Busy months in Tanzania. 35 instructors received training in emergency medicine

As part of the Tanzanian project, the PCPM is building a training center for medics in Dar es Salam, which will be the most modern center in the country. In addition, we are equipping them with professional training equipment and hospitals with medical equipment. However, the most important part of the project is training. Equally, significant are medics, people who may be the first to arrive at the scene of an accident, but most importantly, instructors. They, with the help of the PCPM, will be able to spread the acquired knowledge in their country shortly.

In May and June, 35 instructor candidates passed instructor training courses (ToT), in life-threatening patient care, including children and infants. They were BLS (Basic Life Support), PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support), and ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support).

— These are instructor training courses in life-threatening patient care, including if the patient is a child or infant. The role of the new instructors will be to prepare doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other hospital personnel to perform life-saving resuscitation procedures. As part of our project, each trainee will get the opportunity to lead a class under the supervision of an experienced instructor – described Adam Kukliński of PCPM.

— The trainees are very motivated, but you have to give them structured knowledge. Certified courses are a very good tool for this. We give them a tool in the form of, first, structured courses and, second, emergency response skills – said Paweł Suprynowicz, medical instructor.

All training courses are certified by the American Heart Association according to the latest guidelines. Instructors trained in this way will be able to show an international certificate, which confirms skills and knowledge in accordance with global standards. Thus, those who have undergone such courses will be able to build their professional profile on this basis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H2eIwcrShk

– In Tanzania, emergency medicine is just beginning to develop and there is no such thing as a pre-hospital stage. Many activities could be done long before a patient gets to the hospital, however in Tanzania are only performed in the hospital. That’s why it’s so important for staff to be well-trained. It often happens that patients arrive at the emergency department in a much worse condition than if they had received proper care before reaching the hospital – stressed Paweł Suprynowicz.

As the PCPM instructor points out, Tanzanian hospitals have increasingly better equipment and more doctors with specialties, who are often educated abroad.

— We want to allow them to organize this system. Certified courses allow the development of more instructors, i.e., to expand the potential audience, and this is very significant in a newly developing system – Suprynowicz said.

Modern medical equipment for Tanzania

According to Paweł Suprynowicz, the training equipment provided by PCPM is the most modern available on the market.

— The medics are starting their education journey, from the top. During training, we pay special attention to how to use advanced manikins, how to store them and keep them in good condition. We want the equipment provided to serve them for many years. In Tanzania, it is pretty hot and there is high humidity, which is an additional challenge and danger. — emphasizes the PCPM instructor.

However, as he states, he is of good cheer, and soon Tanzania will be able to boast instructors and a new medical training center.