Education at the Centre for Health Crises

Trauma Katastrof Sweden (TK Sweden)

The aim of Trauma Katastrof Sverige is to make an existing regional disaster medical preparedness course (Trauma Katastrof Sverige) available nationally by creating an instructor course and a national platform for development and support. 

Since 2022, Region Stockholm runs Trauma Katastrof Stockholm, a regional disaster medical preparedness course focusing on traumatology, for staff working emergency hospitals in the region. The teaching is team-based with a focus on blast injuries. It gives the emergency hospitals the opportunity to test their disaster medical plans and action cards. 

To make the course concept available nationally, the Centre for Health Crises is now supporting the development of Trauma Katastrof Sverige, which is an instructor training course. After completing the course, participants will be part of the Region Stockholm’s course, observers. The plan is then that equivalent training programmes can then be started in other regions.

The next TK Sweden course will be held on 25-27 November 2024, with our expert coordinator in emergency surgery, Lisa Strömmer, as course leader. For more information, please email us at healthcrises@ki.se 

Health Assistance in Humanitarian Crises   

Health Assistance in Humanitarian Crises, is a course aimed at health care professionals who are preparing to work on missions in low-resource and/or conflict or disaster-stricken areas. The course provides participants with concrete tools for planning and implementing humanitarian health interventions. The course consists of four modules. Participants can choose to either take all modules or select one or more. Two of the modules are only suitable for qualified health professionals and other health staff with relevant backgrounds. 

Health Assistance in Humanitarian Crises is organised in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Sweden. The next course will be organised in spring 2025. Registration is open to people who are in the recruitment process for an overseas assignment with MSF, or where another employer is behind the training. 

For more information, please contact Anneli Eriksson, anneli.eriksson@ki.se.

If you are interested in applying for this course but are not employed by or in a recruitment process with MSF, please contact Kristoffer Mörtsjö at Executive and Professional Education at Karolinska Institutet, kristoffer.mortsjo@ki.se. 

Anesthesia and critical care with limited resources

In situations where anaesthesia care needs to be provided with limited resources, such as in crises and disasters, or in low-resource contexts, the demands that are placed on care is different. In the course Anaesthesia and critical care with limited resources, participants will learn how to adapt and deliver anaesthesia care with limited resources. The course is run in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières Sweden and is aimed at specialised physicians or nurses in anaesthesia and/or intensive care who will be working in crises, disasters and/or low-resource areas. 

The next course will take place on 20-22 November 2024 and is already full. Our expert coordinator in intensive care with limited resources, Märit Halmin, is the course coordinator. For more information, please email us at healthcrises@ki.se

AHLS

AHLS (Advanced Hazmat Life Support) is a course that focuses on emergency care in the event of exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as chemical accidents and deliberate release of toxic substances. The course is aimed at physicians, nurses, paramedics and people with specific responsibilities in the field of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials). 

AHLS is an internationally recognised course developed by the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology (AACT) and is currently offered in over 70 countries. The course provides participants with in-depth knowledge of how to identify, assess and treat patients. Upon successful completion of the course, participants receive an AHLS certification confirming their competence in this specialised field.

The Centre for Health Crises, in collaboration with the Centre for Disaster Medicine Region Östergötland and the Swedish Poisons Information Centre, are now adapting the course to Swedish circumstances and plan to run the first AHLS course at Karolinska Institutet 4-5 February 2025. Our expert coordinator in chemical and toxicological events, Mattias Öberg, is the course leader. For more information, please email us at healthcrises@ki.se

Rapid Response Briefs

Rapid Response Briefs refers to a format for producing rapid evidence briefs for use by decision-makers in a health crisis. The aim is to create a way to work systematically and evidence-based, despite the time and resource constraints that a health crisis creates. The format and method for learning how to use them is being developed and was tested at a workshop in May 2024. 

Our Expert Coordinator in Health Systems Resilience, Helena Nordenstedt, is in charge of this process. If you would like to know more, please email us at healthcrises@ki.se

Customised courses to cover specific and sudden needs in health crises

In a health crisis, the need for certain specific training and practice may suddenly arise, in order to be able to better deal with the crisis. This could concern, for example, the use of new tools, new ways of working or support efforts to utilise transferring skills. 

At the Centre for Health Crises, we have the expertise and prepared methods to quickly create tailor-made courses to help organisations quickly address new educational and exercise needs in a health crisis. This includes both physical and digital teaching, in various formats. 

We have previous experience in developing teaching and trainings in health crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, members of our team were part of the rapid development of short e-learning courses for healthcare workers who came into contact with patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. This course has since completed by over 200,000 people. A member of our team also developed a course on mass vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now been adapted for use in other health crises. In the past, members of our team have also been involved in developing exercises for how to work when treating Ebola. 

For more information about our ability to create customised courses, please email healthcrises@ki.se