Advanced Trauma Life Support Course (ATLS)

Review

This course is suitable for doctors who will be providing care to the trauma patient in the resuscitation department.  It is designed to teach a safe, reliable method of assessment, and the skills required, to treat life-threatening or potentially life-threatening injuries of the trauma patient.

The course is run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (although ATLS is owned by American College of Surgeons – committee on trauma), and is valid for 4 years.  A course manual is provided four weeks in advance with a pre-course MCQ to be completed before the course and handed in at the start of day 1.  The course is run over 2½ days and consists of lectures, skill stations and moulages.

The following topics are covered by the lectures:

·         Initial assessment and management

·         Airway and ventilatory management

·         Shock

·         Head, spine and spinal cord, thoracic, abdominal, and musculoskeletal trauma

·         Injuries due to burns and cold

·         Trauma in the elderly, the young, and women

·         Transfer to definitive care

The main skills taught are:

·         Airway and ventilatory management

·         Shock assessment and management

·         X-ray identification of spine and thoracic injuries

·         Head and neck trauma, spinal cord injury, and musculoskeletal trauma assessment and management

·         Diagnostic peritoneal lavage, Chect drain, Pericardiocentesis, Venous cutdown, Cricothyroidotomy

There are also moulage sessions where a candidate will practice managing a clinical scenario.

The assessment, at the end of the course, consists of a 40 question MCQ, and a practical moulage/ clinical scenario.

This course is quite intense, with a lot of material delivered in the 2½ days and I would highly recommend reading the manual before attending in order to get the most from the course.  The downside is that because it is an American course some of the details don’t quite fit with UK practice.  However, apart from this small issue the course is excellent at providing those involved, with a sound method of assessment and the necessary skills to treat serious or life-threatening injuries.  I would highly recommend this course to any doctor who is or is going to be involved in treating trauma patients.

Dr Liz Summ - ATLS Instructor

Dept of Anaesthesia, University Hospitals of Coventry & Warwickshire, UK

Link to website

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