Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The patient safety literature from the past decade emphasizes the importance of teamwork skills and human factors in preventing medical errors. Simulation has been used within aviation, the military, and now health care domains to effectively teach and assess teamwork skills. ⋯ This material was disseminated within the morning session and was discussed both during breakout sessions and via online messaging. Below we present a well-defined, well-described taxonomy that will help guide design, implementation, and assessment of simulation-based team training programs.
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Health care simulation includes a variety of educational techniques used to complement actual patient experiences with realistic yet artificial exercises. This field is rapidly growing and is widely used in emergency medicine (EM) graduate medical education (GME) programs. We describe the state of simulation in EM resident education, including its role in learning and assessment. ⋯ This article also discusses the design of simulation centers and the resources available for developing simulation programs in graduate EM education. The level of interest in these resources is evident by the numerous national EM organizations with internal working groups focusing on simulation. In the future, the health care system will likely follow the example of the airline industry, nuclear power plants, and the military, making rigorous simulation-based training and evaluation a routine part of education and practice.
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The effect of decreasing lab turnaround times on emergency department (ED) efficiency can be estimated through system-level simulation models and help identify important outcome measures to study prospectively. Furthermore, such models may suggest the advantage of bedside or point-of-care testing and how they might affect efficiency measures. ⋯ This simulation model suggests compelling improvement in ED efficiency with decreasing lab turnaround time. Outcomes such as time on EMS diversion, ED LOS, and ED throughput represent important but understudied areas that should be evaluated prospectively. EDs should consider processes that will improve turnaround time, such as point-of-care testing, to obtain these goals.
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Comparative Study
Resident response to integration of simulation-based education into emergency medicine conference.
Utilization of simulation-based training has become increasingly prevalent in residency training. The authors compared emergency medicine (EM) resident feedback for simulation sessions to traditional lectures from an EM residency didactic program. ⋯ Emergency medicine residents scored simulation-based sessions higher than traditional lectures. The scores over time suggest that this preference for simulation can be sustainable long term. Residents perceive simulation as more desirable teaching method compared to the traditional lecture format.
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A descriptive study was performed to better understand the possible utility of immersive virtual reality simulation for training first responders in a mass casualty event. ⋯ Learner feedback and expert performance review suggests that immersive training in a virtual environment has the potential to be a powerful tool to train first responders for high-acuity, low-frequency events, such as a terrorist attack.