LAKE SUCCESS, NY -- The North Shore-LIJ Bioskills Education Center  recently hosted a workshop with the 103rd Rescue Squadron of the US Air Force’s New York Air National Guard  from Westhampton Beach. The para-rescuers of the 103rd are Air Force Combat search-and-rescue specialists who also provide support during such disasters as 9/11 and hurricanes.

The workshop -- directed by Major Stephen Rush, MD, para-rescue flight surgeon, with assistance from Jason D’Amore, MD, an emergency physician at North Shore University Hospital -- focused on skills necessary to perform in austere environments (e.g., advanced airway intubations, chest tube placement, deep wound packing and more).

“These advanced life-saving skills are necessary in the combat environment, where there are no physicians to care for victims of improvised explosive devices [IEDs] and gunshots,” said Dr. Rush. “The Bioskills Education Center provides a unique opportunity to train para-rescuers -- who are paramedics -- in techniques that are difficult to practice and perfect in other educational environments.”

About the Bioskills Education Center
The North Shore-LIJ Health System’s Bioskills Education Center -- a 6,200-square-foot state-of-the-art training facility-- brings the latest operative techniques to physicians, medical students, nurses and surgical technologists, among others. Coupled with the most advanced technologies in video and endoscopic surgical equipment, the center supports surgical training, continuing medical education and research. For more information, visit www.nslij.com/bioskills.