In late June, a team of trauma specialists made a journey from Saskatoon to one of Saskatchewan’s most remote communities. “This is the furthest north we’ve ever been,” said Dr. Niroshan Sothilingam, a trauma surgeon and trauma medical director at Royal University Hospital (RUH). “It’s a good way to learn your community and learn rural Saskatchewan and the challenges they face in health care.” Less than 100 kilometres from the Northwest Territories, the group delivered hands-on emergency response training to local medical teams in Stony Rapids. This training is part of RUH Foundation’s Rural Trauma Training Program, which has run for about four years. The program was initially developed by the American College of Surgeons. This was the Saskatchewan team’s 13th trip. “This course specifically is geared towards places where the resources aren’t readily available,” said Dr. Sothilingam. “That’s why they call it Resource Variable Trauma Team Development.” After arriving on June 22, the trauma specialists worked with medical professionals from the area for the next two days, teaching them to assess and stabilize patients and prepare them for transport. Rural communities can reach out to the program to set up training visits, but the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) explained that sometimes the program will identify communities in need. “We also look at the traumas coming into Saskatoon, and we look to see if there’s a community that maybe would need support, because they do see a lot of traumas in our province,” said Deb Georget, SHA director of inpatient surgery and trauma in Saskatoon. RUH Foundation, SHA and donors have all supported the program. The trip to Stony Rapids was funded in part with $300,000 from Orano. “They have a mining site near Stony Rapids,” explained Georget. “If any of their team members get injured, Stony Rapids is going to be where they’re going to have their first site of care.” For this rural community, response teams will be more prepared to handle emergencies when the time comes.
