GIVING HEALTH WORKERS A FIGHTING CHANCE
OpenWHO SNAKEBITE TRAINING COURSES

With proper training, Dominic will not only have the confidence to treat patients in his rural village, but he’ll also be trained to become a champion, spreading prevention and health-seeking behavior messaging to those most at risk.

When we met Dominic, a recently graduated Kenyan clinical officer in his remote primary health outpost, he told us of the seven snakebite patients in just his first eight months on the job. Two cases were critical, and he had no choice but to refer to another facility 100 kilometers away. Dominic felt powerless. If only he had the knowledge to provide better outcomes in his village, he knew those patients wouldn’t deal with the other factors delaying time-sensitive treatment, like land barriers and lack of reliable transport to the next level facility.

For a great majority of frontline health workers, exposure to formal training in snakebite management is limited. If they’re lucky, they may have had a few brief lectures in university. Some may have been fortunate to learn from an experienced colleague, but that’s rare. Subsequent specific training in basic and advanced skills needed to care for snakebite victims is very limited.

Even when it comes to basic life support skills, the frequency of continuing medical education may not be enough for many to keep up to date with important advances in the field.

GSI wants to turn this tide. For Dominic and countless others worldwide who simply want to be empowered with this life-saving knowledge.

Dr. Oscar Kambi went from fearing having to treat a patient due to lack of skill-based knowledge to successfully saving lives thanks to several in-person trainings.

It wasn’t two hours after visiting with Dominic we ran into Dr. Oscar Kambi, who previously practiced at the same dispensary where Dominic is today. Dr. Kambi said he was once petrified when a snakebite victim entered the door. After attending several snakebite management trainings run by GSI and the Taylor Ashe Antivenom Foundation, Dr. Kambi recalled the confidence and success he had from that moment on.

While GSI strives to provide hands-on, in-person training activities, we can’t reach every corner of the snakebite-endemic globe. Until now. All Dominic needs to do is open his laptop, and he and thousands throughout the world will be one step closer to gaining the competence and confidence they all desperately want.

WHO, in collaboration with GSI and our team of experienced clinical experts, is developing the first-ever series of online snakebite training modules for OpenWHO, WHO’s popular web-based knowledge transfer platform. Courses for countless other global health burdens exist, but there’s nothing for snakebite.

GSI supports WHO by developing coursework and creating multimedia resources such as podcasts and video interviews with leading experts, training videos, translations, animations, and graphical learning materials to keep users focused, engaged, and informed.

The courses cost nothing for any health worker, anywhere in the world.

Through the OpenWHO snakebite learning modules, Dominic, like thousands of rural health workers with internet access, will have the remote ability to learn and become certified in their down time.

An initial introductory training course is designed to cover general principles, such as making a proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment, learning about medically important snakes of specific regions, epidemiology, safe patient referral and transport, and rehabilitation. Further courses dive deeper into more advanced snakebite care issues such as snakebite in pediatrics, invasive airway management, and surgical wound care.

All participants will receive WHO certification for completing the courses. A badge of honor for those who want to finally change the trajectory of successful treatment in their communities.