Training Healthcare Workers
Trauma is a neglected area of training and good clinical skills to deliver quality trauma care are essential, from the initial assessment and management of patients to definitive surgical care (general, maxillofacial, orthopaedic and plastics). We work with our partners to support training of health workers from the province’s four main hospitals in all aspects of good clinical care.
Our training courses include: Primary Trauma Care (PTC), Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and the WHO’s Safe Surgery Saves Lives programme (including WHO checklist, surgical site infection control and quality improvement principles). We also support the training of medical students from Université Joseph Kasa Vubu in trauma and orthopaedics.
Impact
CASE STUDIES
Primary Trauma Care (PTC) training courses
Primary Trauma Care (PTC) is a system of training for front-line staff in trauma management, aimed at preventing death and disability in seriously injured patients. The two-day practical course is delivered free of charge within the Kongo Central province by PTC instructors, using the international framework of the PTC Foundation, a global NGO.
PTC is aimed specifically at the needs and logistics of health practitioners in low resource settings. It is based on straightforward clinical practice and does not require access to high-tech facilities. The first PTC course was established with direct support of the provincial Minister of Health in 2016 and delivered by King’s Global Health Partnerships’ volunteers.
Subsequent training has been developed with the Provincial Division of Health and is run under the direction of the Kongo Central PTC committee, with ongoing support from KKCP. The training has been run in Matadi, Boma, Muanda, Tshela, Lukula and Kimpese. Currently, there are 250 trained health workers in the province and 25 instructors.
Our work on the PTC course in the DRC has been published in the journal, Injury:
Impact of the primary trauma care course in the Kongo Central province of the Democratic Republic of Congo over two years by T. Tolppa, A.M. Vangu, H.C. Balu, P. Matondo, E. Tissingh (2020).
Trauma and orthopaedics at the Université Joseph Kasa Vubu
Building on existing work and using context specific content, King's Global Health Partnerships (KGHP) helped redesign the trauma and orthopaedic curriculum for the university. A simple textbook was been developed to support this. KGHP volunteers have taught three consecutive academic years at the university, reaching approximately 1,000 students, and mentored university faculty. Summer schools have also been run for selected students covering research methods, Primary Trauma Care, basic orthopaedic care and safe surgery.
