A team of trauma specialists from Saskatoon recently travelled to Stony Rapids as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen emergency care in northern Saskatchewan.
The group delivered a Rural Trauma Team Development Course, an internationally recognized program designed to improve trauma care in communities far from major hospitals. The team included trauma surgeons, nurses, flight medics and simulation training specialists.
Dr. Niroshan Sothilingam, Trauma Surgeon and Trauma Medical Director at Royal University Hospital, said the program focuses on building relationships between northern communities and Saskatchewan’s major trauma centres.
“What it focuses on is taking trauma care to communities around your province that may need a little bit more help or engagement and building bridges between sites like Regina and Saskatoon and the communities that send us these patients,” he said.
The course is tailored to the needs of each community. In some locations, that means focusing on medical procedures, while in others the emphasis is on transportation and patient transfers.
Sothilingam said he was impressed by the work being done by health-care providers in Stony Rapids.
“Every community I go to, I’m always surprised at the amazing work they can do with the little resources they have. Stony is no different,” he said. “It’s amazing what they can do with the resources they have.”
He noted that transportation remains one of the biggest challenges facing northern health-care providers, particularly when dealing with critically injured patients who may need to be transferred hundreds of kilometres for specialized care.
The program has been operating for several years and typically visits four Saskatchewan communities annually. Sothilingam said the benefits go both ways.
“I find this course is equally important for us in the big centres to learn about the community because it goes both ways. We learn so much from visiting these places and understanding how they run.”
He said one of the lasting impacts is the relationships that develop between northern health-care workers and trauma specialists in Saskatoon.
“The biggest one is building bridges and knowing the people you’re working with in this province,” he said. “If I take a call from a northern community, I would have met that person and it just becomes a different conversation.”
The Stony Rapids visit was supported through the Royal University Hospital Foundation, with Orano providing support for the team’s travel to the community.