Dr Ashutosh Niranjan, Dean, Noida International Institute of Medical Sciences emphasises that emergency training courses can be made efficient by leveraging technology to provide the latest online tools at the constant disposal of healthcare workers to enhance their skills in basic life support. It should be introduced during the graduation level
With the changing times, the emergency department has gained much prominence in all healthcare medical settings as today’s health emergencies are increasingly complex. Previous crises such as natural disasters, armed conflicts and other emergencies have taught us that the healthcare centres need to ensure that their medical team has the requisite knowledge and skills to manage these emergencies with a high level of care.
Other more prevalent emergency conditions such as acute coronary syndrome, stroke, respiratory diseases, maternal and paediatric emergencies and injuries are the leading causes of death and disabilities in India. Multiple reports have stated that trauma is the leading cause of death among young, who often are the sole bread earner of the family.
According to a study conducted by AIIMS, medical emergencies including Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) contribute to 1.5 lakh deaths annually. Currently, Non-Communicable Diseases alone account for 62 per cent of deaths in India and Communicable infections, Maternal, New born account for ~27 per cent of deaths. Almost 50 per cent of such deaths can be averted with pre-hospital and emergency care.
In the light of the above, that’s why there is a pressing need to have a ready, willing and skilled workforce so that the healthcare industry can completely rely upon them to save lives, alleviate disease and suffering, and reduce socioeconomic losses in affected communities and countries.
Imparting emergency courses
Emergency training courses can be made efficient by leveraging technology to provide the latest online tools at the constant disposal of healthcare workers to enhance their skills in basic life support. It should be introduced during the graduation level. By the time they complete their graduation, students will develop a better understanding of the various concepts backed up by the case studies. Evidence-based learning significantly improves basic life-saving and resuscitation skills of our healthcare workforce by making them cost-effective. The course will highlight on the management of medical emergencies, surgical emergencies, cardiac emergencies, respiratory emergencies including ventilator management protocol for COVID-19 and other disease, trauma-related emergencies, obstetric emergencies, paediatric emergencies, snake bites, poisoning among others.
Even the Ministry of health has recently launched a National Emergency Life Support (NELS) course for doctors, nurses and paramedics to create a pool of with skilled professionals to provide standardized emergency life support and reduce mortality due to medical emergencies.
Skillset to be achieved with emergency medical course
The pre clerkship curriculum has been swiftly converted to online formats in response to COVID-19, and this includes coursework in the fundamental sciences, health systems sciences, and even behavioural sciences. In virtual team settings, small-group forms meet online, and clinical skills sessions can take place online or, in some situations, be postponed. Additionally, exams are now conducted online. Although virtual activities and updating content may be advantages of the online format, further analysis of the results of these changes is required. Faculty, students, and support staff may experience loneliness, an increase in email use, and difficulties drawing boundaries between work and home while moving from the job or medical school to their homes. Emergency Medicine professionals recognise and manage life-threatening and critical situations in real-time. With this course, a student will acquire the skills of taking decisions speedily and become multi-tasking and start having the ability to tolerate risk. He/ she remains calm always, especially, in a pressured and tense environment. The other skills which they imbibe are:
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Flexibility and must have the ability to cope with a continually varying workload
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Resilience, attending to detail, and awareness of one’s limitation
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Communicating very well, particularly, with anxious patients and their family members
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Working in a team as well as in a leadership role
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Being self-reliant and self-motivated
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Good interpersonal and organisational skills
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Teaching and Research
The best part about medical health emergency courses is they can be easily imparted online as which makes the whole learning pedagogy much more feasible as it offers the same skills from the comfort of home and at a low cost without the need to travel.
Benefits of e-learning: A cost-effective solution
In the post-pandemic world, these courses can be imparted through self-paced learning and simulation training that will provide real-time, audio-visual and haptic feedback for higher engagement, retention and skill practice. Digital learning also provides students the greater control over their time and resources with consistent accessibility on hospital premises. Simulation-based training is best for abstract concepts and hands-on-practice. Learners get in-depth knowledge about performing a procedure that will make them confident. For instance: in a dedicated clinical skill lab, students can practice with mock or real patients and this will prepare them to deal with situations where patients have complications and there is little or no time left.
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