Dominating our training over the winter and spring just gone, has been the teams’ Casualty Care course, run in accordance with the exacting requirements of the MRC Casualty Care certificate course.
Taking into account everything from airway management to childbirth, equipment usage from bandages to defibrillators, casualty handling and drug protocols, the course was held on Wednesday evenings, with additional weekend training as necessary.
We retake this course every three years and we are indebted for the help of GMAS paramedics (particularly David McNally and Peter Idle), SJAB personnel, midwifes and our own Gerry Ryan (A&E Royal Bolton), Jim Wareing (ex. GMAS), and Alistair Greenough (A&E Warrington) in offering their time to instruct on the course, and of course Doctor Bob Stokes of Rossendale SRT for all his help & support.
Team members wishing to take the exams (25 members) undertook a CPR/BLS practical, and oral test dealing with trauma, a similar dealing with medical issues, a multiple casualty “round robin” exercise, and two written examination papers.
We are happy to report that all 25 members have now successfully passed the Casualty Care Certificate Course (incidentally, all 25 with a very high percentage score), and a further 4 team members have still to undertake elements of the exams (having been on holiday on some of the exam dateS). Hopefully we can report more successes in the immediate future. (It appears that we are the only MRT so far to have a 100% pass rate, without re sits, of all sitting the examination, on the new revised format MRC Casualty Care Certificate Course, unless of course someone corrects us!)