“High-quality and standardized education of workers in the emergency medicine system, aligned with existing European guidelines, is essential to ensure that all life-threatening patients receive equal emergency medical care, regardless of their location in Croatia”, stated the director of the Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine (CIEM) Maja Grba-Bujević at the final conference of the European project “Continuing professional training of emergency medicine workers”, held today in Zagreb.
At the final conference, representatives from the Ministry of Health, the academic community, county emergency medicine institutes, emergency departments, professional societies in emergency medicine, and other stakeholders gathered to review the project results that the CIEM has been implementing since 2018. As part of this project, 62 educational exercises were conducted, educating over 1,600 emergency medical service (EMS) employees. Additionally, two separate exercises were held specifically for national instructors.
The project “Continuing professional training of emergency medicine workers” has a budget of nearly 9.5 million HRK and was co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Operational Program “Effective Human Resources” for 2014-2020. This initiative was launched by the CIEM in response to the significant workforce fluctuations in emergency medicine, as well as the specific working conditions, high levels of responsibility, and stressful situations that EMS employees are exposed to daily.
The main objective of the project was investment in the development of knowledge, skills and competencies of EMS employees to improve healthcare in the Republic of Croatia and to increase access to high-quality emergency medical services. In addition, through this systematic and intensive education, the CIEM aimed to relieve the financial burden on county emergency medicine institutes and emergency departments, allowing funds meant for education to be redirected towards investments in equipment, facilities, and other essential resources.
Following European guidelines and best medicine practices, the CIEM, in collaboration with 19 experts in emergency medicine, designed and developed five educational programs that covered all workplaces in this segment of healthcare, ensuring that everyone who enters and works in this system is properly trained for the care of emergency patients. As part of this project, a total of 28 training exercises were conducted for doctors and nurses in pre-hospital EMS, 10 training exercises were held for medical dispatchers and 10 for drivers in pre-hospital EMS, while seven exercises were carried out for workers conducting triage in emergency medicine, as well as for nurses in emergency departments.
The exercises were designed to provide sufficient time for acquiring new knowledge and skills through practical work and simulations of real situations that EMS employees encounter in their workplaces. A manual was created for each training program, and teaching materials were developed for the 75 instructors involved in this project. Additionally, new models for practising clinical skills were purchased.
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