Česky
What was the "competition" like and how did you get into such an elite team?
There was quite a lot of competition. The national teams were made up of about 20 different European and non-European countries. Some countries first organised national preliminary rounds, others sent an already well-established team that had been working together for years in the same hospital. Moreover, the quality of the teams is increasing every year.
For a long time I have been involved in training in emergency resuscitation and management of life-threatening conditions. I had the opportunity to attend one of the first Advanced Life Support (ALS) courses organised by the European Resuscitation Council in the Czech Republic and soon became enthusiastic about this type of training for healthcare professionals. Gradually I became an instructor for ALS and EPALS (European Paediatric Advanced Life Support) courses and I teach healthcare professionals in the Czech Republic and the UK. When the Czech Resuscitation Council announced a call for a team to represent the Czech Republic in emergency resuscitation at the annual International Resuscitation Congress, I was happy to offer my participation. According to objective criteria, five members were then selected from the applicants to represent the Czech Republic. The other members of the team are also ALS instructors and they had also very successfully completed the first EPALS course in our country; we all knew each other well from the courses. The team consisted of three doctors and two paramedics from all over the Czech Republic (Hořovice, Prague, Hradec Králové, Brno), I acted as team leader.
How do you feel after winning the European competition in emergency resuscitation?
The Czech Republic participated in the competition for the third time, in the previous years it took 1st and 2nd place (congresses in Krakow, Poland and Bilbao, Spain), so the expectations placed on us were high, especially since the congress was held this year on the "home field" in Prague. When we advanced from the basic round to the final round among the top three, we considered it a great success, and the overall victory was a kind of icing on the cake, because the other teams showed really great performances.
How does such a competition in resuscitation actually take place and what is evaluated?
The competition is two-round, it is based on the principle of simulated scenarios - the team is presented with a clinical situation to solve. The first round was about resuscitation and post-resuscitation care of an adult patient. The assessment included both the technical performance of resuscitation (correct performance of chest compressions and breaths assessed on the resuscitation model, minimising interruption of compressions) and adherence to the recommended algorithm (shortest time to start resuscitation from the assessment of the patient's condition, alternation of rescuers in compressions, the earliest possible administration of discharge in defibrillated rhythm, advanced airway support, gradual elimination of reversible causes of sudden circulatory arrest, correctly performed postresuscitation care). However, an important part of the evaluation was also the assessment of the so-called non-technical skills, i.e. team cooperation, communication within the team, the role of the team leader, who all the time only coordinates the work of the team, decides on the procedure, sets priorities, but does not actually perform any of the manual activities himself.
The final round was a clinical situation of resuscitation of a child after accidental intoxication with drugs. The situation here was complicated by the fact that one member of the team was assigned to communicate with the child's relative who was present during the resuscitation. (For those who would like to know more about this, you can find a sample from the final round here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbELeA4QTTc )
What led you to study medicine and to pursue such a demanding specialty as resuscitation and intensive care medicine for chronically ill children?
Studying medicine was actually such a rational choice, I took both humanities and sciences in high school and was accepted to several colleges of different majors (from philology to math and physics to several medical schools), I eventually chose 2. Medical Faculty, which is a bit more specialized in children, in fact all along I wanted to do pediatrics and I also joined the Pediatric Clinic in Motol after graduation and stayed there until my certification. During my pre-testing internship at the ARO department for children at the Motol Hospital, I became fascinated by the specialisation of paediatric intensive care medicine, i.e. working with the most seriously ill children who have a threat or failure of some vital function. I also met the current head of the Children's ICU, Dr. Blažek, who had a major influence on my interest in intensive care, led me to the above-mentioned courses, and under his guidance I also performed the first invasive procedures (insertion of central venous catheters, arterial catheters, intubation, management of artificial pulmonary ventilation, etc.). Shortly after the birth of my son, he enticed me to move to the Hořovice unit and I am glad for that. For chronically but seriously ill children, both the intensivist component and the classical paediatric component are often needed (growth assessment, management of long-term nutrition, management of antibiotic treatment, vaccinations, etc.), so I can apply my experience from both disciplines.
Could you briefly outline your experience from your one year in the paediatric OCHRIP?
Compared to working at a large clinic in Prague, working at the Hořovice Hospital is obviously different. Among the predominantly positive things are the very good interpersonal relations at the workplace. Our department tries to work as a team in all respects. In intensive care of any type, the role of nurses and other non-medical medical staff is extremely important. The doctor himself would not be of much use without them. We are very fortunate that our nurses under the leadership of Mgr. Pavlína Hesounová are doing a really great job in difficult conditions.
The fates of some of our children are sad to tragic, many visitors prefer not to see our patients, they tend to imagine their own children in similar situations. I personally do not find our field sad. Of course, the prognosis for most of our patients is not good (children after drowning, suffocation, children with some types of inborn metabolic defects, or patients who have suffered brain damage during birth), and their condition is unlikely to change or even worsen. But they too need meaningful quality care, treatment and a family-friendly environment. This is what we strive to provide, and the responses of many parents reassure us that this type of care is wanted and much needed.
What do you say to those who are surprised that a young doctor is pursuing such a challenging and sad field?
I dare say, after a year here, that our care contributes to the psychological well-being of the entire family of a seriously ill child. In addition, we always have a young patient on the ward whose prognosis is favourable, whose psychomotor development is progressing favourably and who may have a chance to lead a full life in the future. Of course, the care of all our patients is extremely mentally and sometimes even physically demanding. We therefore try to build a positive workplace environment as a prevention of burnout syndrome, the risk of which is very high in our type of operations.
How do you spend your free time, what recharges you?
I have a nearly two-year-old son at home who is almost always laughing, which is an incredible source of positivity. He has so much energy that after playing with him all day I sometimes feel like I'm actually going to work to relax. :-) Work is also my hobby, I am constantly trying to further my education. In my spare time I still teach on ALS and EPALS courses, and occasionally on other CPR courses for lay people and paramedics. I feel that along with my family, it is also something that gives meaning to my life. There is relatively little time for other hobbies (reading, swimming, cycling, travelling, etc.) at the moment, which makes it all the more valuable when I finally get around to one of them.
