PHSI hosts a Rural Trauma Team Development Course
Philip Health Services, Inc. in Philip, S.D. hosted a Rural Trauma Team Development Course Tuesday, Sept. 24 for doctors and nurses. Doctors from Rapid City and Sioux Falls attended the training along with staff from Philip Health Services, Inc. and some of the EMS crew from the Philip Ambulance Service.
The Rural Trauma Team Development Course (RTTDC) began in 1998 as a grassroots effort to address the educational needs of providers in the rural community. Drs. Foley, Kessel, and Schmitz recognized that there was a gap between what was being taught in the traditional trauma courses (Advanced Trauma Life Support-ATLS, Trauma Nursing Core Course- TNCC, Prehospital Trauma Life Support- PHTLS) and how to apply these principles by a team working together in rural facility, often with limited resources. Their efforts, with he input and assistance from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) and members of the Ad Hoc Rural Subcommittee, culminated in the first three editions of the RTTDC. This course has spread across the North American continent.
The fundamentals of the course remain unchanged. RTTDC is an interactive, one-day course that brings trauma education to the rural facility. It teaches a team approach to the evaluation and care of the injured person, with an emphasis on rapid identification and treatment of critical injuries and early recognition of the need to transfer the patient to a higher level of care. Minimizing delay is a key principle of the course. RTTDC has been proven to reduce the time to transfer of critically injured patients.
A somewhat unanticipated, though probably most important, benefit of RTTDC is the positive relationship building that comes when experienced trauma providers and educators leave the trauma center to teach the course in the rural community. The experience is often eye-opening for teachers and course participants. This opens lines of communication and fosters good relationships between facilities and providers. There’s no doubt that this will facilitate optimal care for people injured in the rural location.
Information from Richard A. Sidwell, MD, FACS September 2015, Chair RTTDC, Chair Ad Hoc Rural Trauma Subcommittee of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma
