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5 Key Challenges in Medical Simulation Training

Shyam Gajrani / January 29, 2022January 29, 2022 / Uncategorized

The application of simulation in medical training has revolutionized how we approach healthcare and how we train our future doctors. It provides learners with a safe environment to get some hands-on practice. It spares real patients the discomfort of being attended by freshers. Simulation in medical training also creates better doctors and medics, furthering the stance and quality of healthcare in the world.

But like everything else, medical simulation training comes with its own challenges. Today, we will talk about the 5 most common challenges faced by technicians in medical simulation.

Insufficient psychological fidelity/ realism

The whole purpose of simulation-led training is to provide learners with a realistic scenario so that they can learn better and afford to make mistakes in a safe environment. If they can’t perceive the simulation to be a believable environment, it might not be as effective. When we use realistic manikins and set up realistic scenarios that replicate the nuances of the real process, not only do students learn better, they develop critical decision-making and ad-hoc skills. Realism helps learners take it more seriously.

Cost

Better learning comes at a cost. A major roadblock in implementing simulation-led medical training is the expense of it all. Medical manikins and simulators are expensive. You also need to compensate the actors (depending on the kind of simulation you are going for). And then there are the expenses for the buildings, equipment, furniture, salaries, consumables, refreshment, allowances, transportation, electricity, laundry, course design, and many more resources. So while simulation-led training has proved to be more effective than conventional methods, when it comes to the fidelity-cost trade-off, you need to make the choice.

Lack of trained instructors

A simulation-led training program is only as effective as the instructor. The lack of trained instructors able to teach through simulation is another roadblock to training medical aspirants through simulation. A good instructor will be able to utilize the potential of simulation-based training to teach important skils, and build various soft skills like communication, decision-making, and critical thinking skills. He will also be able to employ effective debriefing techniques to provide immediate feedback and encourage learning.

Building team skills

There are some things you only learn by working in a team. Because simulation training focuses on building individual skills, it misses out on the fact that in the real world, doctors won’t be working on a patient alone- they will need team skills. They will need to get along and communicate effectively, appreciating the contribution of the rest of the team.

Keeping it interesting

Debriefing is often seen as the most important part of simulation-led medical training. However, focussing largely on assessment can quickly turn a possibility for a hands-on, safe learning experience with opportunity for genuine inquiry into a dreaded responsibility that learners need to get out of the way. To a learner, simulation-led training is supposed to be a risk-free learning environment. And even though a situation may be risk-free to a patient, a learner is still exposing his lack of knowledge and experience to his instructors and his peers. By laying out the rationale, ground rules, parameters, and risk beforehand, an instructor can minimize performance stress and make this process easier on the learner, allowing the simulation to fulfil its purpose- that of better learning.

These challenges, among others, might just be why simulation healthcare training isn’t as widely accepted yet. When all the different challenges of simulation-led medical training are addressed, the results can be astonishing.

How is Behaviorism Applied in Medical Simulation?

Shyam Gajrani / January 17, 2022January 29, 2022 / Uncategorized

Research has time and again proved the effectiveness of the use of simulation in medical training. And because it is so expensive with so many costs factoring in, it is important to make it more effective in what it does. Since learning is the goal of simulation-led training, one way to do this is to integrate learning theories into the process. In this blog, we will talk about how behaviorism is applied in medical simulation to increase its efficiency.

What is Behaviorism?

Everyone learns differently- we all have different learning styles. Learning theories are concerned with how we learn, process, and remember. One such learning theory is behaviorism, a theory that suggests that all learning is acquired through conditions. Learning (behavior) is either a reflex to an environmental stimulus or a consequence of our history. Learning happens when connections are made between environmental stimuli and a person’s responses that follow. So when we manipulate the stimuli, we can alter behavior through learning.

So how does this apply to learning?

We can make use of the concept of behaviorism and the consequences of behavior by encouraging learning through reinforcement and punishment (both positive and negative). As suggested by operant conditioning, a response is controlled by its consequence. With strategies like positive reinforcement, responding to an action with a desirable consequence can create a positive association and encourage repetition of the action. When learners repeatedly practice critical skills in a safe simulation environment, they learn and remember better. Also, when the instructor gives him immediate feedback- whether it’s a reinforcement or a punishment, it drives operant conditioning and changes his response. So, reinforcement will encourage him to make the right choice again, and punishment will discourage him from making the wrong choice the next time. Another technique is systematic desensitization, in which fear and anxiety are reduced by repeated exposure (because fear is learned, it can be unlearned).

How to apply behaviorism to medical simulation?

Here are a few things you can do to improve the learning experience:

Simulation runs better when you have prepared everything in advance. If you can design a simulation focusing on a specific psychomotor skill, while cutting out distractions and other factors, you will be utilizing the principles of behaviorism. As cognitive demand will decrease, the learner will be able to completely focus on the one skill, and the instructor will be able to measure results directly.
Capitalizing on operant conditioning, if as an instructor, you provide immediate feedback, you can reinforce the learner’s actions. This feedback can be verbal or tactile, with equipment like high-fidelity manikins. These realistic manikins (many of them have screens) deliver immediate feedback, allowing the learner to correct mistakes and improve performance in real-time.
Another behaviorism strategy is to employ repetition. When learners get to practice again and again in a simulated environment, they get many chances to associate behaviors and consequences, and are reinforced. And it’s no secret that repetition helps you remember things!

A behaviorist approach can help build technical or psychomotor skills and cause a change in behavior. When the instructor shows specific desired behavior, learners observe the manner in which it must be performed, and then a certain rubric helps evaluate their performance and reinforce them.

Clinical Skills Training – Development, Facilities & Training Centres

SEM TRAINERS / November 26, 2021December 3, 2021 / Uncategorized

Clinical Skills Training is specially designed for students to obtain and integrate general and special medical skills at the patient’s bedside. General history taking and examination procedures are being taught and practised through Clinical Skills Training. This occurs among the students first and then to the patients as well from the involved departments and hospitals. The goals of Clinical Skills Training are mentioned as scripts and guidelines.

Medical Simulation is a Disruptive Change in Medicine

It has changed the ancient and age old practice “One Doctor to One Apprentice”, a practice in “Residency Training” which was introduced by Dr Halsted at the turn of the 20th Century. This “Master-Apprentice Model” served well for the exigencies of that age and time. “The time now is to redesign for the requirements of the current era. However It should be noted that “disruptions” are the originators of paradigm shifts in human evolution, social developments and in scientific discoveries. Disruptions lead to paradigm transformational changes. Simulation has for the first time in the history of medicine, made it possible for the Apprentice to acquire, practice, and become proficient on demand, besides meeting the critical requirements of various Clinical Competencies says Dr. Stephen C. Schimpff in his book “The Future of Medicine-Megatrends in Healthcare”.

Why Simulation is becoming “Indispensable”

Simulation is now rapidly becoming an important and integral adjunct to Medical Education and training.

Let us look at the reasons why Simulation is becoming so indispensable for Healthcare Training.

Learning any new skill means making mistakes
Making mistakes is a normal part of the learning process. Learning medical procedures has traditionally meant making mistakes on real patients.
Making mistakes on real patients can put the patients at serious risks sometimes life threatening, but
Hands on “Experiential” learning is indispensable for Healthcare Professionals, be it at a basic nursing level, or undergraduate level or post graduate level or even at the practicing level

Development in Clinical Skills Training

The training of appropriate clinical skills is an essential element of healthcare education. It is seen that students are able to gain all the theoretical knowledge but somewhere lack the skills in practical and physical examination and thus, are unable to take simple and practical procedures. Hence, Clinical Skills Training makes a strong part of the core curriculum and this training programme ensures that all the students have the necessary learning opportunities and the appropriate assessment.

With frequent changes in the healthcare delivery process and pressure on clinical resources, the desired educational targets are not easily achieved with so many number of students. The hospital wards are not always the appropriate settings for the students to be introduced to clinical skills, practise them and master the essential technique. Thus, clinical laboratories were established to provide students the necessary environment in which they can get the training in clinical skills in a systematic manner using effective educational strategies and experiences.

Clinical Skills Competencies

Clinical skills competencies include:

Communication and history-taking skills
Professional attitudes and awareness of the ethical basis of healthcare
Physical examination, procedural and clinical laboratory skills
Diagnostic and therapeutic skills
Resuscitation skills
Critical thinking, reasoning and problem-solving skills
Team-working, organisation and management skills
Information and technology skills

Clinical Skills Facilities

To develop clinical skills competencies using manikins, fellow class members, simulated and real patients, clinical skills facilities have a space set aside for this purpose. The feedback is also provided through television monitoring or directly through simulated trained patients, their instructors or tutors. Because of these reasons, many medical institutions have now set up clinical skills training facilities or are in the process of doing so.

Targets According to Educational Needs

The clinical skills training is planned having one group in mind. It is usually set up in the context of a new undergraduate medical curriculum with the targeted users being medical students. The target users, however, can be broadened to involve other students from a wide variety of healthcare backgrounds and at various stages of their healthcare development.

Clinical Skills Training Centres

There are many financial, management and educational arrangements for clinical skills training where the multipurpose education remains ascertained. But to make students learn together in carefully selected, practically relevant, task-based scenarios, that prepares students from different professional backgrounds for later work practice as the members of the healthcare team, clinical skills training centres are made. They provide an ideal setting for the early development of such relationships.

Use of these clinical skills training centres by students at different phases of their educational spectrum (undergraduate or basic training, post graduate or vocational training, continuing professional development) emphasizes the importance of the continuous sequence of education. Thus, the making clinical skills training centre accessible by different groups of students allows the facilities to be consumed in a much proper way.

Different Approaches Through Studies

There are many approaches that focus on how to engage students in self-directed learning and peer learning activities to improve clinical skills training in undergraduate medical students. In the first study, the clinical skills training provided by student teachers and associate professors is compared. The results have shown the student teachers performing as good as or even better than associate professors when they are giving simple clinical skills training.

The second study examines how complex clinical skills, such as patient management skills, develop with increasing levels of competence. To reflect this change, the Reporter-Interpreter-Manager-Educator framework was used and explored. In the third study the effects of training in pairs (also known as dyad practice) were examined. This study showed that the students practicing in pairs significantly out-performed those training alone using RIME-based assessments and that dyad training significantly improved students’ confidence in managing future patient encounters. The final study examined students’ use of self-directed clinical encounter cards (CECs) based on the RIME framework.

Results from this study showed that self-directed CECs can have positive effects on participatory practice and clinical reasoning when implemented in a supporting environment but the chance of success depends on the context of use.

For Ideal Skills Lab Development Programme, contact us.

Medical Simulation Over The Years: How It Is Revolutionizing Healthcare

SEM TRAINERS / November 5, 2021December 3, 2021 / Uncategorized

Roughly 50,00,000 deaths happen each year due to preventable medical errors during treatment, and this is often caused by limited practical knowledge among the doctors and the nurses. Many times, they just don’t have the knowledge and resources to deal with unexpected adverse events that can affect the outcome of a treatment. Such huge numbers are alarming and simply unacceptable at a place that is largely dedicated to saving lives. Looking at these statistics, it becomes urgent to look at how we approach medical training. Often, a short delay in taking care of breathing can lead to organ dysfunction and poorer outcomes despite excellent treatment. With proper training, the mortality rate from such medical negligence can be brought down to nearly 50% of what it is today, according to experts. If we train our doctors and nurses through comprehensive, realistic hands-on training, we can certainly cut the death toll in half. And simulation has come a long way in helping us with that. Today, we have come a long way in using medical simulation to improve the quality and accessibility of timely healthcare services.

Medical simulation, also known as healthcare simulation, is the act of reproducing realistic clinical settings to provide aspirants a chance for a hands-on experience while avoiding errors on real patients while training. Whether it’s carried out in the classroom or a special space built for simulation, it generally uses artificial manikins or real actors for patients, and various scenarios and situations are reproduced at different fidelities to make the training realistic and informative.

How Simulation Was Used In The Past

Some of the earliest medical simulators we used were human models that we made from clay and stone. When it was still relatively new, simulation was being used to train medical professionals so that it would dramatically reduce the number of errors during surgery, prescription, and crisis interventions, and in general practice all the same. Anesthesia physicians would use it to reduce accidents. Then around 1930, they built trainers for flight and military applications, and many other field experts began adopting it to suit their own needs.

But even though it was proving to be a game-changer, technological and medical knowledge limitations held us back and simulation did not catch on. Then through extensive military use, we realized how cost-effective and powerful it was at training, with the advancing hardware and software, we established certain medical standards and could now afford medical simulation. However, for long, it has remained unstandardized.

Simulation: Where We Are Today

In the last two decades, our use of simulation in healthcare training has increased a great deal. Today, simulation does more than just perfect medical professionals in their practice. Let’s look at a world without simulation. Trainees need to learn, and they will certainly make mistakes along the way. If we assign them to real patients, not only might it make the patients uncomfortable, but we might risk large complications due to minor errors. And with certain intimate and invasive procedures, some patients might refuse to be overseen by a trainee. Even though they might step into the industry after intensive education, without any actual experience, they are but beginners.

Simulation is now being used to provide detailed first-hand (but supervised) training in a safe and controlled environment to medical aspirants in anatomy, physiology, and communication as well. And then, they are debriefed so they can be assessed and given feedback on their performance in real-time. Simulation helps shorten the learning curve by allowing the student to learn by repetition and without being stressed out. And when we simulate realistic scenarios (like designing simulation rooms with bathroom spaces to simulate bathroom falls for the patients), it may make for a more realistic training experience. The simulators we have today are more realistic than ever. Not only do they look lifelike, the skin and various body parts and casualties look and respond just like they would if they were real.

Along with the procedural skills, through the realistic scenarios, the students also learn critical decision-making and interpersonal skills that they can take with themselves to the clinical setting. Many studies have discovered that students trained through medical simulation achieve overall higher scores and retention rates than the ones trained through traditional methods.

As we have begun to embrace medical training through simulation, we have effectively improved the quality of healthcare we receive. And as technology advances further, we will keep refining our competence for years to come.

CPR and AED Manikins – Importance & Range of Manikin Kits

Shyam Gajrani / October 23, 2021November 12, 2021 / Uncategorized

Manikins imitate real-life situations. They help in training for CPR, AED use, healthcare professionals instruction, disaster practice and much more. CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training is a serious business. Proper training and Basic Life Support knowledge is of utmost importance whether it is a home emergency or a professional rescue. It is crucial learning to save lives. These days AED devices are commonly available in offices and public buildings as it is a sophisticated and easy to use medical device to analyse the heart rhythm. It also delivers an electrical shock or defibrillation to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.

There are plenty of CPR and AED training manikins on the market, but not all are created equal. Finding the right training manikins and CPR dummies are necessary to train CPR, AED use, advanced medical practices and rescue exercises. That’s why we carry a diverse selection of CPR dummies, manikins and automatic external defibrillator training manikins. SEM Trainers Manikins provide affordable 1 student to 1 manikin training in CPR, AED use, and the abdominal thrust maneuver. They are extremely lightweight, durable, and require minimal cleaning when used with the face shield. The manikin provides visual, tactual, and audible feedback to ensure proper technique.

CPR and AED Training Manikin Kits

Our catalogue includes top CPR and AED training manikin kits such as 3B Scientific’s Basic Life Support Simulator BASIC Billy+, ZOLL AED Trainer Package with CPR Brad, Nasco’s Life/form® AED Trainer with Basic Buddy™ CPR Manikin, and many others

Looking for a CPR manikin with feedback?
We’ve got you covered with EMS 2020 Award-Winning product; 3B Scientific’s Basic Life Support Simulator BASIC Billy +. This is functionally similar to other CPR kits but comes with an added functionality. The manikin connects with an app called heartisense. The Instructor App provides a detailed performance review of up to six manikins at a time while the Student App enables trainees to directly see and monitor their CPR performance in real-time.

CPR manikins are designed to give students the feel of what it is like to perform CPR. This unit from ZOLL comes with an AED trainer package and CPR Brad which allows students to practice operation and handling an identical graphical operator interface and complete audio and visual prompting realistic device without compromising AHA recommended training scenarios. Screen messages, audible tones, and voice prompts guide the user through all aspects of the rescue from arrival on the scene and calling for help to administer CPR and shock delivery. The convenient handheld remote control for instructor use is preprogrammed with the eight American Heart Association Heartsaver AED training scenarios and offers a manual scenario function, plus attach pads, low battery, and call-for-service simulations. The training unit is powered by six “C” cell batteries (not included) or an AC adapter. Supplied with training electrode kit, training remote control, AC adapter, handheld cord, operator manual, administration guide and carry bag.

To give more realism to the rescue scenario and instill more confidence in medical trainees, we have our award-winning and bestseller Nasco’s Basic Buddy™ CPR Manikin. It is an inexpensive and state-of-the-art manikin designed for teaching individuals or large groups the life-saving techniques of CPR. It is affordable and can be availed 1 for 1 student. This becomes a completely sanitary device due to disposable lung/mouth protection systems. The airway opens using the head tilt/chin lift method, and there is a visible chest rise when ventilated. The xiphoid process provides an anatomical reference point for hand placement and compressions. The manikin also features both adult and child capabilities. Basic Buddy™ manikin is simple to assemble and provides trouble-free maintenance. Consists of one manikin, 10 lung/mouth protection bags, one insertion tool, and an instruction manual. The kit comes with an AED trainer with a simple push button to set the sequence of events that will help students learn the appropriate steps to follow in both “shock” and “no shock” situations. The instructor can select from four training scenarios for manual and hands-free training. Once the scenario is selected, the trainer will prompt the student in appropriate actions and responses. The lightweight, compact trainer comes with reusable pads and electrode sets, 9V battery, and operating instructions. It is updated with Latest AHA Guidelines.

You can explore our range of CPR Manikins and enquire with us during regular business hours (8 am to 8 pm) at +91-8849563724 or mail us at sem@semtrainers.com. Let our knowledgeable staff help you with any questions or concerns you may have. Teaching CPR is a noble endeavour. Learning CPR is easy when the instructor has the right tools. It is time for you to choose the best one.

How do TCCC Training Manikins Help Medical Services? | Tactical Combat Casualty Care

Shyam Gajrani / October 6, 2021October 12, 2021 / Uncategorized

Simulation training manikins have long helped improve the state of our healthcare and patient satisfaction. TCCC training manikins help train medical students and aspirants for providing immediate medical care for life-threatening injuries on the battlefield.

What is TCCC?

TCCC is Tactical Combat Casualty Care. These are guidelines that need to be followed so that combatants can get immediate medical attention for life-threatening injuries on the battlefield. All medical and non-medical combatants receive the training for this so that they can effectively and timely manage combat trauma and blast-related injuries. This involves training for three scenarios/phases of casualty:

Care under fire- Life-threatening external and extremity hemorrhages need to be controlled immediately in the first phase with limb tourniquets.
Tactical field care- This is the second phase. During this, massive hemorrhages need to be controlled, breathing and circulation need to be monitored, burns need to be monitored and treated, and the airway needs to be managed.
Tactical evacuation care- In this third phase, any chest or abdominal trauma need to be monitored for signs of tension pneumothorax, and bleeding needs to be controlled.

Delivering TCCC Training with Medical Simulation

Earlier, the hemorrhage when a wounded man’s main artery is divided would be so quick and so much that he would die before help could reach him. We have come a long way with tactical combat casualty care since. With the help of simulation, we have seen massive improvement in the quality of training for first responder skills in military settings. Simulation can create realistic scenarios and provide first-hand learning in a safe environment, building essential decision-making and tactical skills. With combat trauma manikins and trainers/simulators mimicking high-stress situations in the battlefield, combatants can develop the skills to ultimately reduce the number of deaths.

How does that happen? Well, when the manikins and trainers simulate realistic high-stress scenarios in the battlefield, both the medical and non-medical combatants get a chance to learn and practice how to effectively care for the injured soldiers and control any hemorrhages in the battlefield itself- at the point of injury, before they can be moved to a treatment facility. These are life-saving decisions that the combatants must make.

Tactical Casualty Care Simulators (TCCS) and Tactical Hemorrhage Control Trainers (THCT)

These simulators and trainers a boon in realistically teaching life-saving techniques and strategies for delivering effective trauma care in the battlefield. This is useful to many industries like the military, government forces, medical resuce, and private security. These simulators and trainers recreate the wounds that are commonly the result of war. The result is that combatants improve their reaction times and decision making skills, and go into the battlefield more prepared. The ultimate goal is the reduction of the number of preventable deaths.

Here at SEM Trainers, we provide the most realistic, reactive TCCC training manikins, simulators, and trainers so that training can be as realistic as possible:

Casualty Care Rescue Randy – powered by Strategic Operations Hyper-Realistic® technology

In the battlefield, death most commonly happens because of bleeding, tension pneumothorax, or an airway obstruction. This full-body manikin is carefully designed to deliver realistic training on these three procedures:

Massive Bleeding

Tension Pneumothorax

Airway Obstruction

This manikin has articulated joints and contains 3 to 4 liters of blood.

Buy it here.

CPR Module for REALITi360 Patient Monitor Simulators

This simulator is a CPR module that gives detailed real-time visual feedback on the quality of CPR being delivered by the trainees. The dashboard shows the rate, depth, and release of each compression in real-time, and it’s also easy to generate reports and convert them into PDFs for mailing and printing.

You can wear this on the wrist, put it on the manikin, or put it inside the manikin.

Buy it here.

Hemorrhage Control Arm Trainer P102

Simulating a realistic adult male arm, this trainer and its traumatic wound on the upper part of the arm realistically bleeds and helps with the practice of hemorrhage control. The wound packing and tourniquet application makes for a hands-on training, and makes the trainer suitable for TCCC and Civilian Casualty Care training. It has deep lacerations or stab wounds, large caliber gunshot wounds, and junctional wounds in the shoulder area.

You can wear this or use this as a standalone simulator.

Buy it here.

Simulated Patient Monitor – REALITi Plus

A simulated patient monitor designed to run different scenarios anywhere- whether it’s an ambulance or a helicopter. It mimics real defibrillators, monitors, and ventilators.

Buy it here.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Abdominal Evisceration – TCCS 5

A full body TCCS for realistically training on abdominal wounds with evisceration and a traumatic amputation above the right wrist.

Buy it here.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Gunshot Wounds – TCCS 1

A full body TCCS for combat trauma care training of gunshot wounds, hemorrhages, and airway management.

Buy it here.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Major Vascular Injuries – TCCS 2

A full body TCCS for training on major vascular injuries usually seen in the warzone.

Buy it here.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Traumatic Amputations – TCCS 3

A full body TCCS for training in combat trauma care for traumatic amputation injuries above the left elbow, above the left knee, and at the upper right thigh.

Buy it here.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulator with Traumatic Amputations and Gunshot Wounds – TCCS 4

A full body TCCS for training on combat trauma care for multiple traumatic gunshot wounds and amputation injuries.

Buy it here.

Tactical Hemorrhage Control Trainer – THCT

A full-sized simulator for training rapid assessment and treatment of trauma injuries in disaster drill and active shooter simulation scenarios.

Buy it here.

Obstetrics Simulators: Simulation Training in Obstetrics for Medical Students

Shyam Gajrani / September 15, 2021October 12, 2021 / Uncategorized

Over the years, simulation has proved itself to be a valuable tool in teaching and training for obstetric and gynecological scenarios. The various scenarios and situations simulated are able to give medical aspirants a chance for hands-on exposure to all the different procedures and situations that might crop up in a safe, non-judgmental learning environment- without the possibility of causing harm to a real patient. The use of such low-/high-fidelity simulators and VR simulators allow the aspirants an improvement in their level of skill and knowledge alike. And with repeated practice, they make fewer errors. Simulation training in obstetrics, along with skill assessment, allows for learning with patient safety, and improves patient outcomes.

Obstetrics Simulators: The past and the present

Simulation training in obstetrics and gynecology is a way to improve related skills without having to compromise patient safety. Earlier, things were not the same. Students would be involved in treating real patients. They would make mistakes and even burn out. Women would often prefer to maintain privacy, and students would not learn a lot waiting outside. But students don’t learn just from theory. They need to practice. Now, with simulators available for this, students can practice procedures and tasks in a safe environment without exposure to real patients, while also building communication skills and decision making skills in the process. They get a safe space to make mistakes and learn from them. And when trained by simulation, students go into practice knowing what they are doing, and delivering quality patient care.

What skills do they help build?

With high-quality, realistic obstetrics simulators with laparascopic and robotic operative simulations, trainees can practice procedures and skills for the following:

Standard delivery
Postpartum hemorrhage
Instrument deliveries
Shoulder dustocia
Fetal malpresentation
Massive blood transfusion protocol
Disseminated intravascular coagulation
Amniotic fluid emboli
Hysterectomy
Oophorectomy
Salpingectomy
Access to the abdomen

Apart from these procedure-centric skills, the simulators also help build soft skills like communication skills and decision making skills.

Obstetrics Simulators to the Rescue

Simulation-led training can prevent a lot of uncomfortable situations. Let’s take a few examples.

Let’s take the example of an IUD. Students need to learn how to place an IUD, but it is unlikely that they will ever get the chance to place an IUD inside a real patient. So the student has no way to understand the fundamentals and the anatomy involved. But with a simulator like our Family Planning Educator, the student gets a chance to experience the process first-hand. And a realistic simulator makes for a more surreal experience, and the student learns better (in this case).
Most women would not be comfortable being given intimate exams like breast exams, pelvic exams, labor cervical exams, endometrial biopsies, and hysteroscopies by students or residents. These are all private assessments. Virtual Reality and other simulators can make exposure possible for students so they can develop these skills.
If a student is performing a labor cervical exam on a pregnant woman, not only will it take him a while to locate the cervix, all the waiting around will make the patient uncomfortable in an already tense scenario. The student might also feel the pressure to speed it up. Low-fidelity manikins are the better option to allow the students to get comfortable and feel around, familiarizing themselves with everything as they try to locate the cervix.

70 Realistic, Professional-Quality Obstetrics Simulators You Need to Get

Students learn by doing. And they get excited when they get to do things. It makes them engage and interact more as well. They also benefit from the learning assessment and feedback. Manikins and actors (people who will act like a real patient) make the experience feel more realistic. Together, it all makes for a smoother experience and removes the pressure.

How does Simulation-based training can help clinicians to develop their ventilator operating skills?

Shyam Gajrani / August 27, 2021September 9, 2021 / Uncategorized

In the COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic took over the whole country, MP’s across the country feared their state would not have enough ventilators to treat severely ill patients. And when they had ventilators available, they lacked human resources to operate them. Simulation-based training was introduced to help new joiners and clinicians to fill those vacancies and make them learn how to become familiar with the ventilators and other types of machinery.

Essentials for Ventilator Management Training

Critical patients with COVID-19 symptoms will often get to be placed on a ventilator to assist them to breathe. When a patient is mechanically ventilated, a Pulmonologist will provide care for them. However, as the number of COVID-19 patients mounted, many hospitals did not have enough staff trained to manage ventilators.
Many hospitals have shifted staff over to their emergency and care departments to provide relief to healthcare workers, who were overworked before the covid – 19 pandemic. The in-depth work of managing the ventilator requires specific training and skills and many clinicians and new joiners can intubate and subsequently mechanically ventilate the patient just because of simulation training.
Healthcare workers who don’t concentrate on critical care medicine or anesthesiology have little experience taking care of ventilated patients. This means that a lot of healthcare workers lack the clinical experience needed to require the care of ventilated patients.

Fortifying Ventilator Skills Through Simulation

Many universities and hospitals are turning to simulation to teach their clinicians and staff to ensure health workers have the talents to figure with ventilators. Simulation enables clinicians to practice employing a ventilator during a wise scenario, developing their knowledge and skills before using them on real people.
As the participants apply their skills and decision-making during a safe clinical environment, they receive feedback from educators. This allows the participants to spot mistakes, learn what went wrong, and improve their performance without putting real patients in danger. The students gain experience while using the ventilator screen simulator and also excel the skills needed to handle their patients.
Furthermore, a study found that residents who completed five hours of simulated ventilation training had an equivalent level of data as those that completed month-long rotations in an ICU. Thus, simulation-based training is often a useful gizmo for teaching ventilator management skills.

Clinicians learn new skills with the help of Simulation sessions.

Participants also incorporate the COVID-19 protocols. By practising the new protocols on a simulator, participants integrate them into their system until they become a manner. As a result, crucial moments for correct infection prevention aren’t missed during patient care, especially during airway emergencies.
Furthermore, since isimulate’s Ventilator Screen Simulation for REALITi360 is often placed on a true ventilator, participants also can find out how to switch the parameters of respiratory mechanics, including resistance, compliance, rate of respiration, etc. based on the simplest course of treatment.
SEM trainers and systems extend training and consultation for operating ventilator screen simulation for REALITi360. The learner can work on placing the patient on a ventilator practice establishing an airway. The scenario based training also allows them to experience a significant number of monitors, defibrillators and ventilators that they might encounter in their EMT or Hospital careers.

Simulation-based training is particularly important now considering the necessity for healthcare workers during this pandemic. As hospitals transition to emergency and important care departments, simulation-based training helps to make sure their capacity to supply care is typically enhanced and never compromised.

How simulation guides and trains for Hospital – Acquired Infections (HAI)?

SEM TRAINERS / August 18, 2021September 9, 2021 / Uncategorized

Healthcare facilities work at large with contractor employees and healthcare workers to achieve operational efficiency. The elevator technicians, electricians, flooring contractors, painters, plumbers, etc. lack the functional knowledge of the adverse effects of their work on a low immunity patient. Maintaining hand hygiene has been the propaganda for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Guiding and training these employees will certainly help to reduce the overwhelming number of Hospital-acquired Infections (HAI). Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Infections are commonly spread via the hands, so maintaining good hand hygiene habits is vital to prevent the spread of HAIs. Infection-control training can be provided to the personnel with the help of Scenario-based simulation training to hone good hand hygiene habits. Scenario-based training helps these habits become second nature, thus improving patient safety and the quality of care they receive. Find out how medical simulation is transforming education and training.

The infection gets transmitted with a source of infecting microorganisms, a susceptible host, and a means of transmission for the microorganism to the host.

A source of infection of Hospital-acquired Infections (HAI)

Often while offering healthcare facilities the patients are exposed to multiple microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc. They can be transmitted by another infected patient in the premises, contaminated medical equipment or devices, the hospital environment, health care workers, contaminated drugs, food and patient care equipment.

A Host to acquire Hospital-acquired Infections (HAI)

A susceptible host is an immunocompromised patient who is vulnerable to get infected. The factors that affect the condition could be age, underlying diseases, severe illness, immunosuppressive medications, surgical treatments.

The transmission of Hospital-acquired Infections (HAI)

Multiple intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors predispose patients to HAIs. The transmission of HAIs occurs through common routes like direct or indirect contact, respiratory droplets generated during coughing, sneezing, through airborne microorganisms, common carriers of the infection.

How to Prevent the Spread ?

Multiple factors influence the development of HAIs. Some of them are the acute illness of a patient and his overall health, the medical device/medicine usage for his treatment, some administrative variables like level of nurse education, the ratio of nurse to patients, etc.

To prevent the spread of HAIs, simulation training through scenario-based compliance can be practised.

Maintaining an ideal nurse to patient ratio in hospitals could reduce overcrowding and thus increase the adherence to hand hygiene.
Usage of alcohol-based waterless hand rubs to maintain hand hygiene.
Monitoring the compliance of hand hygiene and glove usage
Maintaining Environmental Cleanliness will reduce the probability of contamination.
Reduce occupational transmission of organisms from patient to health care worker through proper use of personal protective equipment
Post visual alerts instructing patients to notify respiratory infection.
Evaluate using documentation of the use of sterile barriers, time of antibiotic prophylaxis, the fullness of needle disposal containers, etc.

How does Simulation Training help?

Simulation can be a useful tool to make the healthcare staff aware of the infection control protocols. Small scale scenarios can help with the compliance and control protocols.

This training helps health care workers to work on their knowledge base as well as its application. To know about the clinical skills lab setup and benefits, click here.

Importance of Medical Simulation During COVID-19 Pandemic

Shyam Gajrani / November 23, 2020April 2, 2023 / Uncategorized

With this article, we will explain medical simulation and its role in medical education and training and the importance of simulation for enhancing the hospital responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

Simulation has great importance in assisting the management of global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and also in similar future pandemics. Simulation can speedily facilitate hospital preparation and education of a number of healthcare workers and students of different backgrounds and has justified its value in many settings. It can be used to scale-up the manpower capacity from experiential learning. Simulation and simulation facilitators can also work for the optimisation of work structures and processes.

The medical simulation presents many essential strategies for detailed and practical training and patient care with enhanced safety. It is a technique, rather than just a technology that helps to encourage experiential and reflective learning. It is an essential strategy to train crisis resource management skills.

Simulation can help the individual learner, the multidisciplinary team, and the complete hospital.

Importance of Medical Simulation in COVID-19 Pandemic

Doctors are found lacking in the implementation of clinical skills, problem-solving and execution of information to patient care specifically in emergency situations despite having sufficient basic knowledge. To solve this, medical teaching and training was transformed to a system-based core curriculum with learning objectives focussing on cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains.

The motive was to generate an efficient, predetermined alteration in behaviour, acquired skills in the trainee with a focus towards problem-based learning. But, these domains cannot be taught on real patients in uncertain and critical situations.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for simulation to utilize its strengths. The clinical care segment is sensitive to errors and stakes are pretty high if any error occurs. The pandemic comes with a higher risk for healthcare workers, that increases the chances of spreading the infection and getting infected.

Medical practice with simulation can decrease the cognitive load of the workers involved in the patient care, thus reducing the severity of error at times of pressure and exhaustion.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 and its pressure on the resources needs a synchronised action in different areas of the healthcare system involving staffing, bed management, equipment supply chains, nursing and medical treatment, diagnostic capabilities, infection control and hygiene skills compliance. With respect to equipment and human resources, the demand surpasses what is available in most of the present healthcare systems. Therefore, we need smart and efficient ways of increasing and training a workforce, locating and supplying equipment, and improving the work systems and processes.

Simulation can play an important role in solving these issues and simulation trainers mostly have valuable skills to complete the essential analytical work needed to fulfil the needs, content, and methods for implementing the effective interventions. Considering the current situation, proper analysis of learning requirements and simulation focus points are crucial, so that processes are followed properly and there is efficient utilization of resources for promoting effective patient care.

The use of manikins during medical simulation allows healthcare professionals to practice and perfect their technique without the fear of causing harm to a real patient. These manikins can be programmed to simulate a variety of scenarios, including COVID-19 patients, allowing healthcare professionals to develop their skills and improve their confidence in treating patients with the virus. Manikins can also simulate various medical conditions, which can help healthcare professionals understand the different presentations of COVID-19 and provide appropriate treatment.

Utilization of Simulation in Real-world Scenario

At the time of previous epidemics, the simulation was properly utilized for healthcare systems and processes. For instance, simulation-based training determined loopholes in the safety protocols at hospitals that were supposed to be prepared for Ebola management. Following the period of SARS, simulation-based airway management and cardiac arrest training programs were popularly acquired to enhance the hard and soft skills of the healthcare workers involved in patient care with highly transmissible diseases.

Presently, national and international healthcare institutions are sharing and frequently updating their simulation-based experiences. In addition, variable simulation governing bodies are delivering consistently updated lists of simulation resources.

The best example is the Toronto simulation-based multi-disciplinary scenario created by the emergency department for efficient management of suspected COVID-19 cases suffering from respiratory problems. The prince of Wales Hospital organised an in situ simulation at the ICUs and operating theaters to make their employees familiarize with the airway management principles in suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infections.

We explained medical simulation, its importance in COVID-19 pandemic and the present scenario with simulation-based training. If you have any queries, ask in the comment section below.