Air Medical Physician Symposium "LITE"
Monday, October 27    |    12:45  - 5:00 pm

AMPA is proud to host the Air Medical Physician Symposium “Lite” in conjunction with AMTC25 in Omaha, Nebraska. Highly recommended for physicians, this symposium is designed to promote networking and discussion amongst physicians regarding clinical and administrative topics that are applicable to their current practice.

Please select the “Lite” symposium option when registering for the AMTC25 for an accurate headcount.  

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SESSION 1: Management of Agitated Patients in the Air Medical Transport Environment: A Literature Review 

    Phil Nawrocki, MD

The management of agitated and combative patients during air medical transport presents unique clinical and operational challenges. This session will explore the latest literature on this critical topic—including retrospective reviews, case series, and the sole existing consensus statement from an Australian aeromedical retrieval service.

Participants will examine the current evidence base, identify key gaps, and discuss how future research can address these limitations. The session will translate findings into practical insights for developing effective protocols, with a focus on strategies tailored to the air medical transport environment.

We will also review the existing NAEMSP position statement on the care of agitated patients, highlighting opportunities to incorporate AMT-specific considerations in the forthcoming joint AMPA/NAEMSP position statement. Attendees will leave with a stronger understanding of the evidence, informed approaches to protocol development, and a clear view of where the field is headed next.

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SESSION 2: Preventing Patient Turbulence During Transport: Agitation Risk Assessment Tools for the Critical Care Transport Environment

    Garrett Cavaliere, DO

Accurately assessing agitation risk is essential to ensuring safe and effective patient care in the critical care transport and out-of-hospital environment. This session will review the current agitation risk assessment tools in use today, along with the evidence that supports them.

We’ll explore the limitations of these scoring systems when applied to out-of-hospital care and critical care transport medicine (CCTM), and examine opportunities for collaborative research and consensus-building around selecting the most appropriate tool for our unique setting.

Attendees will gain a clear understanding of the current landscape, the challenges we face, and the promising steps we can take together to establish best practices for agitation risk assessment in CCTM.

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SESSION 3: Development of Best Practice Guidelines for Pediatric Patients

    Jennifer Flint, MD

Transporting pediatric patients experiencing psychiatric or behavioral emergencies requires a specialized approach to ensure safety, effectiveness, and compassionate care. This session will address the unique needs of this patient population in the transport environment, introducing a behavioral health observation tool to assess the severity of behavior or agitation.

We will review evidence-based recommendations for medication selection, dosing, and indications specific to pediatric patients, along with a pre-transport risk assessment tool to help identify high-risk cases. Participants will gain strategies to safeguard both patient and crew, and will examine an institution-specific Clinical Practice Guideline for interfacility transport as a model for best practice.

Attendees will leave equipped with practical tools, safety strategies, and protocol insights to enhance the care of pediatric patients in psychiatric or behavioral crisis during transport.