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A ‘training the trainers’ day using the Sea Fish Industry Authority’s new First Aid at Sea course has been held in Aberdeen.
The newly devised training course, which was held at the Clinical Skills Centre (The Suttie Building) at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, has been given a face-lift by a medical team from Aberdeen that includes Mr James Ferguson, Mr Mark Michelson, and Mr Jerry Morse, and from a fisherman’s angle by Derek Cardno, Safety Officer for the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation.
Mr Cardno originally approached Mr Ferguson, who is a consultant in A&E, in Aberdeen in 2009 after he had suffered a severe injury at sea. Mr Cardno believed that the system had failed him and he suggested solutions that could make First Aid training better for fishermen. Mr Ferguson, a highly respected practitioner in tele medicine, enlisted the help of A&E colleague, Mr Michelson, to look at fishermen’s First Aid at Sea training and together they found several areas that could be improved.
One of the main improvements in the new course is in the area of communications. The Aberdeen team have developed an Emergency Recording Chart (ERC) that can be used by fishermen at sea to gather information before they make the call for assistance to shore. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth are the only two centres that take medical calls from the maritime industry, with Aberdeen dealing with most of the fishing related calls. This placed the Aberdeen team in a strong position to develop the ERC and work on First aid Training for fishermen. The Aberdeen team had been collecting data on calls received since 2006 and this gave them a unique insight into the problems that needed to be
addressed.
The First Aid at Sea course is one of the four mandatory courses that fishermen must complete by law. Like the other courses, the First Aid at Sea course is only a one-day course. This tight timescale represented a challenge for the Aberdeen team but it also provided a target to make sure the content was right and fit for purpose while staying in line with the STCW requirements.
Over the years the doctors at A&E have been frustrated that they have been unable to give the best care possible to fishermen and one of the issues they have had is with data collecting and poor communications to the shore by fishermen.
Mr Ferguson said: “For us to give good advice to fishermen we need them to be our eyes on the boat and give us the details clearly.”
The ERC gives individuals the confidence to pass over details of an injured crew member in a pressure situation, which has already been proven in a pilot day of the course when delivered to fishermen.
The training day was attended by a good number of Seafish approved trainers who all shared the view that the changes made were beneficial and enhanced the quality of the course.
Keir Day of Seafish stated: “It has been an excellent day and to see all these first aid trainers in one room sharing experiences and learning from the medical team in Aberdeen is ground breaking.”
Seafish intend to roll out the new course as part of an EFF funded project giving refresher training of all the mandatory courses towards the end of the year. All the mandatory courses have been reviewed and Seafish hope that fishermen will take the opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills by attending refresher training. Seafish hope to run another training day in the near future, as only trainers who have attended the training by the Aberdeen team will be eligible to deliver the course.
Derek Cardno of the SFF said: “I am delighted that we have reached this stage after two-and-a-half years work. The course has gone well beyond my expectations of what I thought we could achieve. I would like to thank the Aberdeen team and Seafish for all their work in making this happen and to Mr Morse, the manager of the clinical skills centre, for the use of the facility.”
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