Becoming an EMST instructor

Medical practitioners interested in trauma care who have an interest and involvement in teaching and who wish to become actively involved in the EMST program may apply for the EMST instructor course.

The prerequisites for attending an EMST instructor course are:

• Current EMST status
• Recognition of the applicant's instructor potential by the faculty of provider course attended.

As there are only two instructor courses conducted each year, places are limited. Selection is made depending on the needs of the EMST program, focusing on such criteria as specialty and area of practice.

Upon satisfactory completion of the instructor course, participants are allocated to instruct on a course as an instructor candidate. On that occasion, their performance as an Instructor is assessed before they are formally included on the instructor panel for further EMST courses.

To maintain Instructor status, instructors are required to participate in at least one EMST course per year. Instructor reciprocity exists between EMST and the ATLS® program worldwide. ATLS® website (http://www.facs.org/trauma/atls/) or email atls@facs.org 

For more information on becoming an EMST instructor please email the EMST administrator at  emst@surgeons.org

EMST co-ordinator (for nursing staff)

Nursing professionals interested in taking an active role in the EMST program can do so as an EMST course co-ordinator.

The role of the EMST co-ordinator

The co-ordinator is the course organiser who, working closely with the course director, is responsible for pre-course planning and post-course summation.

Selection criteria

A candidate for the co-ordinator's role should be a health professional with a base knowledge of medical core content and related equipment, e.g. Trauma Nurse Co-ordinator, Nursing Education Co-ordinator, Registered Nurse with emergency/trauma experience.

The candidate should also have proven organisational skills and the ability to communicate effectively.

An interested candidate should be familiar with EMST course policies and procedures.

Recruitment and training process

There are three steps to this process:

• The candidate who satisfies the selection criteria must observe an EMST provider course in its entirety with an experienced EMST co-ordinator.
• The co-ordinator candidate actively assists an experienced co-ordinator on an EMST provider course to become familiar with the organisational aspects and required paperwork within a course.
• The co-ordinator candidate actively manages the pre-course planning, organisation and conduct of an EMST provider course under the supervision and evaluation of an experienced co-ordinator and the course director.

Once the candidate has completed their first course as an independent co-ordinator, a written evaluation of their performance and recommendation is submitted to the National Co-ordinator, who approves their elevation to the position of an EMST co-ordinator.

To register your interest in the co-ordinator role, please email Lesley.Dunstall@surgeons.org