Refining prehospital physical assessment skills: a new teaching technique

Physical assessment is a critically important skill in the prehospital setting, the performance of which is complicated by adverse environmental conditions. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, and others providing out-of-hospital emergency health care frequently receive training that does not adequately prepare them to perform an appropriate physical assessment. This is particularly true for such providers who support special operations as combat medics, wilderness EMTs, winter emergency care technicians, or EMT-tacticals. We describe a new training technique that emphasizes tactile sensory inputs rather than visual and auditory cues. The training strongly reinforces the importance of conducting a systematic survey.