Implementation of a Multimodal Knowledge-Exchange Platform to Provide Trauma Critical Care Education During the Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine

Abstract

ImportanceThe conflict in Ukraine has forced civilian hospitals with limited trauma and battlefield medicine experience to care for casualties of war, placing significant strain on the health care system. Using the Checklist for Early Recognition and Treatment of Acute Illness and Injury (CERTAIN) program, a multimodal trauma critical care knowledge-exchange platform was created for clinicians practicing in these institutions.ObjectivesTo describe the development and implementation of the CERTAIN for Ukraine program and to evaluate the reach of this intervention, together with participant engagement and satisfaction.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis quality improvement study included clinicians caring for critically ill patients during the ongoing Ukrainian conflict who were part of a community developed using a messaging app. The program was implemented by a group of international trauma and critical care experts in collaboration with critical care leaders from the Shupyk National Healthcare University in Kyiv, Ukraine. This study evaluates data collected from the CERTAIN for Ukraine program from its launch on April 9, 2022, to August 31, 2022.InterventionsThe initiative comprised a longitudinal series of interactive tele-education sessions, a webpage containing the CERTAIN approach and current trauma critical care guidelines translated into Ukrainian and Russian, and a private messaging chat for asynchronous discussion.Main Outcomes and MeasuresParticipant engagement and satisfaction were tracked using multimedia analytics and a post-session survey.ResultsSince program launch, 838 participants have joined the messaging group, and 6 tele-education sessions have been delivered, with 1835 total views. The CERTAIN website has had 3527 visits, mainly from Ukraine (1378 [39%]) and the United States (1060 [30%]). Of the 74 completed postsession surveys, 65 respondents (88%) rated the course content excellent or very good, and 73 (99%) recommended it to others.Conclusions and RelevanceThe findings of this quality improvement study indicate that, using widely available and low-cost platforms, knowledge was shared rapidly and efficiently to a large community of clinicians practicing in a wartime environment with broad-based engagement and a high level of learner satisfaction.

Implementation of a Virtual Interprofessional ICU Learning Collaborative: Successes, Challenges, and Initial Reactions From the Structured Team-Based Optimal Patient-Centered Care for Virus COVID-19 Collaborators

“…We also found the blending of adult and pediatric interprofessional teams to be a unique and valuable experience, which fostered an exchange of novel perspectives and significantly enriched our discussions. A testament to the success of this virtual learning platform may be the rapid implementation of an ongoing and similar collaborative effort between experts in Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States, aimed at providing best practices and clinical decision support to frontline and ICU trauma providers during an urban conflict (CERTAIN for Ukraine) ( 38 ).…”

JAMA Network Open—The Year in Review, 2022

“…The response to the call has been rewarding, with important studies on the effect of war on vaccination of children, 14 disability among veterans related to Gulf War Illness, 15 interventions to treat combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder, 16 and support for medical professionals in Ukraine. 17 Our other calls for papers on enhancing aging and ending agesim, 18 prevention and the effect of systemic racism in health, 19 and severe maternal Finally, our greatest expression of appreciation is to our authors, who have entrusted JAMA Network Open with the fruits of their toil and the many patients, families, and members of the community who participated in the studies and made all of this possible. We are justifiably proud that the day their work is published, it is available worldwide for free.…”

“…We strongly believe that this fits with the mission of the journal and our commitment to serve a global audience of readers. The response to the call has been rewarding, with important studies on the effect of war on vaccination of children, disability among veterans related to Gulf War Illness, interventions to treat combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder, and support for medical professionals in Ukraine . Our other calls for papers on enhancing aging and ending agesim, prevention and the effect of systemic racism in health, and severe maternal morbidity and mortality have each highlighted important issues affecting the health of individuals around the world and have had a tremendous response from authors.…”