The first of four scheduled Education and Development days in 2025 for West Midlands CARE Team (WMCT) took place on Monday 13th January at Bournbrook Fire Station.
The course was co-ordinated by Dr. Rachel Edwards (the teams’ Education & Resources Lead), and catered to over twenty CARE Team volunteers. The day focused on major trauma, with a blend of expert speakers interspersed with a variety of simulations.
The purpose of training days like this is to give members the opportunity to practice important skills and procedures together as a team as well as to ensure that everyone is up-to-date with the latest in pre-hospital research and guidelines.
The morning’s theory sessions began with a presentation of the latest in major trauma research and a lecture on pre-hospital resuscitative thoracotomy.
In the afternoon, attendees were taken through the latest Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care (FPHC), expert consensus statements, and the team discussed a planned updated to our sedation checklist.
As well as this series of talks and discussions, team members participated in a range of clinical simulations providing the opportunity to practice some of the ‘high acuity, low occurrence’ (HALO) procedures that the team deliver. Divided into teams mirroring a WMCT response, participants were faced with a range of trauma simulations designed to challenge clinical decision making as well as the technical and non-technical skills & abilities of team members.
Enhanced care interventions required amongst the simulated cases included pre-hospital amputation, surgical cricothyroidotomy, maxillofacial splinting and resuscitative thoracotomy.
To end the day, and bring out a healthy competitive streak, there were a series of speed challenges, testing clinical, procedural and problem-solving skills against the clock.
Dr. Rachel Edwards (Education & Resources Lead) said,
“The feedback I’ve received from the day has been overwhelmingly positive.”
“There was a lot of time and effort put in to planning and preparing for the day and then on the day itself to ensure that everything ran smoothly. I’m really grateful for everyone’s help with this, including a number of fellow CARE Team members, the WMCT Junior Membership, a handful of student Paramedics and also a previous Clinical Director, Dr. Matt Boylan, who kindly gave a presentation.”
Dr. Jennifer Scallan (WMCT Clinical Management Lead) said,
“Days like this allow the team to come together from our various backgrounds, both in and out of hospital, to ensure we stay current in the latest evidence, allowing us to provide the best possible care to our patients.”
“It was a great event organised by Dr. Rachel Edwards and the fact that twenty-five team members volunteered to attend is a testament to this. Thank you to all those who facilitated this invaluable learning opportunity and congratulations to the individuals who reigned victorious on several of the competitive elements of the day.”
“We look forward to the next E&D day in April focusing on cardiac arrests.”
The next CARE Education & Development day will be in April on the topic of ‘Cardiac Arrest’.
Ends
Press Enquiries should be directed to: press@wmcareteam.com
- Image: WM CARE Team & Student Paramedics, Learning & Development Day Participant & Facilitators ↩︎
- Image: Critical CARE Team engaged in a simulated case. ↩︎
- Image: Critical CARE Team members performing resuscitative thoracotomy simulation. ↩︎
