• Tali Capua, Maya Arnon, Moriya Rozenberg, Efrat Perets, Nir Samuel, Dana Adatto Levy, Nadav Elmaliach, Hagit Padova, and Ayelet Rimon.
• Medical Technology and Simulation Center, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated to the Israeli Ministry of Health.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2024 Dec 9.

ObjectiveThis pilot study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a "room of horrors" (RoH) simulation in identifying patient safety threats in a pediatric emergency department (PED) and to evaluate health care workers' (HCWs') perceptions of the experience.MethodsWe developed an RoH simulation featuring 25 potential safety hazards derived from actual PED incidents and "never events." The teams of physicians and nurses who participated in the simulation identified as many hazards as they could within a 10-minute window followed by a debriefing session during which errors were corrected and missed hazards were pointed out. The participants' perceptions were measured on a 5-point Likert scale of a questionnaire.ResultsTwenty sessions that included a total of 45 participants were conducted. The teams identified an average of 23 of 25 safety threats, yielding a mean detection rate of 86% for electronic medical record errors, 95% for physical space errors, and 97% for communication errors. The simulation received high ratings for overall positive experience (4.88/5) and impact on daily activities (4.68/5).ConclusionThe RoH simulation experience was effective in evaluating the level of retention of earlier training and the ability of multidisciplinary teams to correctly identify major safety threats in a PED setting. The participants found the experience valuable and engaging. Future research should focus on other means by which the retention of learned skills can be reinforced and new safety threats can be identified with a high level of alertness.Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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