An interactive training course has made doctors and nurses in Dar es Salaam better equipped to take care of critically ill children. It was held in November by Life Support Foundation’s paediatric team in collaboration with Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital and the department of paediatrics at Muhimbili National Hospital.
“I have learned how to effectively carry out teamwork to get a better outcome for my patients.”
This was the response from one of the participants at the course in Paediatric care of the Critically ill child on the 8-10 of November. It was the second training course within the collaboration and involved 26 doctors and 12 nurses from Muhimbili National Hospital and Kairuki Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The aim of the course was to improve the quality of emergency management skills to prevent deaths due to acute, life-threatening conditions. The course consisted of teaching sessions and interactive hands-on sessions in triaging, the ABCDE-concept, paediatric and neonatal resuscitation and neonatal care.
– The importance of communication and how to build a team was emphasized by presenting crew resource management and multiple case-scenario training sessions followed by structured debriefing and feedback, says Dr Viveka Nordberg, member of the team from Life Support Foundation.
– Interesting discussions developed around the issues of managing the acutely ill child depending on context and availability of resources, and a lot of laughs took place.
The long-term aim of the collaboration between the paediatric departments of Muhimbili and Karolinska is to improve knowledge and skills of emergency management as well as to develop a cross cultural understanding of paediatric care, not least by building personal relations.
– The course participant´s feedback after the course was very positive and 
encouraging and tells us that we are in the right way to reach this long-term aim, says Viveka Nordberg.
One of the participants wrote:
“Thanks a million. It was an excellent training which enlightened most of us that are taking care of very sick children.”
In parallel with the course, a team of neonatal nurses from Karolinska auscultated at Muhimbili neonatal unit and engaged in professional interactions, which evolved into some mini-workshops on neonatal nursing. In these workshops, nesting of neonates were introduced and Muhimbili staff were presented with some easy ways to support babies during their first time of life.
