Charitable activities

Located in the picturesque Blue Mountains, Blue Mountains Hospital (BMH) is a gem among the bush. However, the humble BMH Education Unit (a cottage) had to deal with an unfortunate facts: It is juxtaposed with the busy Great Western Highway (GWH), and the quality of staff education activities were impacted by the traffic noise from the adjacent GWH, especially from the trucks.

NICCER, after holding a RACEplus course in the Education Unit 2 years ago realised the fact that the venue is not optimal for education purpose. Hence, NICCER suggested a sound proof upgrade to the Unit and a new audio visual system be installed to BMH General Manager. As a charitable organisation, NICCER naturally agreed to bear most of costs. With the kind approval and support of the General Manager, the upgrade went ahead smoothly. With collaborative efforts, the Education Unit is now sound proof and have a new audio visual system for education!

I was invited by NICCER to teach critical care echocardiography in Jakarta (Indonesia) and Singapore this year. It was a privilege being part of the faculty in teaching basic and intermediate echocardiography in the RACE plus and PIE courses in these two Asian countries. I am deeply influenced and impressed by the enthusiasm of the faculty and participants.

Myself with some of the other faculty: Dr Chew Si Yuan (Singapore), myself, Dr Wincy Ng (HK), Ms Iris Ting (Sydney), Prof Stephen Huang (Sydney)

Teaching with “actions”

Teaching in action

As a cardiac sonographer, with experience in the technical aspects of the ultrasound machine and imaging skills of the heart, I joined force with my experienced and very knowledgeable colleagues to disseminate the potential benefits of incorporating critical care echocardiography into clinical practice.

The participants were all receptive and keen to learn, with doctors from a broad range of specialties including intensive care, anaesthetics, respiratory medicine as well as cardiology, continuing their educational and learning journey. With the balance of quality theoretical lectures and practical sessions which emphasise hands-on scanning time, the courses enable the tailoring of content for learners just starting out (helping improve their techniques in finding acoustic windows and optimising images) while offering experienced candidates the opportunity to tackle more complex assessments and measurements.  

Didn’t realise the Indonesian food tasted so much better with fingers! (I eventually put down my cutlery)

Being able to share my experience in “tips and tricks”, discuss pitfalls and solutions and see the improvement over the couple of days is encouraging with the hope that each participant can apply what they have learned once in their place of work.  Everyone was very welcoming and hospitable as the culinary delights of both Jakarta and Singapore well explored. This was a wonderful opportunity to network and broaden my perspective with like-minded clinicians and experts across the Asia Pacific region that has much to offer in the echocardiographic field. It was an overwhelmingly fulfilling experience that prompts further learning and knowledge.

The 5,000 beds First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University

On 28 – 29 November 2023, NICCER joined forces with First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University to offer a RACEplus course in Kunming, China. This was the first time an Australian team visited Kunming to run a critical care echo course. The event attracted a lot of interest and had been oversubscribed. Unfortunately, we deliberately limited the number of participants to 40 in order to achieve the best learning outcomes. A substantial number of participants were from neighbouring cities, some travelling more than 300 km to attend the course.

With the help of trainers from other countries/areas, the course was extremely successful. Most participants who attended the course already have some background in echocardiography, and many pointed out that RACEplus has reinforced their skills and knowledge. We look forward to more collaborations with our Chinese colleagues.

The joined faculty of the Kunming RACEplus.

PIE is a next level up workshop from our RACEplus (basic TTE course). The focus of PIE is understanding Doppler and how to perform measurements (with hands-on practice), and is especially suited for those who want to take a step forward and do standard measurements such as cardiac output, pulmonary pressures and tissue Doppler.

After the first Jakarta PIE in 2023, NICCER ran another Jakarta PIE on 8 – 9 August 2024. The contents were updated based on previous feedbacks. The feedbacks received from Jakarta PIE were again extremely good. Nearly all participants find the workshop very useful. Those who already have Doppler experience found the workshop useful in improving their measurements and avoiding pitfalls, those who are new to Doppler found the workshop provide solid foundation in Doppler measurements.

Some of the feedbacks from the participants summarised it all:

• An excellent course. After this course, I am motivated and more confident more to do Doppler myself.
• I have more confident in performing Doppler after the course
• An excellent course that improves my Doppler technique
• I love the course, it is great fun!
• Happy with the hands-on
• Please run the course twice a year in Jakarta/Indonesia
• The explanations are excellent
• Instructors are great

We thank GE Healthcare Indonesia for their support and sponsor.

“I am incredible grateful for the experience that NICCER and the hospital has given me, as I have been able to expand not only my professional knowledge but my educating skills.”

Beth Wiggins, RN, ICU Nepean Hospital (March 2023)

I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by NICCER to travel with a team of Intensivists, Doctors, and Nurses to teach a Ventilation and Sedation workshop in Vietnam. This workshop took place at The Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City. I applied with an expression of interest advertised within my intensive care unit, to share current knowledge and educate both junior doctors and nurses about ventilation modes, difficulties of ventilation, reasons for intubation, and sedation techniques. I felt that my practical experience with airway management, mechanically ventilated patients and COVID 19 provided me with knowledge that would support fellow healthcare workers in a foreign country.

When arriving in Ho Chi Minh City myself and fellow colleagues, in the ventilation team met with the RACE team who accompanied us at the hospital throughout the week teaching. The workshop we provided to junior doctors and nurses included both theory and hands on practical sessions each day. The first day consisted of teaching different modes of ventilation, how to manage difficult ventilation, and basic airway management. Later in the afternoon the practical sessions included Intubating a patient, Basic Life Support and ventilator set up. It was a real eye opener for us to hear the different techniques our fellow doctors follow to intubate their patients and what choice of sedation they use due to the limited resources available.

Our next day consisted of non-invasive ventilation modes, analgesia, sedation and proning. When discussing analgesic and sedative choices they explained the reason why they choose midazolam over propofol as a sedative due to the cost and availability of the drugs. We are fortunate enough in Australia to have our medical needs funded by the government under Medicare, however the doctors at the hospital explained how a lot of patients must help pay towards their care provided. A conversation also evolved about the immediate response to the COVID 19 outbreak and how they received more resources such as High Flow oxygenation devices and transport ventilators. During our proning workshop some doctors were confident in the proning techniques whilst others benefited with some education on better techniques.

All the doctors who participated in the workshop were extremely grateful for the sharing of our knowledge and skills. They have invited us back for the year of 2023 and cannot wait to expand their knowledge. I am incredible grateful for the experience that NICCER and the hospital has given me, as I have been able to expand not only my professional knowledge but my educating skills. Everyone involved in the trip was so supportive of each other and I look forward to applying again for this year.