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Advanced Trauma Life Support training

Back in November 2009, a group of physicians came together at CSTAR for an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) education event.

“The ATLS course teaches participants a safe and reliable method for the immediate treatment of an injured patient,” explains Kathrine Grant, manager of the Trauma Care Network and coordinator of the ATLS course. “It gives physicians the basic knowledge necessary to identify and treat life-threatening and potentially life-threatening injuries under the extreme pressures associated with the care of these patients in the fast-paced environment of an emergency department’s trauma room.”

Course participants include physicians from a variety of disciplines, including family medicine, emergency, surgery, as well as medical residents and fellows.

The course is evidence-based, consisting of two days of lectures along with practical skill situations. Participants work with experienced trauma physicians to learn the ABCDE’s of assessing and treating a trauma patient:

1. Airway
2. Breathing
3. Circulation
4. Disability (assessing every inch of patient, broken bones, etc.)
5. Expose patient, make sure not missing anything; and assess the environment

London Health Sciences Centre is one of only a handful of accredited centres in Canada to run the ATLS course. “The ATLS program has had a positive impact on care provided to injured patients worldwide and is considered the gold standard for initial trauma care in the ED,” says Grant.

This is the third year that the program has been run in conjunction with CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics), but the course has been offered at Victoria Hospital since the late 1980s.

 

Hear Kathrine Grant explain more about the ABCDE’s of assessing a patient in the above video.