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Forward2025 Fall Trauma Symposium
Our annual fall trauma symposium is held to provide continuing trauma education for our healthcare professionals (primarily nursing staff). The symposium will have both a morning and afternoon session, each session will have 4, one hour lectures/speakers. Both sessions will have the same lectures/topics.
Target Audience
Nurse
Social Worker
physical, social and occupational therapies
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lecture, participants will be able to:
Foundational Understanding
- Define diagnostic anchoring and differentiate it from related cognitive biases (premature closure, confirmation bias, availability heuristic)
- Identify the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying anchoring bias and explain why it occurs more frequently in high-stress, time-pressured environments
- Describe the epidemiology of diagnostic errors in trauma care and quantify the contribution of anchoring bias to missed diagnoses
Clinical Recognition
- Recognize common trauma scenarios where anchoring bias is most likely to occur (e.g., obvious injuries masking occult pathology, mechanism-based assumptions)
- List high-risk patient populations and presentations that predispose providers to anchoring (intoxicated patients, frequent flyers, elderly with minor trauma)
- Identify environmental and system factors that increase susceptibility to anchoring (fatigue, time pressure, resource limitations, handoff communication)
Overall Lecture:
- Explain how the mechanism of injury effects injury patterns.
- List the steps of the primary survey and identify changes in the patient's condition.
- Correctly record assessment findings
Additional Information
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 2025 Fall Trauma Symposium Schedule.docx | 573.15 KB |
Our annual fall trauma symposium is held to provide continuing trauma education for our healthcare professionals (primarily nursing staff). The symposium will have both a morning and afternoon session, each session will have 4, one hour lectures/speakers. Both sessions will have the same lectures/topics.
John Hawksworth: Fire Fighter II, Fire Officer II, Fire Instructor II, Life member of the Dauntless Fire Co. (49 years) Retired Assistant Fire Chief, Retired Chief of Police UPMC Altoona (40 years)
A Penna. State Fire Instructor for 44 years specializing in Vehicle Rescue
IFSTA Validation Committee Member for:
- Principles of Passenger Vehicle Extrication 5th Edition and
- Heavy Truck Extrication 1St Edition
He is involved in vehicle extrication training and have been active in research of new vehicle technology and alternative fuel vehicles. He is interested in working to support worldwide standardization for vehicle markings for emergency responders.
He will be discussing recent vehicle new technology which poses challenges during vehicle extrication for first responders. He will discuss basic technology changes to vehicles; vehicle construction, fuel uses, and injury types.
Rich Brandt: Detective with the Allegheny Township Police Department with 16 years as a police officer, Fire Deputy Coroner with the Blair County Coroner’s Office, with 4 years as a deputy coroner.
His lecture will discuss the Coroners Office and Trauma-Related Incidents
Don Penatzer:
He brings a unique perspective to trauma care through extensive experience across the entire emergency care continuum. Previously served as a Trauma Performance Improvement Coordinator, He holds a Master of Science in Nursing and maintains dual certification as both a paramedic and registered nurse.
His clinical background includes experience as an Emergency Department nurse, flight nurse providing critical care transport, and paramedic in prehospital emergency services. This diverse experience—from scene response through definitive hospital care—provides him with comprehensive insight into trauma system performance and the challenges providers face at every level.
He is passionate about advancing trauma care through education and helping providers recognize and overcome the cognitive challenges that can impact patient care.
In support of improving patient care, the University of Pittsburgh is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, University of Pittsburgh is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. University of Pittsburgh maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 4.0 continuing education credits.
Social Work (ASWB)
This program is offered for 4.0 hours of social work continuing education.
Nursing (ANCC)
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 4.0 contact hours.
Other Healthcare Professionals:
Other health care professionals will receive a certificate of attendance confirming the number of contact hours commensurate with the extent of participation in this activity.
Available Credit
- 4.00 ANCCUPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
- 4.00 ASWB
- 4.00 Attendance