ESW 2023 year in review
February 20, 2024
Midwives are required to have specialized skills and training to deal with emergencies that occur outside the hospital and in the hospital setting. The AOM’s Emergency Skills Workshop (ESW) is a comprehensive, high-quality, College of Midwives of Ontario-certified course, designed and taught by midwives, for midwives.
The ESW program had a busy year in 2023! In May, the AOM expanded the popular ESW PRN program to all Ontario midwives and saw a swift uptake. Through ESW PRN, midwives can arrange an ESW workshop directly with an ESW instructor at a convenient date and location. A total of 109 PRN events occurred in 2023 throughout the province. Midwives’ feedback was very positive, with many remarking on how much more accessible ESW was this year and how happy they were to attend without leaving their community. See the ESW 2023 Year in Review for a snapshot of 2023 ESW achievements.
The ESW program has a wide reach as many Canadian provinces and territories use the program materials. In 2023, 149 midwives from outside Ontario accessed the AOM’s ESW materials in English and an additional 73 midwives accessed them in French. All Ontario MEP students learn emergency skills using the AOM’s ESW program, as do a number of students outside Ontario. The total number of Canadian students trained this year was 102.
The AOM is also proud of our emergency skill program adaptations, which include the popular Paramedic Emergency Skills Program (PESP), recently updated in 2023, and ESW connect, a course to support interprofessional collaboration and knowledge exchange between midwives and interprofessional colleagues (such as nurses and physicians) in Northern, rural and remote communities. Both adaptations were created to meet the need for specialized emergency skills training with a focus on out-of-hospital birth and low-resource settings, centering midwifery knowledge and expertise in this area.
Revisions to the ESW manual are underway with an anticipated release of the 8th edition in the fall of 2024. We are excited to announce the addition of management of unplanned breech in the upright position among other significant updates, all with an emphasis on midwifery management in the community setting.
The AOM continues to welcome and respond to member feedback on the ESW program. We work to ensure all feedback is carefully considered through a review process that involves ESW program staff, the ESW working group and other stakeholders where applicable.
The AOM is committed to providing the most comprehensive and high-quality emergency skills training for midwives by continuing to work towards a current, relevant, equitable and sustainable ESW program into the future.
[Click image below to expand & access in-graphic links.]
