COVID-19 Skills Preparation Course
Funded by the European Commission, ESICM prepares the unique C19_SPACE training programme in Intensive Care Fundamentals for Healthcare Professionals not regularly working in Intensive Care Units.
C19_SPACE stands for the Skills Preparation Course. It is available for every doctor and nurse working in a hospital with an Intensive Care Unit, in all 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom.
In this way, our 'healthcare army' will be prepared for potential surges of COVID-19, and this before the end of the year!
In the 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom, the healthcare professionals will be foreseen with all necessary skills through:
- Rapid training of a multidisciplinary pool of healthcare professionals
- Refreshment of the previous crash trainings completed
- Self-learning through webcasts & podcasts
- Local face-to-face or live virtual events
- Immersive Learning through Virtual Reality Experience
- A full inclusive training tool kit with an “Intensive Care Unit Passport”
With the support of the national Intensive Care Societies, national health care organizations, for doctors and nurses, the ministries and the hospitals, we provide the skills necessary. Read more below and join us for this unique course in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
C19_SPACE training programme includes online self-learning and local face to face training sessions. The curriculum includes topics such as:
- Introduction to ICU
- Personal safety, donning and doffing of PPE in times of COVID19
- The ICU Patient: General Aspects & Admission Sequence
- Basics of respiratory support
- Basics of hemodynamic monitoring
- Sepsis and infections
- Other Aspects of ICU Care
- Team care
Whereas the online training will be delivered with the support of webcasts and podcasts, face to face sessions will be delivered with the aid of an Educational Tool Kit in the local language, consisting of innovative and realistic immersive learning resources, including VRE glasses. An ICU shadowing day in the local hospital is recommended following the local face to face event.
The training follows a common structure, with two tailored learning pathways, for doctors and nurses respectively.
The programme content is flexible and adaptable for each participant, taking into consideration any training previously completed in the field.
The coronavirus outbreak affects all EU countries. The European Commission is funding this training for healthcare professionals to respond to the outbreak.The European Commissioner for Health & Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides has stated that the decision to provide this training further demonstrates the European Commission’s commitment to “support frontline healthcare workers across Europe by providing essential medical training to ensure that they are fully equipped with the necessary knowledge to help in the specialist setting of ICUs in times of crisis”.
The current pandemic has required a 30-40% increase in ICU beds per 100,000 inhabitants. The European Commission and ESICM support Member States in their efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic and improve preparedness for a second wave.
As ESICM President, Jozef Kesecioglu explains, “we now know what awaits us and we are working together with ICU doctors and nurses as well as other healthcare professionals and political actors across the European Union, to contain the virus and provide the best possible care for all EU citizens in all Member States. Together we are Intensive Care and together we will prepare Europe for the second wave of COVID19
ESICM now calls on all doctors and nurses of the Intensive Care Community to help promote this vital training programme through their institutions and personal networks, and to ensure the dissemination of life-saving intensive care competences.
For more information about the COVID-19 Skills Preparation Course (C19_SPACE), contact eu_covid19@esicm.org
Get involved in C19_Space!
How to get involved as a National Organisation
- Help with identification of national champions (doctors and nurses) – professionals with decisional powers and a sound knowledge of Intensive Care – to represent the national medical community and engage and support the local medical community during the implementation of the training in their country.
- Engage hospitals with ICU capacity in their country willing to join the training programme.
- Help with identification of local trainers and potential trainees
- Disseminate the C19_SPACE programme and support proactive engagement at national level among healthcare institutions and professionals
How to get involved as a National Champion
- Support the national authorities and medical societies in informing and engaging all the hospitals with intensive care capacity in the country.
- Support and guide the hospital management in selecting local trainers
- Support local trainers
- Monitor the implementation of the learning programme in their country
- Disseminate the C19_SPACE training programme among stakeholders that may be interested
How to get involved as a Hospital
- Support of local trainers
- Disseminate the C19_SPACE training programme among their teams
- Logistical organisation of the local face-to-face training component
- Provide information to the C19_SPACE coordination team
How to get involved as a Local trainer
- Collaboration with the targeted hospitals’ management and heads of departments
- Engagement with trainees enrolled in the training programme
- Support trainees during their online self-learning
- Scheduling of local face-to-face trainings between 15 November and 30 November 2020, based on guidelines and agreed timeline
- Familiarity with the Educational Tool Kit
How to get involved as a Trainee
- Participate and benefit from the C19_SPACE training programme
- Demonstrate upon completion of the C19_SPACE training programme the capacity and ability required to assist and support their colleagues from Intensive Care
- Assist and support their Intensive Care colleagues when deployment of healthcare professionals is required, due to new surges of COVID-19
For more information, contact the helpline, Tel. +32 2 881 04 42 or write to eu_covid19@esicm.org
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