• Tuan N Hoang, Jeff Kang, Kris Siriratsivawong, Anthony LaPorta, Amber Heck, Jessica Ferraro, Douglas Robinson, and Jonathan Walsh.
• United States Navy.
• J Surg Educ. 2016 Jul 1; 73 (4): 668-74.

ObjectiveThe high-stress, fast-paced environment of combat casualty care relies on effective teamwork and communication which translates into quality patient care. A training course was developed for U.S. Navy Fleet Surgical Teams to address these aspects of patient care by emphasizing efficiency and appropriate patient care. An effective training course provides knowledge and skills to pass the course evaluation and sustain the knowledge and skills acquired over time.DesignThe course included classroom didactic hours, and hands-on simulation sessions. A pretest was administered before the course, a posttest upon completion, and a sustainment test 5 months following course completion. The evaluation process measured changes in patient time to disposition and critical errors made during patient care.SettingNaval Base San Diego, with resuscitation and surgical simulations carried out within the shipboard medical spaces.ParticipantsUnited States Navy medical personnel including physicians of various specialties, corpsmen, nurses, and nurse anesthetists deploying aboard ships.ResultsTime to disposition improved significantly, 11 ± 3 minutes, from pretest to posttest, and critical errors improved by 4 ± 1 errors per encounter. From posttest to sustainment test, time to disposition increased by 3 ± 1, and critical errors decreased by 1 ± 1.ConclusionsThis course showed value in improving teamwork and communication skills of participants, immediately upon completion of the course, and after 5 months had passed. Therefore, with ongoing sustainment activities within 6 months, this course can substantially improve trauma care provided by shipboard deployed Navy medical personnel to wounded service members.Published by Elsevier Inc.

24 keywords...

hide…