Improving Trauma Care

When it comes to the management of emergency care, Trauma NB believes that practise makes perfect in delivering services that can make a profound difference in health outcomes.

Trama NB offers a nationally accredited simulation program for health-care providers that aims to address gaps in care through hands-on training. The program is offered province-wide and across both health authorities.

“When you are looking after a trauma patient, we need to make sure that our delivery of care to that patient is as good as it can get,” says Dr. Jay Mekwan, Clinical Lead for the Mobile Simulation Program. “One of the best ways of doing that is practise, and it has to be deliberate practise at that.”

Dr. Mekwan says the centre reviews all trauma cases that happen in the province, assessing the quality of care and whether there were gaps in service. He says there could be shortcomings because of equipment, the transfer system for patients, or possibly gaps in knowledge among health-care providers.

The simulation program is distinguished by the fact that it has received accreditation through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada – a lengthy and demanding process that sets the program apart from most others. In fact, the Trauma NB Centre is one of only two such accredited centres in the Maritimes. There are only about 25 across Canada.

“It signifies to participants who want to explore education through simulation that, in choosing our program, you know that it’s accredited and it’s giving you the best there is,” says Dr. Mekwan. “It’s giving you everything that you can possibly want and it’s approved by an organization that has independently reviewed it.” The programs are multi-disciplinary, so there is a collaborative feel to the simulations to make sure patients are getting the best possible care.

“We deliver the programs to the people providing the care – physicians, nurses, RTs.” Dr. Mekwan says each module in the simulation program has some reading and a small lecture component, but the rest is practical.

“There’s some reading that clinicians do prior to the session, but the majority is hands-on. There are practical simulation sessions throughout the day. Group learning about equipment. It’s really diverse in terms of what we teach, but it’s all hands-on.”

By visiting health-care facilities across the province, it also offers a more tailored experience for clinicians in each area. In addition to celebrating the recent Royal College accreditation and continuing to build its programs for delivery, Trauma NB is looking forward to its upcoming biennial conference in September.

It’s a two-and-a-half-day conference and the goal is really to bring like-minded people together and really network, collaborate, and see what other people are doing, says Dr. Mekwan. We want to see what we can bring to our own teams, see what we can take from others and show people what else is out there.