From 14 – 18 October 2013 MeduProf-S experts Tineke Sportel and Erik van Roon went to Winneba, Ghana and conducted the first A & E course and Training of Trainers course together. The participants worked all at the Trauma & Specialists Hospital in Winneba; most of them at the Accident & Emergency Ward, but also on the paediatric ward, the male ward, the female ward and Operating Theatre.
The first teaching week became a combination of lecturing and practicing in the classroom and teaching on the job. Four of the participants are trained to become trainers, the train the trainer principle. This means that the participants will be taught didactical skills as well as in-depth knowledge on A&E. During this first module of the A&E program the participants and the trainers were trained together in one class. During the time in between the four modules the trainers will become facilitators in the learning process for the rest of the participants. All the participants were very enthusiastic about the content of the course.The topics covered the first week were the ABCDE-method in combination with the hourglass model as a standard approach for every patient who is visiting the A & E, airway management, applying a cervical collar if needed. The ABCDE approach is an evidence based tool for every patient; trauma and non-trauma. ‘It is easy to miss something you are not looking for.’ This in order to expedite the delivery of time-critical treatment for patients with life threatening conditions and to ensure that all people requiring emergency care are appropriately categorized to their clinical condition.