Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Road traffic accidents (RTAs) were responsible for 307 deaths and 2712 serious injuries in Scotland in 2004.1 The management of these incidents, particularly in remote and rural areas, can involve local general practitioners and nurses, as well as the statutory emergency services. For many prehospital practitioners, attendance at an RTA is an infrequent and stressful experience. RTA management training is an essential component of their safe and effective management. GPs and nurses, unlike the other emergency services, receive no formal education in RTA procedures and extrication techniques in particular. We describe here the development and utilisation of a simulation vehicle for use in immediate care education in both urban and rural settings in Scotland. From April 2004 to June 2005 inclusive, the vehicle has been used to teach 312 medical staff. BASICS Scotland is a charitable organisation that provides specific courses in immediate care for the benefit of GPs, nurses, and ambulance staff. These courses are provided locally throughout Scotland. As part of the trauma component of the introductory immediate care course, we have traditionally demonstrated the routine extrication of a driver with a presumed spinal injury from a crash damaged car. This simulation entails a considerable amount of organisation, not least the availability of a suitable vehicle and the involvement of local ambulance and fire crews. Other issues also have to be taken into consideration (box 1). ### Box 1 Issues relating to the simulation of an RTA for training purposes
Mike Langran (Mon,) studied this question.