EMERGE™: a multiprofessional training course in the care of the acute coronary syndrome patient

The Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) Recognition and Treatment (EMERGE™) course is a 1-day (3 hours) course originally designed to give doctors greater confidence and ability in the recognition and management of adult patients who have ACS. It may also be suitable for many other groups of health professionals. EMERGE™ was developed using principles common to many advanced life support courses and incorporates aspects of clinical governance, multidisciplinary education and interprofessional working. It incorporates precourse reading, informal and interactive seminars, and role-play during three clinically based scenarios. A novel aspect of EMERGE™ is that participants undertake role interchange during scenarios, thereby facilitating mutual understanding. At all times during the course, participants are encouraged to reflect on their actions and to pay particular attention to detail.

Using initial and final theoretical written test, after the 3-month courses (36 courses), we assessed the knowledge of aspects of ACS among 900 doctors. The average (± standard deviation) knowledge score was higher for those who had completed an EMERGE™ course, pre-test (545 students) = 23.8 (8.44 ± 1.30) points and post-test (834 alunos) = 25.3 (9.85 ± 2.12) points (P < 0.05). In addition, those in the post-EMERGE™ group also showed significantly better knowledge about ACS (85.6% [714 doctors]) acquired skills in treatment an ACS. We have demonstrated evidence that doctors' knowledge of ACS can be improved by attending courses such as EMERGE™.