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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
NSU Provides Medical Training for Iraqi Doctors in War Zone
NSU emergency medical services personnel and UCLA doctors train Iraqi physicians.
NSU’s Institute for Child Health Policy and Emergency Medical Services Division faculty taught Iraqi doctors how to administer advanced CPR and other live-saving skills on children from Mar. 26 – 31. This was the first time any entity in the United States has provided such training with Iraqi doctors in a war zone. NSU teamed up with physicians from UCLA and the international Medical Corp (IMC) to provide an American Heart Association (AHA) certified Pediatric Advance Life Support Course (PALS). CPR and other skills, such as specialized procedures to administer IV fluids and management of severe respiratory issues, were taught.
During the PALS Iraq Course, NSU and UCLA healthcare providers trained12 Iraqi civilian doctors. The training, which was initiated by the IMC, was televised live from NSU’s Davie campus to Baghdad, where two IMC/UCLA physicians were in the same room with their Iraqi counterparts to demonstrate the skills training hands-on. “There are thousands of Iraqi children suffering from cardiac arrests and respiratory problems that need physicians with the skills to treat them,” said Kevin Nugent, REMT-P, director of Emergency Medical Services education and training at NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. “This unprecedented training course helped us certify our Iraqi medical colleagues in pediatric advanced live support.”
The AHA-approved training course enabled the 12 Iraqi physicians to receive PALS certification after they successfully completed the course and an exam. “This was a great collaborative effort between NSU, UCLA, AHA, and the American Academy of Pediatrics to provide critical skills to a region that needs it the most,” said Deborah Mulligan, M.D., director of NSU’s Institute for Child Health Policy.