ATLS® Course Albania Branch Step by Step

Abstract

Introduction:  Trauma, a persistent threat in Albania, continues to claim its quota at a significant figure of 13.7 deaths per 100,000 population annually. The grim reality is that road traffic injuries alone claim the lives of three Albanian citizens every other day. Despite political and system transformation since the 1990s, the evolution of organized trauma care has been slow, only being reflected in police reports or media accounts. This emphasizes the need for the establishment of coordinated trauma systems and education.

Materials and Methods: The recent three years have witnessed a significant advance with the establishment of the National Center for Medical Emergencies (NCME). This has proved to be a watershed, ushering in a basic shift towards a hub-and-spoke trauma system model. The NCME, through streamlining greater expertise and facilitating referrals from peripheral units, can significantly improve the survival rates of trauma, as has been demonstrated by similar systems like the UK model.

A cornerstone of prehospital and hospital trauma care development in Albania has been the progressive implementation of structured trauma courses, such as PHTLS (Prehospital Trauma Life Support) and ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support).

Whereas PHTLS® has progressively informed the protocols used by emergency medical personnel, ATLS® implementation has been sporadic, discontinuous, and all too frequently individual effort-dependent.

Conclusion: Recognizing the significant contribution of standardized trauma education, ASTES (Albanian Society of Trauma and Emergency Surgery) has been granted official permission to organize ATLS® courses on a national scale. This is a significant move towards the institutionalization of trauma care education, enhancement of clinical competencies, and eventually reducing trauma-related morbidity and mortality across all Albanian territories. The potential impact of such courses is huge, with hope for the future with vastly improved trauma care in Albania.