Course Outline | Trek Medics International

Background

Each year, traumatic injuries are a leading cause of death worldwide among people aged 15 to 44 years. Countless more will also suffer from permanent and temporary disability caused by an injury or accident. While the immediate effects these tragedies have on families are apparent, the long-term societal and economic consequences they will have are just as significant, though not always immediate. These include, among others: direct medical care costs; loss of income for the injured and their family; loss of productivity in the community; increased stress placed on families and community.

Fortunately, a significant portion of these deaths and disabilities are preventable, and their frequency can be decreased with minimal training and resources, at little cost. Trek Medics International was established to provide the training and resources necessary to help enable communities to respond to, and provide basic stabilization for life-threatening injuries where formal emergency medical services are not available. Using programs and training courses adapted from recognized international health organizations, Trek Medics is able to teach the fundamental principles of prehospital care that will help to reduce unnecessary deaths and disability, and mitigate the societal and economic costs that accompany them.

Layperson Responder Training

It is easy to assume that without a trained, professional ambulance service available, life-threatening injuries that occur far from hospitals are hopeless tragedies. Experience and practice have shown, however, that this is not true. In fact, to effectively treat and stabilize many traumatic injuries, only minimal training and resources are required so long as they are accompanied by immediate transport to medical facilities.

With that understanding in mind, Trek Medics has developed training courses specifically for motivated laypeople to help them recognize, treat and stabilize life-threatening injuries successfully. The training is broken up into two primary courses, and will vary in length depending on class size:

Basic Life Support (BLS) Training

In this course, layperson responders will be trained in fundamentals of prehospital trauma care, including:

Scene Management

Recognition of Emergencies & Call for Help
Personnel & Scene Safety (Recognition of Environmental Hazards; Traffic Control)
Communicable Diseases & Body Substance Isolation
Extrication Principles

Stabilization

Airway Management
Assisted Breathing
Bleeding Control
Proper Wound/Burn Care
Fracture Immobilization/Splinting

Transport

Identify Available Transport Methods
Establish framework for a Community Emergency Transport Scheme (CETS)
Recruit & train motor vehicle operators, particularly those who are most likely to come upon the scene of an emergency or be contacted in the event of an emergency.

Triage

Because multi-casualty incidents (MCI) are a frequent occurrence on roadways in developing countries, it is likely that responders will be asked to respond to such events. Therefore, Trek Medics places high value in integrating the training to culminate in a day-long MCI drill so that trainees may begin to learn and apply the principles of triage, using a modified triage method that fits their education and experience.