The International Pediatric Simulation Society (IPSS) is a global community of pediatricians, pediatric subspecialists, pediatric nurses, educators and other allied health professionals who are dedicated to improving the care of infants and children worldwide. They work to achieve this outcome through multi-disciplinary, simulation-based education, training and research in pediatric simulation.
The society strives to extend the knowledge and skills that participating members have gained to the widest possible audience. Extending membership and involvement to all healthcare professionals who care for children and infants, regardless of the geographic location where they practice, IPSS has become a global voice influencing worldwide childcare innovation, integration and motivation.
Since the first IPSS meeting in Stockholm, Sweden in 2008, the year the society was founded by 11 multi-national pediatric medical practitioners, membership to the International Pediatric Simulation Society has grown immensely. Involving healthcare specialists from over 30 countries, the goal of the IPSS remains to promote multidisciplinary simulation in all healthcare subspecialties that treat infants and children. Further, the vision of IPSS is that children and families come to have the best healthcare opportunities possible.
To achieve these goals, the International Pediatric Simulation Society chooses to reflect and empower the pediatric and perinatal simulation community comprehensively. By developing and sustaining a dynamic community of practice for pediatric and perinatal simulation-based innovations, education, research and advocacy, IPSS is able to support effective, safe and efficient individual, team and system improvements.
The society additionally works to promote innovation for implementation and dissemination of pediatric simulation networks. Throughout these networks, and with a unique focus on pediatric and perinatal healthcare, IPSS is able to complement and enhance the efforts of other organizations. This has led the society to be able to champion solutions for resource-limited environments.
Global Initiatives
As a core element of the IPSS’s functions, the society is involved in various projects around the world. For example, the International Pediatric Simulation Society and participating members are actively involved in developing pediatric simulation in many regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and India. As the society grows, so too does the group’s involvement in growing national simulation programs in emerging regions.
One initiative that IPSS engages with is the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) course. This course is designed to familiarize health workers with the ETAT guidelines and to provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills for applying the guidelines. The course teaches health workers how to triage all sick children when they arrive at a health facility, into those with emergency signs, with priority signs or non-urgent cases.
The purpose of this course is also to explain how professionals should go about providing emergency treatment for life-threatening conditions. These practices are essential because, according to the WHO, deaths in hospitals often occur within 24 hours of admission. Many of these deaths could be prevented if very sick children are identified soon after their arrival in the health facility, and treatment is started immediately.
Another initiative that the IPSS works closely with is the Malawi Ministry of Health, a government body established to achieve a state of health for all the people of Malawi that would enable them to lead a quality and productive life. The goal of this initiative is to raise the level of health status of all Malawians by reducing the incidence of illness and occurrence of death in the population. The belief is that this will be done through the development of a sound delivery system capable of promoting health, preventing, reducing and curing disease, protecting life and fostering general well being and increased productivity.
Thirdly, IPSS works with Pediatric Simulation Training and Research Society of India (PediSTARS) to push forward simulation-based interventions in pediatric healthcare across India. Founded in August 2013, PediSTARS implemented an agenda of promoting the use of simulation by conducting various conferences in different parts of the country in addition to hosting various key stakeholder meetings.
PediSTARS conducts annual conferences inviting various international and national simulation expert attendees in both medical and non-medical fields as well. At these conferences, PediSTARTS conducts simulation based workshops to promote the use of simulation across a variety of workplaces and as a training tool.
Symposia and Workshops
Each year, the IPSS holds an annual meeting, the International Pediatric Simulation Symposia and Workshops (IPSSW). Considered to be one of the world’s largest meetings dedicated exclusively to pediatric and perinatal simulation, the society is able to bring together clinical care leaders in the field of pediatric care experts to support and facilitate the improvement of pediatric healthcare through simulation. Attendees included all pediatric subspecialties working in medical simulation, from novice to expert-level physicians, nurses, allied health care specialists, simulation experts and researchers, technicians and administrators.
The meeting typically spans the course of three days and features over 500 keynote and plenary session speakers. During these sessions, in-depth discussions on the role of healthcare simulation are coordinated express ways to provide safe and effective care to sick children and infants, and to convey the continued evolution and expansion of pediatric simulation across the globe.
IPSSW provides attending participants with the opportunity to expand ideas, broaden horizons and promote excellence in education and investigative research. The conference also provides networking and knowledge exchanges, hands-on workshops, roundtable sessions, special interest groups and poster presentations.
Now in the 12th year of organization, the 2020 IPSSW will take place from Sunday, April 26 to Wednesday, April 29 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Attendees will be extended the opportunity to Experience hands-on and immersive simulations at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Center for Medical Simulation and Innovative Education during pre-conference and afternoon workshops. They will also be able to learn from the experts and see the highest quality simulators in the market.
IPSS will provide multiple opportunities to increase an organization’s visibility and gain attendee awareness through sponsorship and exhibiting. Those interested can review the options to select the level of exposure and target audience that is right for their organization.
