Creating a gold medal Olympic and Paralympics health care team: a satisfaction survey of the mobile medical unit/polyclinic team training for the Vancouver 2010 winter games.
BACKGROUND
The mobile medical unit/polyclinic (MMU/PC) was an essential part of the medical services to support ill or injured Olympic or Paralympics family during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics winter games. The objective of this study was to survey the satisfaction of the clinical staff that completed the training programs prior to deployment to the MMU.


METHODS
Medical personnel who participated in at least one of the four training programs, including (1) week-end sessions; (2) web-based modules; (3) just-in-time training; and (4) daily simulation exercises were invited to participate in a web-based survey and comment on their level of satisfaction with training program.


RESULTS
A total of 64 (out of 94 who were invited) physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists completed the survey. All participants reported favorably that the MMU/PC training positively impacted their knowledge, skills and team functions while deployed at the MMU/PC during the 2010 Olympic Games. However, components of the training program were valued differently depending on clinical job title, years of experience, and prior experience in large scale events. Respondents with little or no experience working in large scale events (45%) rated daily simulations as the most valuable component of the training program for strengthening competencies and knowledge in clinical skills for working in large scale events.


CONCLUSIONS
The multi-phase MMU/PC training was found to be beneficial for preparing the medical team for the 2010 Winter Games. In particular this survey demonstrates the effectiveness of simulation training programs on teamwork competencies in ad hoc groups.
Trauma Services, Vancouver General Hospital, 855 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1 M9, Canada. ross.brown@vch.ca.
D Ross
DR
Brown
Behrouz
B
Heidary
Nathaniel
N
Bell
Leanne
L
Appleton
Richard K
RK
Simons
David C
DC
Evans
S Morad
SM
Hameed
Jack
J
Taunton
Kosar
K
Khwaja
Michael
M
O'Connor
Naisan
N
Garraway
Peter
P
Hennecke
Donna
D
Kuipers
Tracey
T
Taulu
Lori
L
Quinn
D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003625:Data Collection; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D013177:Sports; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000193:education*