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ASSERT hosts two significant trauma training events.

1 Oct 2025
Trauma Resuscitation Anaesthesiology Course & Emergency & Resuscitative Surgery Skills Course (Cork) took place in the ASSERT Centre, University College Cork.

The ASSERT Centre, University College Cork hosts two significant trauma training events as Cork University Hospital enhances capability as Major Trauma Centre.

Cork Hosts Two Significant Trauma Training Events as CUH enhances capability as Major Trauma Centre.

 

HSE South is supporting two major specialised training events for doctors involved in the treatment of patients with the most serious complex and life-threatening injuries.  Under the National Trauma Strategy, CUH is identified as a Level 1 Major Trauma Centre one of just two in the Country alongside the Mater Hospital Dublin.  Approximately 1,600 patients who suffer major trauma in Ireland each year.   

 

A specialist training course for Consultant Anaesthesiologists, offering advanced, hands-on experience in damage control resuscitation and major trauma care runs in conjunction with an Emergency and Resuscitative Surgery Skills Course on October 2nd and 3rd. Together, the two courses aim to better prepare both surgeons and anaesthesiologists to deliver effective damage control resuscitation and surgery for patients suffering major trauma.

 

Speaking in advance of the training, Dr Alan Horan, Consultant Anaesthesiologist at CUH said, “the course focuses on improving patient safety and survival in high-stakes trauma situations. Using cadaveric training, high-fidelity simulators, and cutting-edge surgical skills laboratories, participants will practise essential procedures such as advanced airway management, bleeding control, and vascular access.  The course is deliberately limited to just 12 consultants, ensuring maximum one-to-one teaching and feedback from a distinguished faculty of anaesthesiology and trauma experts from Ireland and the UK.”

 

Commenting on the Emergency and Resuscitative Surgery Skills course, Professor Brain Manning, Vascular Surgeon at CUH said; “The Emergency and Resuscitative Surgery Skill Course (ERSSC) is a unique training event aimed at teaching lifesaving skills to surgeons who will find themselves providing care for the seriously injured.  We aim to create highly realistic simulations of the initial emergency room management of seriously injured patients, reproducing the high-pressure decision-making scenarios that trauma doctors face in real life. These simulations take place in purpose-built simulation suites at the ASSERT centre at UCC’s Brookfield Health Sciences Complex.  Participants will also have an opportunity to perform commonly as well as less commonly performed emergency operations on cadavers, expertly guided by trauma specialists from Ireland and the UK. This gives surgeons the skills and confidence to perform lifesaving operations, and to know which patients require which operations and when.”

 

The ASSERT Simulation Centre, University College Cork (UCC), is a leading facility dedicated to enhancing healthcare education, training, and research through advanced simulation technologies. ASSERT is the biggest simulation Hub in the region and serves both the schools in the College of Medicine and Health, the hospitals and community practice. The centre can simulate a working hospital with simulated operating theatres, a five bedded ward and three multifunction simulation suites (one of which is fully immersive with wraparound video to simulate the scene of the accident!), Special effects moulage is applied to the high fidelity manikins or simulated patients mimicking real traumatic injuries and increasing a sense of awareness.

 

Prof Leonie Heskin, professor of simulation-based education and director of ASSERT has a special interest in simulation as pertaining to education in trauma management. She said ” Here at the ASSERT simulation centre, we are cognizant of the close proximity of a level one trauma Hospital, and we believe all healthcare workers managing trauma patients benefit greatly from this experiential learning. The centre has a particular interest in achieving the highest fidelity with  immersive suites and task trainers for both acquisition and practice of these important technical skills. Ultimately, we hope that these new skills will be transferable to the safe management of the trauma patient, making the healthcare trainee ready for any emergency.”

ASSERT Centre

ASSERT Centre, Brookfield Health Science Complex, University College Cork, College Rd, Cork City , EIRCODE: T12 AK54

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