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First UK course for British surgeons to learn how to treat gun, knife and traffic injuries more effectivelyTo help surgeons deal more effectively with critically injured patients, the Royal College of Surgeons of England has started a course in which civilian and military surgeons are trained in the advanced surgical techniques needed to save the lives of people who have sustained severe physical trauma through accidents or acts of violence. The first course of its kind in the UK, it is hoped it will bring British surgeons up–to the standard set in many other countries, where highly trained trauma surgeons are the normal in major hospitals with dedicated trauma centres. They are expert in the treatment of complex; major trauma from motor vehicle accidents, knife and gunshot wounds. Jim Ryan, Professor at the Leonard Cheshire Department of Conflict Recovery, University College Hospital, London, and one of the course convenors, said, “Victims of high–speed road traffic accidents, gunshot wounds and stabbings are often the most challenging patients any surgeon can expect to see. The surgeon has to make very rapid decisions and operate swiftly and surely inside body cavities that they may rarely encounter in routine practice.”
The teachers on the course reflect this, with leading trauma surgeons from the United States joined by colleagues from New Zealand and Japan. They cover heart and chest surgery, vascular surgery and advanced resuscitation techniques. Courses in Advanced Trauma Life Support and care of the Critically Ill Surgical Patient are already well established at the Royal College of Surgeons, but this new course takes doctors even further and there is high demand for places on it. The skills learnt on the course are designed to be just as useful to military and humanitarian surgeons who may be on their own or working in small groups in some of the worlds worst conflict zones, as well as those in civilian practice in the UK. Major Nigel Tai, a British army consultant surgeon appointed to the Royal London Hospital’s Trauma Service, said, ”This course – the only one in the UK – originally resulted from collaboration between military and civilian surgeons helping surgical trainees who would otherwise be learning trauma surgery ‘on–the–job’”. The course addresses a particular difficulty identified by the organisers; that doctors who are used to working within the 'neat area' of their own specialist field in the UK may struggle to deal with life–threatening injuries that are outside their everyday practice.
Major Tai explains, “Super specialist surgical training and the emergence of minimal access ‘keyhole’ techniques may have improved outcomes in elective surgical practice but has left modern surgeons without the confidence and skills required to operate upon critically injured patients. This course helps to counter that problem by taking participants out of their day–to–day comfort zones, instilling the right technical skills and equipping them with the judgement necessary to manage these complex injuries.” Clearly the surgical profession worldwide faces a challenge to match the demand for 21st century medicine to 21st century trauma, whether from high–speed traffic accidents, urban violence or armed conflict, in the developed and the developing world. The Royal College of Surgeons of England are trying to fill the gap in knowledge and expertise in UK trauma care, but the college is keen to point–out that the skills learnt on courses such as this can also benefit those in other parts of the world, particularly where surgeons have to deal with the terrible injuries of war, often in fairly basic field hospitals. Major Tai concluded, “The skills taught on this unique course – whether used in an inner city NHS operating theatre or field hospital in Afghanistan – will save lives.” For further information visit The Royal College of Surgeons of England website at: www.rcseng.ac.uk. From your browser | Email the page | Email the page link | Print the page | Add page to favourites Handy guide to wellbeing series | For you, family and friends
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Professor Ryan continued, “The vast majority of NHS surgeons have not received trauma training in the way that their colleagues in the USA and Europe would understand. There is no defined career path for trauma surgeons in the UK so the NHS doesn’t have the skills it needs. These are problems that have been recognised and addressed in other countries, including the US, where mortality rates are 40 per cent lower than in the UK.”