Advancing quality and access to emergency care in remote locations - South Tyrol, Italy

The Weisses Kreuz provides special training for a group of paramedics, nurses, and physicians to have this group better prepared to operate under extreme weather conditions that from time to time occur in the high Alps. The top paramedics undergo the following program:

• 260 hours of theoretical training
• A minimum 160 hours of practical training
• Annual refresher training and recertification within specific disciplines

To enable continuous skill improvement and to ensure safe and optimal patient care, Weisses Kreuz introduced Q-CPR (quality CPR); a concept that, via sensors placed onto the patient’s chest, provides Italian Resuscitation Council compliant feedback on the quality of compressions delivered during resuscitation. Thanks to this new technology, Weisses Kreuz is now able to ensure quality treatment within yet another field.

Projects aiming to increase chance of survival

In addition to providing EMS to the local population of South-Tyrol, Weisses Kreuz is also concerned with the millions of tourists who visit the area every year. A sincere ambition to promote safety and improve clinical outcomes spurred the organization to launch the following project:

• Dissemination of CPR training in the population and
• Dissemination of First Aid knowledge

A minimum of 4000 school children will annually be using the self-directed MiniAnne/CPRAnytime program to learn and practice CPR. This endeavour will be followed up with research conducted by Professor Uwe Kreimeier, MD; Associate professor at the University of Munich Hospital, and his team.
                       
To encourage more people in the general population to gain First Aid knowledge, Weisses Kreuz introduced a free-of-charge smart First Aid guide for the iPhone and/or iPod Touch. The application, also compatible with other smart-phones, comes in German, Italian and English. So far the application has been downloaded more than 250 000 times worldwide.

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References:

Weisses Kreuz EMS, South Tyrol, Italy "Advancing quality and access to emergency care in remote locations" Full article available online: http://www.laerdal.com/UserStories/43276803/Advancing-quality-and-access-to-emergency-care-in-remote-locations

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