ATLS and Trauma Team Training in the Netherlands

At its inception in 1978 the advanced trauma life support (ATLS) course was revolutionary for its contents and its educational format. Its rapid and ongoing dissemination notwithstanding ATLS^® has also met with criticism; aimed in particular at the relative lack of opportunity to practice and at the “unrealistic format” of 1 doctor working with 1 non-obstructive nurse. In the Netherlands this issue has led to the development of a new format that was first used for Refresher courses, and later, after the addition of a locally developed extensive e-learning module, as a new standard for the Provider course. Earlier the Dutch ATLS Foundation had already developed an on-site training course for Trauma Teams (doctors, nurses and technicians) with an emphasis on Crew Resource Management (CRM). Elements of the latter were also used, after the introduction of the new provider format, for the development of a new format for the Refresher course. Details of the Provider, Refresher and Trauma Team Training courses that are in use at present in the Netherlands, are given, together with some “results”.