SIMS conducted the inaugural run of the Pre-Hospital Acute Care Course (PACC) from 29 to 31 January 2018, in partnership with the World Extreme Medicine (WEM), an internationally renowned medical training organisation, and with support by the Ministry of Health, Singapore.
The tripartite partnership aims to develop a pool of healthcare professionals and critical care providers highly competent in pre-hospital trauma management for mass casualties with limited resources. Increasingly, emergency medical providers who operate under such circumstances are lauded as the first link in the chain of survival before patient transfer to the hospital. Studies have also shown that appropriate acute treatment and speed at which it is delivered to patients can positively affect care outcomes and improve survival rates of the casualties.
The three-day course was attended by 17 medical responders, who are also doctors and nurses, from the Disaster Site Medical Command (DSMC) and senior paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Participants were rigorously trained in the areas of trauma care, medical emergencies, retrieval medicine, and tactical medicine by faculty members from WEM with a wealth of real-life experience and expertise in managing casualties under adverse conditions. The skills learnt ensured that participants are able to treat casualties in highly challenging and resource-limited conditions, whether in moving vehicles or in the field. Great emphasis was also placed on improving the team's situational awareness, trauma team leadership, and crew resource management.
As the training site for PACC, SIMS facilitated the course with in situ medical simulation expertise and resources, which included mannikins, technical support, etc. This allowed for realistic training in hands-on practice.
Dr Jimmy Goh, Commander of DSMC and Senior Consultant from Changi General Hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine, who led the PACC said, "SIMS has greatly facilitated the training workshop and provided a very supportive learning environment. The training faculty from WEMS were very impressed by the efficiency and capability of SIMS. The working experience has been a very positive one and I look forward to further collaboration with SIMS on similar training courses."
