Teaching Foundation Doctors How to Manage Tracheostomy Emergencies.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Emergency Medicine
• Surgical Airway Management

Background:

• Tracheostomies are increasingly common in clinical practice.
• Foundation Year 1 (FY1) doctors often manage tracheostomy patients and require skills for emergencies.
• Existing knowledge gaps in managing tracheostomy emergencies among junior doctors necessitate targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a short, targeted educational intervention on FY1 doctors' knowledge and confidence in managing tracheostomy emergencies.
• To evaluate the sustainability of knowledge and confidence improvements post-intervention.

Main Methods:

• A single-centre pilot study involving 34 FY1 doctors in a UK teaching hospital.
• Intervention included a 30-minute lecture on anatomy and the National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP) algorithm, followed by high-fidelity simulation.
• Quasi-experimental, single-arm design with written knowledge assessments pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and one month later.

Main Results:

• Baseline knowledge regarding tracheostomy and laryngectomy differences and emergency management was poor.
• Post-intervention, correct responses significantly improved across all assessed domains.
• Knowledge improvements were sustained at one month for specific assessment questions.

Conclusions:

• A combined didactic teaching and simulation educational intervention effectively improved and sustained FY1 doctors' knowledge and preparedness for tracheostomy emergencies.
• The pilot intervention demonstrated success, suggesting potential for broader implementation.
• Future research should focus on performance-based assessments and wider rollout of the educational program.