Kudos to Professor Mike Flanagan with the EMS and Fire Science programs at SF’s Institute for Public Safety (IPS)! Mike recently oversaw a nationwide competition in Orlando for EMTs and paramedics.
The Bill Shearer International ALS/BLS Competition is held in conjunction with the 2011 Clinical Conference on Prehospital Care (ClinCon). Competitors include paramedics, RNs, military medics who work in EMS, EMTs, and EMS students. The first round of competition challenges professional and student teams to “treat” accident victims before judges. The highest-ranking teams then compete in a final round the following day.
“We are very proud of Mike,” said IPS Director Daryl Johnston. “He basically put on the competition! That’s a pretty significant piece of work. How many people have a faculty member who puts on an entire competition like that?”
It is a logistical challenge to organize, as Flanagan and the state-wide committee he led, had to organize “actors” and create medical scenarios with multiple “victims.” This year, 37 Florida teams competed in three divisions against teams from as far away as Nebraska and New York. To give you an idea of the scope, there are 50 judges for the competition!
“This year was quite interesting because we lost a key player in preparing and running the competition, so we had to pick up his responsibilities in addition to ours,” explained Flanagan. “The final scenario is a large production. It is open to the public, so we create and build propos the night before – many times into the wee hours of the morning.”
The competition’s three divisions award first through third places to the top teams. (Santa Fe’s student team did not place in the top three.) The event wrapped up with a final reception and award ceremony – again, a lot to organize! The competition is supported by the Emergency Medical Learning Resource Center.
The photo above shows Santa Fe Paramedic student Will Eaton treating a patient during the preliminaries.
Please click on this link for a write-up by Mike Flanagan if you’d like more detail.
Photos of preliminary competition
Photos of finals