CALS Executive Director Ann Gihl (far left) presented Riverwood’s CALS Hospital certificate to Drew Van Santen and Christina Hughley, from Riverwood’s Emergency Department management team, and Chief Nursing Officer Carla Zupko
On Nov. 2, the Comprehensive Advanced Life Support (CALS) program recognized Riverwood Healthcare Center for its CALS Hospital designation with a recertification certificate.
“Riverwood first received this designation in 2008 and has long recognized the value excellence in emergency medicine education,” said David Taylor, emergency physician and chief medical officer at Riverwood. “We are pleased to have met the CALS criteria at the highest possible level with 100% of our nurses and providers trained in CALS. In addition, we have secured the recommended equipment and demonstrated our commitment to the CALS principles.”
CALS is a program designed to prepare medical personnel in a team approach to anticipate, recognize and treat life-threatening emergencies. CALS provides a comprehensive, realistic, team-based approach to handling emergency medicine in rural settings.
Developed in 1996 with collaboration among emergency medicine and family physicians, rural practitioners, academic specialists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and paramedics, CALS is now one of the premier education programs for rural health care providers.
The CALS Hospital designation represents an institutional commitment to quality rural emergency medical care and recognizes the clinicians who have completed the education as well as the administrators who provided the infrastructure for this achievement.
Riverwood Healthcare has hosted CALS training 16 times since 2003, adding the trauma module in 2011.