Paediatric Trauma and Acute Care course: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
We asked Eoin Walker, a London HEMS Paramedic, UKMED Team Member, WEM MSc in Extreme Medicine Faculty and our Paediatric Trauma course leader to run through the most frequently asked questions he gets asked regarding the course.
What content do you cover in the Paediatric Trauma course?
The course offers a fully immersive and highly practical hands-on approach to learning including various slow time simulations relevant to situations and scenarios you might find yourself, group workshops and faculty panel discussions. Attending the course will teach you the key skills needed to assess and stabilise a critically ill paediatric trauma patient in a pre-hospital environment including:
- Paediatric trauma assessment and airway
- IO (Intraosseous infusion) access and pain management
- Paediatric traumatic and medical cardiac arrests
- Breaking bad news in paediatric death, the 2nd patient
- Integrated parent relationship management, non-technical skills and troubleshooting
- Collapsed infant from Asthma, Anaphylaxis, Sepsis and Seizures
- Medical assessment tools and FOI
- Panel discussions with paediatric case scenarios
- Kit familiarisation
- Variations in approach to paediatric patients including the differences in Airway, Breathing and Circulation
Is cardiac arrest – medical and traumatic covered on the course?
Yes, both are covered across the two days within their own 45 minute integrated workshops, as well as enhanced fidelity simulations to increase learning and improve skills and WEM panel discussions with some of the country’s leading paediatric specialists including specific paediatric case scenarios.
How do you adapt care for a pre-hospital environment?
Decision making in any medical situation can be a challenge, add to that a high stress situation and a paediatric trauma patient and you as the health professional needs to be confident in providing the gold standard of critical care we all aspire to. Within a pre-hospital environment we will teach you how to follow and adapt the ceiling of care principle, where the aim is to provide continuity of care and ensure good communication is prevalent throughout.
Do you cover pain management for children?
Yes, this topic is covered extensively on the first day of the course within a workshop and also as part of slow time simulation reflective of a paediatric fall from height scenario. It’s important to understand the unique and challenging problems a paediatric trauma patient can present with and how best to assess and proficiently manage the patient, to achieve the optimum outcome.
How do you achieve paediatric splintage?
There are various adaptions taught within the course and all will be dependent on the patients’ trauma, range of movement and environment. We will discuss in great detail and focus your skills through hands on practical experience.
Which airway techniques are preferable?
Airway control is a critical skill for any pre-hospital healthcare provider and as such we advocate various airway techniques which will depend on the environment your find yourself in. Techniques will be taught through a combination of taught lectures, workshops, simulation and plenary discussions and will include supplementary additions to both intubating through a supraglottic airway (SGA) and Endotracheal intubation (ETI).
Do you teach around assessment tools in Paediatrics?
Yes, these are essential to form a general impression of our patient and will be used to assess and determine the treatment given. We will teach and discuss the Paediatric Assessment Triangle (PAT) that consists of three areas of assessment: Appearance; Work of Breathing; and Circulation to Skin with adjunctive TICLS – pronounced ‘tickles’ – that looks at muscle tone, irritability, consolability, look (gaze) and speech.
If you want to feel more confident in treating sick children together with how to proficiently manage traumatic and medic paediatric cardiac arrests, then this is the course for you!
To find out more information about our Paediatric Trauma and Acute Care course or to book your place on what we promise will be an incredibly inspiring 2 days, please click here.
