A hospital in the UK has adopted a novel technique for technical skill training — used initially for difficult airway training — to train anaesthetic and intensive care unit (ICU) staff for intraosseous (IO) access, according to an article published in the journal Resuscitation. The authors say the training approach can be applied to many resuscitation skills and utilised in many departments, including the emergency department (ED).

The Resuscitation Council UK guidelines advocate the use of IO access during advanced life support if intravenous access is difficult or impossible. Devices such as the EZ-IO®, a battery-operated power driver, make IO access obtainable within 49 seconds. Although many practitioners have been taught how to use IO devices, especially following the inclusion of IO access in the ALS curriculum, few use IO devices on a regular basis. IO access and many other technical skills, which can prove lifesaving in an emergency but which are required infrequently, do need to be practised regularly to prevent "psychomotor skill fatigue", wrote the authors.

"We have utilised the ‘tea trolley’ training approach to improve EZ-IO® awareness and skills, essential to its effective use in an emergency situations, and to provide mobile training sessions requiring minimal manpower and minimal time commitments from participants," the authors say. "We have found it an effective way to provide teaching for important skills people ordinarily have little time to practise."

Under this novel training approach, a theatre trolley is converted into a mobile training trolley and is laden with EZ-IO® training devices, tea, coffee and cakes. The trolley is operated by two anaesthetists and visits theatres during normal working hours: one anaesthetist takes over the care of a stable patient in theatre while the second anaesthetist delivers a 15-minute training session in the anaesthetic room to the listed anaesthetist and anaesthetic nurse/operating department practitioner (ODP).

Training includes the location of EZ-IO® devices within the hospital, as well as all practical aspects of their use, and is followed by tea and cake. The trolley has visited all main theatre areas and ICU.

The EZ-IO® tea trolley has been used to train a mixture of consultants, juniors, nurses and ODPs (total number 36 to date). Ninety-seven percent of participants reported an increase in their confidence using the EZ-IO system and 100 percent found the "tea trolley" a useful teaching method (mean Linkert 4.9, 5 = most useful). Following training 100 percent of participants were correctly able to identify the locations of EZ-IO® devices for their clinical areas.

Source: Elsevier
Image credit:  EZ-IO

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References:

Penketh J et al. (2015) EZ-IO® intraosseous access teaching in the workplace using a mobile ‘tea trolley’ training method. Resuscitation. Published online December 12, 2015. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2015.11.016



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healthmanagement, resuscitation, anaesthetists, life support, training, emergency department, ICU A hospital in the UK has adopted a novel technique for technical skill training — used initially for difficult airway training — to train anaesthetic and intensive care unit (ICU) staff for intraosseous (IO) access, according to an article published in th