Out of hospital births are associated with a 2-11 fold increase in infant mortality. Meanwhile only about 16% of EMS providers express confidence in their ability to resuscitate a newborn, and provider's skills in this domain have been shown to be greatly lacking. Meanwhile, the expansion of maternal care deserts in the United States only increases the probability of EMS providers being called upon to provide care to freshly-born neonates. Despite these challenges, the skills of evaluation and resuscitation for most neonates are generally not complicated and are within the reach of most EMS providers. The goal of this presentation is to empower EMS providers with knowledge and confidence to handle the majority of neonatal resuscitation situations that they may come across within their careers. Most newborns do not require resuscitation, and among those that do, the overwhelming majority survive with happy outcomes with effective implementation of ventilation and temperature control. This presentation will blend lecture and a brief hands-on component (with a handful of volunteers, not with all attendees) to help drive core components home. As a result of participating in this lecture, participants will leave feeling better prepared to provide the standard-level of resuscitative care to neonates in pre-hospital settings.
840 Armed Forces Dr
Ashwaubenon, WI 54304
United States
1. Describe the unique physiologic transition of the newborn immediately after birth, including key differences in heart and lung function during the first minutes of life.
2. Prepare for an anticipated pre-hospital delivery by identifying essential scene questions, staffing needs, and equipment priorities for neonatal airway support and temperature control.
3. Perform the initial assessment and routine newborn care during the first 60 seconds after birth, including interventions that can be started while the baby remains attached to the mother.
4. Initiate and troubleshoot effective newborn ventilation, including appropriate use of positive-pressure ventilation, oxygen monitoring, and basic airway variables such as rate, tidal volume, PIP, PEEP, CPAP, and inspiratory time.
5. Apply EMS-specific neonatal resuscitation priorities during transport, including hypothermia prevention, optimization of ventilation before compressions or movement, recognition of ALS escalation needs, and destination/transport decision-making for both mother and newborn.