Preparation for major burns incidents: evaluation of continuing medical education training courses for professionals

The purpose of this study was to identify changes in the competence of healthcare providers who underwent training courses on the management of burns incidents. Theoretical and practical simulation training courses were conducted for 305 healthcare providers from emergency and trauma departments of general hospitals in Vietnam. Pre- and post-tests were conducted using questionnaires and with simulated practical skill evaluation by burns specialists. Results showed a significant improvement in knowledge of emergency management of burns incidents, with an increase in percentage of correct answers from 48.2% to 71.6% (p < .01). There was an average increase from 10.5% to 95.1% for the correct calculation of total body surface area involvement, and from 33.8% to 67.2% for using the Parkland formula. Increases in knowledge of resuscitation and management of inhalation injury were also noted (p < .01). For the management of major burns incidents, sufficient knowledge of the command system increased from 58.4% to 81.9%. A better understanding was gained of the missions of the Emergency Medical Team, triage and air evacuation after training (p < .001). Emergency practical skills such as CPR, ET intubation, splinting of bone fractures, burn wound dressing and using emergency medical devices also improved remarkably (p < .001) after practical simulation training. In conclusion, these results indicate that a significant improvement in the capabilities and competence of medical staff in the emergency management of burn injuries can be achieved by conducting training courses with combined theory components and practical simulation models.