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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to report the results of a nationwide critical-care course for non-intensivists to increase staff capacity of intensive care units (ICUs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Argentina. METHODS: Three academic organizations, with special funding from 55 private companies, developed a short virtual course comprised of Web-based videos, virtual tutorials, and a forum chat. Each state assigned scholarships to non-ICU staff from public hospitals. Students received active follow-up for the completion of the course and took a survey upon course completion. RESULTS: After 4 m, there were 10,123 students registered from 661 hospitals in 328 cities. Of these, 67.8% passed the course, 29.1% were still ongoing, and 3.1% were inactive. Most students were female (74.2%) with a median of 37 y old (IQR 31-44). The group was composed of 56.5% nurses, 36.2% physicians, and 7.4% physiotherapists, of whom 48.3% did not have any experience in critical care. Mean overall satisfaction was 4.4/5 (standard deviation, 0.9), and 90.7% considered they were able to apply the contents to their practice. CONCLUSIONS: This course was effective for rapid training of non-ICU personnel. The assignment strategy, the educational techniques, and the close follow-up led to low dropout and high success rates and satisfaction.
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INTRODUCTION: Trauma is a leading cause of mortality and comprises an important cause of functional impairment among young people worldwide. The trauma registry (TR) is an integral component of modern comprehensive trauma care systems. Nevertheless, TRs have not been yet established in most developing countries. The objective of this study was to summarize the challenges, results, and lessons learned from a trauma program including initial results from a TR at tertiary-care public hospitals of Buenos Aires, Argentina. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a descriptive study of the implementation of a trauma program in 14 hospitals and analysis of the initial results in the period between January 2010 and December 2018, using data from Fundación Trauma TR. Patients fitting injury definition that remained in hospital for more than 23 h were included. Injured patients were divided by age groups. Data on patients' demographics, mechanism of injury and severity, complications, treatments, and in-hospital mortality were analyzed between groups. A descriptive analysis is presented. RESULTS: There were 29,970 trauma cases during the study period. Median age was 23 years (RIC 12, 39) with a 2.4:1 male-to-female ratio. Road traffic injuries (RTI) were the leading mechanism (30.8%) of admission and head was the most frequently injured body region (33.2%). Two-thirds of RTIs were motorcycle-related. Overall in-hospital mortality was 6.1%. Intentional self-harm in adult males and burns in adult females had the highest mortality rates (17.6% and 17.9%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION: The implementation of a trauma program within a public-private collaborative program in a resource-limited environment is feasible. The hospital-based TR can be used as a tool for injury surveillance, monitoring of the quality of trauma care, development of a trauma system, and to guide public health policies.