PoEM_Article_152

Title
Volume
Numero
Year
Article Type
Section		crt + click right on first page > Numbering & Section Options > Start Page Numbering at: X > + Section Marker: X
Corr. Author	First LastName
	Unit, City, Country
	Mail
Date of Submission (10 Feb. 2026)
Date of Revision (10 March., 10 Apr. 2026)
Date of Acceptation (10 Aug. 2026)
DOI (10.26738/poem.v3i1.58
Complete citation

Vol. 4 No. 2 2026

Abstract

Background

Inter-facility transport of critically ill children in the Western Cape, in South Africa, poses significant risks, often contributing to preventable morbidity [1]. While specialised teams exist, many transfers are undertaken by non-specialist personnel. South African literature confirms this gap, noting that paediatric critical care retrieval is often absent as a formal, stand-alone course in tertiary curricula and that transfers are handled by personnel with variable baseline
training [2]. This lack of standardised, continuous professional development creates a gap between theoretical knowledge and clinical application.

Methods

We developed the Paediatric Transport Reflective Improvement and Simulation-based Education (PaeTRISE) framework, informed by literature on simulation, reflective practice, and transport medicine. PaeTRISE is founded on two pillars: Reflective Improvement (structured debriefing to critically analyse clinical experiences) and Simulation-based Education (safe practice of high-acuity, low-occurrence events [3]. The framework integrates these pillars into a continuous cycle of learning, reflection, and adaptation, tailored to the geo-historical and socio-cultural realities of the Western Cape healthcare system.

Results

PaeTRISE has the potential to cultivate emergent excellence. By coupling simulation with reflective practice, it transcends procedural training to enhance adaptive decision-making, teamwork, and resilience. From a critical realist perspective, PaeTRISE functions as a causal mechanism to activate practitioners’ latent capacity. Crucially, it directly addresses the documented absence of a formalised, standardised learning structure for this high-risk activity, proposing a scalable, contextually relevant model for continuous professional development. The explicit integration of reflection and simulation represents a novel contribution to standardising paediatric transport education in South Africa.

Conclusion

PaeTRISE offers a theoretically grounded, practical framework to strengthen the quality and safety of paediatric transport. Adoption of this model may empower healthcare providers, improve patient outcomes, and foster a culture of reflective excellence.

Keywords

Paediatric Emergency Care, Simulation Based Education, Reflective Improvement,
Paediatric Critical Care Transport,
Inter-facility transport

Authors’ details

1. Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Department of Emergency Medical Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa

2. Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

Author contributions

All authors contributed equally and validated the final version of record.

Declarations

Conflicts Of Interests

The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Registration

No registration applicable.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval for this study was not required.

References

1. Abdullah N, Majiet N, Sobuwa S. The prehospital paediatric emergency care burden managed by a public ambulance service in the Western Cape, South Africa. BMC Emerg Med. 2024 Dec 18;24(1):234. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-024-01146-z

2. Williams W, Theron E, Khan W, Stassen W. Developing a South African curriculum for education in neonatal critical care retrieval: An initial exploration. PLoS One. 2023 Aug 31;18(8):e0290972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290972

3. Alinier G, Al Shaikh L, Campbell C, Fawzy I, Meyer J. Board# 200-Program Innovation Development of a Multi-disciplinary Simulation-based Training Course for the Safe High Acuity Adult Retrieval Programme (SHAARP) (Submission# 9978). Simulation in Healthcare. 2014 Dec 1;9(6):439. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.SIH.0000459339.11544.33

Copyright: This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite this paper? Sobada A, Meyer JT. The Emergence of Excellence: Proposing the Paediatric Transport Reflective Improvement and Simulation-based Education (PaeTRISE) Framework for the Western Cape, South Africa. Panorama of Emergency Medicine. 2026,4(2) https://doi.org/10.26738/poem.v4i2.2

Panorama of Emergency Medicine

Corresponding Author

Athenkosi Sobada

(Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Department of Emergency)

Athenkosi.Sobada@westerncape.gov.za

A complete list of the Authors'Affiliations
is available at the end of the article.

Submitted: 26 Sep 2025

Accepted: 13 Jan 2026

Published by New Health Concept

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