Abstract
Despite improving medical care worldwide, vast healthcare disparities remain in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In Haiti, the under-5 mortality rate is more than double the rate of the Dominican Republic on the other side of the island. Through a partnership with St. Damien and Hospital Bernard Mevs in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, and the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, healthcare providers have collaborated to improve pediatric emergency care and outcomes by teaching American Heart Association (AHA) courses in Haiti. Due to COVID-19, many global health initiatives, including through the University of Minnesota, have been postponed indefinitely. In efforts to continue working toward improved delivery of care, we sought to pilot a remote AHA Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course in Haiti. We delivered a complete AHA PALS course through videoconferencing, with participants engaging in hands-on procedures and simulations. We surveyed participants’ confidence in relevant skills and knowledge pre- and post-course. Results showed significantly improved ratings in 12 of the 18 surveyed items (p<0.05). Participant satisfaction in the video-based delivery of the course indicated that videoconferencing may be an effective method of course delivery. Videoconferencing shows promise as a successful tool to continue global health education.
Highlights
Since 1990, the global under-5 mortality rate has dropped by nearly 60%
Damien), the only free-standing pediatric hospital in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, over half of newborn intensive care unit (NICU) admissions and 22% of neonatal deaths are attributed to infection and sepsis[3]
The American Heart Association (AHA) Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course guides healthcare providers through videos and hands-on simulations designed to lay a framework in pediatric assessment and treatment[4]
Summary
Since 1990, the global under-5 mortality rate has dropped by nearly 60%. Still, there remain astonishing disparities between low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and high-income countries (HIC)[1]. The AHA Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course guides healthcare providers through videos and hands-on simulations designed to lay a framework in pediatric assessment and treatment[4]. It Abelson et al | JGH Fall 2020, Volume X Issue II emphasizes appropriate recognition and management of shock, respiratory distress/failure, and cardiac arrhythmias. Previous pilots showed videoconferencing as a successful tool for aspects of medical education courses in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) including patient simulation and ultrasound training, with equivalently accurate evaluation of hands-on testing compared to in-person scoring[10, 11].
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