due to their invasive nature. This cadaver lab forum helps participants build on and maintain those critical cafe clinical skills.”

While the conference is complete for the year, Mercy Air and its partners are looking to next year. The event occurs in the first two weeks of September. Those interested can follow the Mercy Air or Southern California Emergency Care Conference Facebook pages or visit the website at www.socalecc.com.

The Mercy Air program has various locations throughout California and southern Nevada and celebrating 35 years of service, providing lifesaving care to those who need it most. The Mercy Air team is certified and has state-of-the-art specialty care training that provides the same level of care one would receive in the hospital during air medical transport from the scene or for interfacility transports. Equipped with industry-leading equipment and medical devices, Mercy Air is the only air ambulance provider in Southern California to carry blood on every patient transport and has the ability to administer whole blood in flight. Additionally, they provide advanced airway intervention, cardiac and blood flow monitoring, medication administration, and other advanced surgical procedures. Mercy Air is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) – the highest standards in safety, clinical practice, quality assurance, and training in the industry.