Analysis of trauma care education in the South Sudan community health worker training curriculum.
BACKGROUND
Trauma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with the majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Allied health workers are often on the front lines of caring for trauma patients; this is the case in South Sudan, where a system of community health workers (CHWs) and clinical officers (COs) form an essential part of the health care structure. However, curricula for these workers vary, and it is unclear how much these training programs include trauma education. HYPOTHESIS/METHODS: The CHW training curriculum in South Sudan was reviewed to evaluate the degree to which it incorporates trauma education, according to established guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO). To the authors' knowledge, this is the first formal comparison of a CHW curriculum with established WHO trauma guidelines.


RESULTS
The curriculum incorporated a number of essential components of the WHO guidelines; however, the concepts taught were limited in scope. The curriculum only covered about 50% of the content required for basic providers, with major deficiencies being in the management of head and spinal injuries, safety protocols for health care personnel, and in the management of pediatric patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The CHW training curriculum lacks the requisite content to provide adequately a basic level of trauma care and requires amending to ensure that all South Sudan citizens receive appropriate treatment. It is recommended that other LMICs review their existing training curricula in order to improve their ability to provide adequate trauma care and to ensure they meet the basic WHO guidelines.
1Department of Emergency Medicine,Harbor-UCLA Medical Center,Torrance,CaliforniaUSA.
Adedamola
A
Ogunniyi
3Department of Emergency Medicine,University of California,San Francisco,San Francisco,CaliforniaUSA.
Melissa
M
Clark
1Department of Emergency Medicine,Harbor-UCLA Medical Center,Torrance,CaliforniaUSA.
Ross
R
Donaldson
D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013397:Sudan; D014194:Traumatology / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D014944:World Health Organization
CHW community health worker; CME Continuing Medical Education; CO clinical officer; ESS Essential Surgical Skills course; HIC high-income countries; IMC International Medical Corps; LMIC low- and middle-income countries; NTMC National Trauma Management Course; PTC Primary Trauma Care course; WHO World Health Organization; trauma education