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In 2018, about 175 emergency crews and ambulance teams in Odesa oblast will participate in specialized trainings aimed at developing skills necessary to provide high-quality and timely emergency medical care to patients with injuries and emergency conditions in accordance with the relevant international protocols and guidelines. In particular, the training participants will develop the skills necessary to provide the life-saving first aid, basic emergency and prehospital trauma care, as well as the assistance to road accident and mass casualty incident victims.

"Until recently, an assessment of the preparedness of an individual emergency crew member to perform own duties in different emergency scenarios was a simple formality. It was limited to a re-qualification required every 5 years, and no one actually checked whether the emergency care worker acquired new knowledge or mastered useful skills", noted Olena Teriaieva, Head of the Odesa Regional Center for Emergency and Disaster Medicine.

The emergency care workers who do poorly on the final exam, will have to retake the test at the Odesa regional center for emergency and disaster medicine. Failing this, hospital administrations may reconsider the current policies regarding supplementary payments.

The 5-day trainings were designed in view of the evidence-based medicine principles, the relevant international protocols and guidelines. These trainings are aimed at the development of practical (no lectures) and teamwork skills for coordinated work in diverse prehospital emergency care scenarios. All instructors were trained abroad and received international certificates.

The updated protocols and advanced training programs for emergency crews are developed in accordance with the relevant international guidelines within the framework of the implementation of the New Emergency Care Reform Concept. Doctors, paramedics, and even drivers will be trained in the life-saving first aid, will acquire useful knowledge and practical skills necessary to provide immediate emergency medical care.

The initiative of regions to implement such programs at the local level confirms that the emergency care specialists support the ongoing healthcare transformation and the changes it brings for the medical community in particular and the population in general.