Western Trauma Course (WTC)

The course has now been fully revised and major changes have been made to make the course more interactive, provide more opportunities to practise hands on skills, as well as run through full trauma case scenarios. A pre-course eLearning module has been developed following a patient’s journey from crash scene through to retrieval for tertiary care, and covers topics such as scene safety, the initial assessment process, communication, secondary survey and the need for transfer. The revised WTC sees a strong focus on the team approach to trauma care, utilising an A-I systematic approach to management which can be applied to all patients. It is designed to be interactive and stimulating and will give participants the tools required to increase their confidence to manage trauma patients and review their current clinical practice.

To conduct this course we engage a minimum of three clinical experts to deliver the course content and share their experiences in trauma management including an adult and paediatric specialist and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Course overview and content

The WTC covers the essential components of early trauma management through a combination of:

• eLearning modules
• interactive discussions
• graphic demonstrations
• practical hands on skill stations and trauma case scenarios.

Participants receive the eLearning module and a course manual approximately 3 weeks before the course and are provided with a certificate of attendance on completion.

Course participants will:

• learn new skills
• refresh skills not practised for some time
• gain confidence to deal with trauma patients
• gain knowledge in how to best organise their departments to receive trauma patients.

Course length

The program is a 1 day multidisciplinary course of 9.5 hours. It is generally offered on a Saturday from 7.30am to 5.30pm.

Read the course timetable. 

Course calendar 2025 

View the 2025 WTC course calendar (PDF 91KB)

Applications

If you are interested in applying for WTC courses you will need to complete the application form (external site). If you require a hard copy of the application form please email on WATTEU@health.wa.gov.au. 

Once offers have been accepted, cancellation policy applies.

Courses are booked in the rural health care regions in consultation with the education and development departments in the regional hospitals and the regional directors of nursing.

Medical staff are invited to attend the course through their respective Primary Health Networks and emergency departments, while the nurses are invited through the hospitals within the health care regions.

Course cost

The WTC course is heavily subsidised by the Department of Health.

The costs are as follows:

• WA Health Medical employee – $795.00
• Non WA Health Medical employee – $1,195.00
• WA Health Nursing employee – $555.00
• Non WA Health Nursing employee – $835.00
• Nursing/Medical students and volunteer ambulance officers – $555.00

Course accreditation

Australian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) PDP program (external site): The Western Trauma Course (WTC) is approved for 9.5 ACEM CPD hours.

Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) (external site) Participants in the ANZCA and FPM CPD program may claim their attendance under the Knowledge and Skills activity ‘Short format learning’ at 2 credits per hour.

Australian College of Rural & Remote Medicine (ACRRM) (external site): The Western Trauma Course (WTC) is accredited for PDP Units - 11 Educational Activity and 2 Performance Review and 2 MOPS (Emergency Medicine) hours.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) (external site): The Western Trauma Course (WTC) is accredited as a CPD Accredited Activity (40 points) under the RACGP CPD program.

Participant testimonials

We strive to meet the needs of both course participants and course instructors. The feedback we receive ensures that the course content is continually revised according to best practice and objectives are being met.

Below is a selection of comments from the evaluation forms:

• Easily the best course I have been to regarding trauma management.The local knowledge, experts working in the area and the interactions from medical staff doing the course aided in the learning.
• Most well organised, well set-up, informative and professional instructors and course I have come across in last five years! Well done and thanks a million.
• Really great course – thanks. It would be great if all our DMO’s could attend and the roster covered.
• Fabulous course. All my learning needs were met and I will take away a lot from this course.  Loved the manual.

More information

Western Australian Trauma Training and Education Unit (WATTEU)