In April and May of 2005, GlobalMedic Rapid Response Team members facilitated Trauma Management Training for the medical staff of MAG Sri Lanka. Civil war broke out in 1983, pitting the Sinhalese-majority government forces against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil who want a separate Tamil homeland in the north-east. The conflict has resulted in the scattering of landmines and UXOs across the country.
The training is designed to both update and refresh existing emergency skills, as well as to present ideas on teaching and the dissemination of preventive and field medical knowledge to local health workers while the teams are deployed in various villages and regions. The medics trained 24 new recruits.
The facilitators utilized GlobalMedic’s training syllabus entitled “Trauma Management and Field Medicine for Landmine /UXO Clearance Teams.” The focus of the program is to provide hands on training and practical exercises in Trauma Management, to medics working with UXO Clearance Teams. It is enhanced by additional sessions including Common Tropical Diseases, Venomous Snakebite and Infectious Disease Management. GlobalMedic teams have delivered similar training packages in past years to land mine teams in Sudan, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka. In November 2003, Global Medic trained several teams in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka (agencies in attendance included HDU, FSD, RONCO, Horizon, Sarvatra, and the SLA ) and in 2006, programs were provided for MAG Cambodia, MAG Laos, and MAG Sudan.
The final exam of the Field Trauma Medic program is designed to demonstrate the current and prospective medics' proficiency in the knowledge newly acquired. It is composed of a series of practical scenarios, involving both single and multiple patients, and dealt with real life situations that the medics may find themselves involved in. These exercises were designed so that the medic would have to utilize other personnel (in this case, other medics) for assistance. In this, it can be seen that not only was the medic’s knowledge being tested, but also their ability to direct others and control the scene.
MAG Sri Lanka’s work enables those displaced by conflict to return home, resettle and redevelop.
