Primary trauma care course: Alternative basic trauma course in developing countries. "The Need Of The Hour"

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Trauma Care
• Global Health

Background:

• Low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of road traffic injury deaths, yet lack formal trauma management training.
• Prehospital and emergency care in these regions often lack structured life support education.
• The Primary Trauma Care (PTC) course was introduced to address this critical gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the PTC course in enhancing trauma management knowledge and skills.
• To assess the impact of PTC training on participants' clinical confidence in Pakistan.

Main Methods:

• Two-day PTC courses were conducted across Pakistan for medical students, doctors, and paramedics.
• Training included lectures, skills workshops, and multisystem trauma scenario discussions.
• Knowledge and confidence were assessed using pre- and post-course multiple-choice questionnaires and confidence matrices.

Main Results:

• A total of 7852 participants were trained, with average MCQ scores increasing from 60% pre-course to 82% post-course.
• Clinical confidence scores rose from a mean of 70% pre-course to 93% post-course.
• While knowledge significantly improved, a notable percentage of participants (25%) did not achieve optimal skill scores.

Conclusions:

• The PTC workshop offers a flexible, cost-effective solution for improving initial trauma management knowledge and skills.
• It serves as a valuable tool for strengthening trauma care capacity in resource-limited developing countries.
• PTC training has the potential to significantly reduce mortality among trauma victims in vulnerable regions.