Trauma

The general understanding of trauma care is that it is a time critical condition. Hence, the ideal system for managing trauma patients is one in which the time from injury to definitive care is minimised. However, time from injury to definitive care for rural trauma patients is prolonged due to accessibility and geology. There is also a higher incidence of farming, mining, industrial and motor vehicle accidents, as well as greater access to firearms in isolated areas.

It is widely recognised General Practitioners, particularly those in, rural and remote locations will be called upon to manage trauma in its early phase. Therefore, General practitioners in rural and remote areas require a higher level of emergency care skills to manage the trauma patient until specialist care can be accessed.

The objective of this workshop is to provide rural doctors and nurses with cross domain, team-based learning opportunities across a number of topics such as trauma overview for rural practitioners, x-rays in trauma, procedures in trauma including ICC insertion, vascular access and splints, burns and paediatric trauma.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will gain an overview of the basic principles in key areas of trauma management.
2. Implement a systematic assessment of a trauma patient in the rural Emergency Department.
3. Utilise communication and team leadership skills including complex decision making and crisis management.
4. Demonstrate trauma skills inclusive of chest tube insertion, Intraosseous insertion, binders and splints.