Affiliates
Minnesota
Minnesota Comprehensive Advanced Life Support (CALS) originated in fall of 1996. The idea was conceived out of frustration with the fact that emergency and critical care results in rural communities were not keeping pace with the advances being made in urban centers. Dr. Darrell L. Carter, a family physician in Granite Falls, and Dr. Ernest Ruiz, then Chief of Emergency Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, shared a similar vision in changing this.
A working group representing the whole emergency team (physicians, nurses, PA/NP, EMT-P) began a three-year project to develop what was to grow into the CALS curriculum and that today has evolved into the CALS Program. The first CALS course was conducted in 1996 by this grassroots coalition of volunteer health care providers with the goal of improving patient care and outcomes in rural settings.
Now in its 27th year of providing emergency care training, the CALS Program has active affiliate programs in five states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Maine and Alaska) and has hosted courses in 10 states, three Canadian provinces and nine countries. The CALS Program extends its reach by training all United States embassy medical personnel around the globe for the Department of State. In December 2022, CALS was pleased to provide its 487th CALS Provider Course in Minnesota.
Affiliate News
CALS Participant Puts CALS OB Skills to the Test
"I took a CALS Course in Fall 2022. I then had the privilege to put my newly acquired OB skills to use in February! The patient presented to our small rural ED in active labor. A language barrier presented another challenge. She thought she was about 30 weeks along so...
read moreRecent News
CALS Founder Darrell Carter, MD recognized for his contributions to the State Trauma Program.
Darrell Carter
Recognition
NEW COURSE: Fundamentals of Airway Management for Rural Providers
Space is LIMITED!
Montana CALS Leaders Honored at Nat’l Rural Health Day
Montana CALS Leaders Honored
CALS REFUND Policy (effective 07/01/21)
CALS REFUND Policy (07/01/21)
Alaska Healthcare Professionals Gather For Rural Emergency Medical Training
By MAGGIE NELSON In resource-constrained environments like rural Alaska, time and education can mean the difference between life and death. https://www.kucb.org/post/alaska-healthcare-professionals-gather-rural-emergency-medical-training#stream/0 In mid-October of...