Three hundred people attended the 22nd annual Combined Clinical Conference on Emergency Care, held August 12 –15 at the Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.  The event was a great success all around.

There are many good reasons for EMS professionals to consider attending the Combined Clinical Conference, especially those who have not yet had the opportunity. 

The Combined Clinical Conference sponsors include the Missouri Chapter of American College of Emergency Physicians, the Missouri Emergency Nurses Association, the Missouri Ambulance Association and the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association (MEMSA).

These agencies come together once a year at the Combined Clinical Conference for a two and half day training and education event where there are opportunities to participate in break-out sessions that include tracts for physicians, nurses, pre-hospital emergency professionals and educators. 

What the EMS professional should be thinking about when considering attendance at the Combined Clinical Conference is the fact that he or she has an outstanding opportunity to participate in a conference that has a quality rating at the national level – right in our own backyard.

Take for instance the general session presentation by Dr. Paul Hinchey on pre-hospital induced hypothermia for post-resuscitated heart patients.  Where else can an EMS professional so easily learn about patient care that includes induced cooling with iced saline through an IV to induce hypothermia?  Studies show that induced hypothermia coupled with the implementation of the 2005 AHA guidelines lead to significant improvements in neurologically intact survival for cardiac arrest patients.

Having once been a paramedic himself, Dr. Hinchey was the perfect person to deliver information on this cutting edge technique for our pre-hospital conference attendees.  Since we now know that recovery from a life threatening arrhythmia doesn’t just involve the heart but the brain as well, induced cooling to slow metabolism helps reverse the post resuscitation encephalopathy that is being recognized as a factor in a person’s successful recovery after a cardiac arrest event.  The presentation was simply amazing.

The conference provided continuing education credits to all emergency care providers and was designed to have different tracts available each hour with a total of five tracks – one for physicians, one for nurses and three focused on prehospital subjects.   All attendees have the option to choose tracts based on their interests and may attend tracts outside their practice.

The scope of the conference goes beyond all things medical, offering need-to-know topics that touch practical items EMS professionals must understand after care is given.  For example, another great presentation was given by Kent Shutt, whose lecture was titled Depositions, Are you Prepared? Kent works as a flight paramedic and also as a county sheriff deputy.  His background lent an interesting twist in helping medical professionals understand the impact a deposition can have on the outcome of a legal investigation.

A superior multi-aircraft landing presentation was offered as a joint project by all the air ambulance companies in Missouri. Four air ambulance representatives spoke, while information presented came from each program.  The presenters included Kandi Sagehorn with Arch, Jerry Kirchhoff with Air Evac, K.C. Jones with LifeNet and a lot of help from Michael Thiemann with West County Fire in St. Louis who provided a simulated multi-aircraft incident that engaged attendees from the moment of an air ambulance request to a fully developed scene.  The presentation included stops at different times to help attendees with prepared questions that made them think through the air transport process in order to help them understand the efforts that must be made on the ground to ensure a safe and effective transport. 

There were simply too many pertinent and educational presentations to name.  Suffice it say that those in attendance went home with an important return on their investment – but not before they had a little fun.
Beyond the practical educational side of the conference, individuals also had the chance to mix with others who are in the industry from different regions of the state.  The evenings were very enjoyable, especially the 25th anniversary dinner for MEMSA which included a meaningful awards ceremony, not to mention a surprise Elvis impersonator who provided fun and entertainment.

In addition, many people brought their families and made an extended stay out of the trip.  By adding the weekend to their itinerary the resort kept the room cost at the conference rate.  With plenty of things for kids and families to do during the day, EMS attendees were able to make a vacation out of their stay at Tan-Tar-A.

If you’ve not had the chance to attend the Combined Clinical Conference, be sure to mark in on your calendar for August 11-14, 2009 at the Tan-Tar-A Resort. Also the 2009 ICE Spring Break Conference takes place April 20-22 with Pre-Conference Workshops on April 20.  If you’d like to be on a notification list for the conference, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and indicate your interest.