A look at the College of Paramedics Trauma Care Masterclass

On Saturday 27 July 2013 the London Regional Group—on behalf of the College of Paramedics and in association with the University of Greenwich—facilitated a one-day trauma programme for 30 candidates as part of their continuing masterclass series. The programme was taught by an experienced air ambulance faculty and was aimed at all College of Paramedics members wishing to improve their knowledge and skills in trauma care. This article provides an insider's view of the College of Paramedics Trauma Care Masterclass by outlining the background, programme, faculty, contents and future aims of the programme.

Ambulance based paramedics across the UK do not regularly experience large numbers of seriously injured trauma patients. Delivering trauma care to patients with life-threatening injuries within this environment can involve some of the most challenging decisions in a clinician's career. Faced with emotive, dynamic and unpredictable environments, paramedics need to be given appropriate education and opportunity to successfully manage this patient group. Anecdotal evidence, noted through the Helicopter Crew Course conducted by London's Air Ambulance (Varela et al, 2012), proves low-fidelity trauma care education is an achievable and effective way of delivering advanced trauma care education within the doctor and paramedic group. Using this unique approach with the right coordination, imagination, ethos and an operationally experienced teaching faculty, patient outcomes are inevitably improved. This method can also provide an inexpensive and credible way of delivering trauma care education to all ambulance based paramedics.