The CARE Course came to Pincher Creek this fall.
CARE stands for Comprehensive Approaches to Rural Emergencies. Actual teams that work in a particular community take part. So instead of going somewhere to take the course, the course comes to you. The advantage is that you get to work on simulated emergency situations with your own team.
“Doctors, nurses, paramedics being put in their own environments and actually running scenarios based on what it would be like in real life,” says Annamaria Mundell, a CARE Simulation Consultant and a registered nurse practising in Pincher Creek.
“So it really helps develop some of that corporate memory amongst all the players and its great comradery building,” adds Dr. Gavin Parker, a CARE simulation consultant, and a physician practising in Pincher Creek.
Both Dr. Gavin Parker and Registered Nurse Annamaria Mundell are simulation consultants for Care Courses. Both of their regular practices are also here in Pincher Creek.
Compared to going somewhere on his own for training, Gavin says being able to work with your own team is so valuable.
“The team building that happens both during the course and then afterwards brings the team closer together and people feel more supported to work in their environments,” says Gavin.
The simulations address what to do with limited resources when you are faced with an emergency that you just don’t see very often. Participants find it a rewarding two days.
Annamarie says, “The satisfaction of the participants is enormous and I think that the patients that you take care of after can see how the networks of professions working together are solid and they improve outcomes.”
So, at the end of the day, the biggest advantage of a CARE course in a rural community goes to the patient.
Dr. Parker says, “There’s lots of evidence out there in medical education literature that teams that run regular simulations together improve clinical outcomes for patients.”
RhPAP is a sponsor of CARE Course events in rural Alberta
To learn more about the CARE Course, visit rccbc.ca.