HAIFA, Israel (Press Release) — Twenty-five health care practitioners from around the world are currently taking part in a two-week course in dealing with Mass Casualty Situations (MCS) at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. They join more than 500 decision-makers and field personnel in the field of trauma from 61 countries have completed Rambam’s international trauma courses and returned to their countries of origin to translate the Israeli experience into saving lives.
This year the participants are from Armenia, Belarus, Botswana, Columbia, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Macedonia, Malawi, Nepal, Myanmar, Paraguay, Philippines, Serbia, Thailand, and Ukraine.
Israel is one of the few countries that have had over 60 years to prepare its health care system to deal with a variety of mass casualty situations. This has been translated into lifesaving results—Rambam’s mortality rate for severe trauma patients is the lowest in the country.
The course deals with issues such as Preparedness of Hospitals and ER’s for MCS, Triage in MCS, Role of Nurses, Role off Spokespersons, Effects of Blasts, Dealing with Biological, Chemical, and Radiological MCS, the Structure and Logistics of Rambam’s Fortified Underground Hospital, Managing Deceased Victims, Emergency Management Software, Medical Advances in Trauma Care, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Pediatric Training for MCS.
In two weeks participants are trained and provided with the tools to develop and organize a trauma and readiness system for multi-casualty events via lectures, unique workshops, training sessions, simulations, and tours at Rambam and other places in Israel.
The International Trauma Course is part of the extensive activities of the Center for Trauma Studies, Emergency Medicine, and the Rambam Medical Center. The Center conducts dozens of courses, training courses for medical teams from all over the world, in Rambam and in various countries, in order to share the knowledge and experience that Rambam has acquired in the treatment of trauma victims from the North, soldiers and civilians affected by wars and terrorist attacks.
“We have learned to take the great treatment experience we have as the largest trauma center in the country in treating road accident victims, combat arenas and terrorist attacks and sabotage for various reasons, and develop a system of tools, procedures, training, and treatment concepts that can be used in health systems around the world. Medicine is an international language, and wherever we go, we translate the knowledge accumulated in Rambam and Israel to save lives, and from year to year we see how the interest in our course is growing, the pride is to see our graduates return to their countries of origin and apply everything they learned Here, for the welfare of the inhabitants of their home countries,” said Gila Himes, Director of the Center for Trauma Training.
The training program is co-sponsored by Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development and Cooperation.
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Preceding provided by Rambam Hospital