New hi-tech unit will deliver emergency training in rural areas

A new hi-tech ‘Mobile Skills Unit’ (MSU) will provide high-quality clinical training for practitioners in Scotland’s remote and rural areas.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman says the £265,000 vehicle contains a host of advanced clinical simulation features, enabling staff to learn the latest in emergency care, wherever they are based. It updates and replaces a vehicle that has successfully toured Scotland for the last decade.

Ms Freeman said: “It’s essential that wherever you are a patient in Scotland, you can be treated to the highest standards.

“As thinking and technology develops, we need to make sure that our NHS staff are able to build on their skills and that’s where the Mobile Skills Unit comes in. Together with online learning and telemedicine, the team have trained over 9,000 staff on the unit in the last decade, many in remote and rural areas.

“This unit will allow us to bring the next generation of training to Scotland’s clinicians.”

NES chairman David Garbutt said: “Scotland can rightly be proud of its record in medical education: a lot of leadership, innovation and hard work goes into that reputation.

“This unit, and its ongoing operation, is a result of a wide partnership from across Scotland.

“The previous unit was hugely effective, and we look forward to working with our partners to deliver high quality training in the years to come.”

The MSU spends one to two weeks at 18 different venues throughout Scotland each year.

A variety of skills can be taught onboard, depending on the needs of the staff in the local area. These range from immediate life support for trauma victims, airway management, suturing and multiagency emergency scenarios.

The mobile skills unit has also become a focus for training local communities in skills using simulations, with the likes of the Heartstart programme, where people undertake CPR training and learn how to use defibrillators, proving popular.