The European Trauma Course (ETC) is a modern, highly interactive international course focused on team-based care for patients with severe trauma. It was developed in collaboration with leading European professional societies (ESAIC, ESTES, EuSEM, and ERC) and is among the well-established educational programmes in the field of emergency medicine and comprehensive trauma management.
The ETC is intended primarily for trauma team leaders (physicians in emergency medicine, anaesthesiology, surgery, traumatology, and intensive care, but also paramedics and other non-physician healthcare professionals). Non-physician healthcare professionals who care for severely injured patients in their practice but do not lead teams may also attend the course in the role of TSP (Trauma Support Practitioner).
The course is organised under the auspices of the European Trauma Course Organisation and the Czech Resuscitation Council, the official partner of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC), in cooperation with the Slovak Resuscitation Council.
What the course offers
- emphasis on teamwork and leadership
- safe communication in critical situations
- hands-on practice in caring for the polytrauma patient
- a modern approach based on European guidelines
- realistic simulation scenarios
- decision-making under time pressure
- the systematic ABCDE approach in trauma
- effective collaboration between professions
A course where simply "knowing the algorithm" is not enough
The ETC is not a conventional lecture-based event. Participants work in teams and spend most of their time on hands-on practice of model situations. Each team member actively takes on various roles as members and leaders of trauma teams.
The course develops:
- clinical decision-making
- situational awareness
- crisis communication
- team coordination
- working under stress
Who the course is for
Primarily healthcare professionals with experience caring for severely injured patients, especially in the following specialties:
- emergency medicine
- anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine
- traumatology, surgery, orthopaedics
- neurosurgery
- radiology
In the role of TSP (Trauma Support Practitioner), the course may be attended by nurses, paramedics, and other non-physician professionals who work within a trauma team but do not serve as team leader.
Participation fee
Includes:
- Meals (lunches, a shared dinner, coffee breaks, drinks)
- ETC manual (in English)
- Online preparatory course (ETC e-learning)
- Registration in the ERC database (COSY Course System)
- International ERC / ETCO certificate valid for 5 years (upon successful completion)
Accommodation is not included in the fee.
Course programme
The course runs over 2.5 days and is highly practical — participants spend 85% of their time in scenarios and workshops that simulate the admission of a patient with severe trauma in an emergency department setting (shock room). Teaching takes place in small groups whose composition mirrors a real trauma team.
Lectures and demonstrations
- Introductory lecture — principles of the ETC, the team approach to the trauma patient
- Non-technical skills and trauma team leadership
- Demonstration of a standard trauma patient admission scenario
Workshops and scenarios (29 scenarios over the first two days)
- Initial assessment and prioritisation in the trauma patient (primary and secondary survey)
- Airway management in trauma
- Recognition and treatment of shock, haemorrhagic shock
- Traumatic brain injury
- Chest injury
- Abdominal injury
- Pelvic injury
- Spinal and limb injury
- Thermal injuries and specific situations (hypothermia, burns, penetrating trauma)
- Interpretation of imaging methods (X-ray, CT)
- Multitrauma — setting priorities and treatment strategy
- Team communication, patient handover, and communication with the family
Non-technical skills (running throughout the course)
- Trauma team leadership and role allocation
- Team briefing before patient admission (Zero-Point Survey)
- Communication within the team and with non-medical staff, the patient, the family, and consultants
- Decision-making under pressure and interdisciplinary collaboration
Final assessment
Assessment is both formative and summative and takes place continuously throughout the course — in each scenario, participants are evaluated against clinical and team-based criteria (handling of their role in the team, communication, proactivity, team leadership).
The third (half) day includes 3 final scenarios with summative assessment in the role of trauma team leader. There is no written theoretical exam in the course.
The ETC Provider certificate is valid for 5 years from the date it is awarded.
The official language of the course is English; each group has a Czech or Slovak-speaking instructor.