REFINING PREHOSPITAL PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT SKILLS - A NEW TEACHING TECHNIQUE

Physical assessment is a critically important skill in the prehospital setting, the performance of which is complicated by adverse environme ntal conditions. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, and others providing out-of-hospital emergency health care frequently rec eive training that does not adequately prepare them to perform an appr opriate physical assessment. This is particularly true for such provid ers who support special operations as combat medics, wilderness EMTs, winter emergency care technicians, or EMT-tacticals. We describe a new training technique that emphasizes tactile sensory inputs rather than visual and auditory cues. The training strongly reinforces the import ance of conducting a systematic survey.