EU funds help: Paramedics get better training thanks to EU funds

Zlín – The building of the Zlín Region’s Emergency Medical Service (EMS) was no longer sufficient to meet the demanding requirements of paramedic training, so new spaces were built here by adding a third-floor extension. The training capacity of the centre has increased while the training time has decreased significantly as it is possible to educate larger groups at one time.

Moreover, better training and upgraded simulators increase the quality of rescue work. Negative phenomena during emergencies occur less frequently also because other components of the Integrated Rescue System are training here too. The firefighters and police officers who operate at incident scenes know how to provide faster and better first aid and urgent pre-hospital care.
 
PRACTICE IN REAL ENVIRONMENTS
Rescuers try to make the training as close to real conditions as possible. “Despite the advancing innovations and the development of modern technologies, we will still train in the various real-life locations available in the building. We will not learn in the lecture room only," says Dana Polášková, the head of the centre. They commonly use the corridors, the local canteen, or the staff kitchenette. The aim is to practice rescuer habits in an environment that is close to real situations during responses.

Paramedics often have to work in challenging conditions when performing their duties, she points out. "That's why we seek to practice such discomfort in our courses. With the help of special equipment, we can simulate even difficult lighting conditions," she specified.
 
The centre is located on the top floor of the EMS headquarters in Peroutkovo nábřeží street in Zlín. It provides a wealth of material for learning, including a realistic human manikin worth almost CZK 4 million, which faithfully simulates the behaviour of injured persons and their reactions to various interventions by the paramedics.

There is also an interactive training of emergency management using computer simulations where rescuers are transported, so to speak, to the accident scene by means of projection. They move around the scene using a joystick, while being connected to a dispatcher in the mobile operation centre outside the live operation, so all reporting and communications are carried out as in a real response. In the Czech Republic, this system of training is unique.
 
EXPERIENCED LECTURERS
The Centre has trainers of various expertise available for the different training topics. A significant advantage for the rescuer training is that all of the lecturers have active field experience. The paramedics also use the latest learning models for resuscitation. These are different types of simulators, for example, a child aged 8 to 10 years, a newborn or an advanced adult model. All the manikins feature evaluation units that measure the quality of resuscitation.

The models also enable a wide range of simulation-based learning. Trainers can programme scenarios including heart rhythm disturbances as they would look in the field. The manikins can be intubated, and they can measure the quality of cardiac massage and airway management. They all offer programmes for evaluating individual problem-solving procedures.

And why were improvements to the training centre necessary? "Paramedics need to be continuously educated to ensure that the level of professional competence of the EMS keeps abreast of the knowledge of emergency medicine, general medicine and disaster medicine. The training centre has 20 lecturers who are also active in practice. All our employees who serve in response groups are required to complete at least eight hours of training per year in the training centre. Newcomers go through the entire adaptation process so that they are ready to provide top-notch emergency pre-hospital care," Polášková said."

Photo: Petr Pelíšek