West Midlands Emergency Surgical Skills Course

This one day course provides candidates with the knowledge and practical experience (using human cadavers) to perform emergency surgical procedures in the emergency department or pre-hospital setting.

Introduction: As an EM or PHEM doctor how do you train for urgent life-threatening interventions that cannot wait for specialised help but are rarely encountered in your supervised training?

Emergency surgical skills are listed on the IBPTHEM curriculum (Theme 2 & 4) and EM Curriculum (SLO3, 4, 6) but are very difficult to obtain competence and confidence in before, or even after, your CCT. This course provides the knowledge and surgical skills to perform life-saving procedures in the emergency department or pre-hospital setting. The course is instructed by doctors and critical care paramedics with comprehensive experience of performing these procedures with the basic equipment, surgical skills and minimal assistance that you are likely to find in your clinical practice.

What the course involves:

This is a one day course which covers the emergency surgical skills of surgical cricothyroidotomy; lateral canthotomy; open and tube thoracostomy; emergency thoracotomy and cardiac wound control, aortic compression & cross-clamping. Pre-hospital practitioners will also get the opportunity to practice limb amputation.

The theory including the indications, complications, post-procedural care and tips for trouble-shooting will be covered in lecture format. There will then be a demonstration in real time followed by practical experience, under instructor supervision. Finally real cases will be discussed to put the theory and practical difficulties into context.

Suitable for:

• doctors in Emergency Medicine or Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine at ST4 level and above (or equivalent) including Consultants
• paramedics or nurses who are employed by air ambulance or critical care organisations
• ED Nurses

The course has been awarded 6 CPD points from the FPHC RCSEd.