Impact of attending a 1-day multi-professional course (ALERT) on the knowledge of acute care in trainee doctors.

We have described previously deficiencies in the knowledge in trainee doctors of aspects of acute illness, its recognition and management. This led to the development of a 1-day multi-professional course in acute care for newly qualified doctors and nurses, ALERT. Using a questionnaire, we assessed the knowledge of basic aspects of acute care amongst 118 senior house officers, 36 of whom had previously attended an ALERT course. The average (+/-S.D.) knowledge score was higher for those who had completed an ALERT course (9.44 +/- 1.63 points versus 7.45 +/- 2.32 points; P < 0.05). In addition, those in the post-ALERT group also showed significantly better knowledge of the signs of complete airway obstruction, normal capillary refill time, percentage survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest, consent arrangements for operation in unconscious patients, minimum hourly urine output, the need to inflate the reservoir bag on a high concentration oxygen mask and the role of the reservoir. Similar differences existed between trainees who had completed an ALERT course and a group of SHOs assessed in 1991, who had not done so. We believe that we have demonstrated evidence that doctors' knowledge of acute care can be improved by attending courses such as ALERT.