PHTLS, BTLS, ITLS, and ATLS are all sponsored by the American College of Surgeons. The NREMT teaches and tests their students based off of the guidelines of, not only the American Heart Association (CPR, ACLS) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (PALS, NRP), but also the American College of Surgeons.
Treat immediate life threats on scene, then you can transport. Still shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes on scene.
IMMEDIATE LIFE THREATS
Airway - Define airway. An unobstructed path from O2 source to lungs. If they don't have one, get one. If they have one, don't lose it. Airway ranges from Modified jaw thrust to surgical cric and everything in between.
Breathing - If they're not breathing, breath for them. If they're having trouble breathing, help them out. AMBU and/or needle decompress. Don't forget O2.
Circulation - If they're bleeding and it has a significant arc as it is shooting across the room, fix it right then and there. If they don't have a pulse, generate one. IV's can be started enroute.
Be judiciously aggressive. Jump on your pts early, and stay ahead of them. Do not get behind the 8 ball. Use common sense.
You probably sat for the wrong class... there is a BLS and ALS variant, AFAIK...
It is a VERY good class to take... because it educates you on how to efficiently treat a multi-system trauma patient... and you will be a better provider for it.
What is the difference between the ACS PHTLS and the NAEMT PHTLS classes? I know NAEMT advertises their own classes, as described at this link: http://www.naemt.org/PHTLS/
Am I missing something here? Based on the outlines, they look like the same class...
Thanks!
Dan