Simulation Based Training in Basic Life Support for Medical and Non-medical Personnel in Resource Limited Settings

Abstract

Medical and non-medical personnel commonly encounter victims of life threatening injuries inflicted by various causes in diverse settings. More than 90% of global deaths and disability adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost because of injuries reportedly occur in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). The degree of readiness and competence to manage victims of accidents is likely to vary among individual care givers for knowledge, skill and confidence which would also depend on their training status. It would thus be justified that training in basic life support and other emergency clinical skills be administered to enhance competences in resuscitating the accident victims. Whatever the scale of a mass casualty incident, the first response will be carried out by members of the local community-not just health care staff and designated emergency workers, but also many ordinary citizens. Therefore, both medical and non-medical personnel should be targeted to receive training in basic life support (BLS). In medical training, the traditional (didactic) approach has been suggested to be an efficient and well-experienced training method while with the advances in technology the use of simulation-based medical training (SBMT) is increasing since SBMT provides a safe and supportive educational setting, so that students can improve their performance without causing adverse clinical outcomes. Similarly, the use of simulation based training in BLS would not only reduce the procedural associated risks but also benefit more participants from the public domain than would be the case if the training was conducted on human subjects. Compared with the developed world set-up simulation based training in resource constrained settings may not be that well established. This paper will therefore seek to examine the role of medical simulation as a necessary advancement and supplementary method of training in basic life support for medical and non-medical personnel in resource limited settings.