XR continues to redefine how programs and professionals view clinical simulation. Imagine the creation of innovative immersive environments where students and practitioners learn like never before. The tones drop as the on-shift emergency medical services (EMS) crew reaches the ambulance, where dispatch reports a mass casualty incident with multiple victims in progress. Once on scene, the metropolitan streets are smoke-filled, overturned vehicles and a ravaged tent city reveals numerous victims of an apparent explosion. Luckily, the scenario originates from a healthcare extended reality (XR) immersive training without the risks of real-world consequences, such as team scene safety challenges. This HealthySimulation.com article by Jamie Howell, MSN, RN, CHSE, will highlight how XR can be incorporated into curricula to impact healthcare education.
XR Clinical Simulation in Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Training prehospital providers for clinical simulation scenarios in unstable environments with numerous patients with different degrees of injury is not easily conceived or realistically deliverable for education. With the use of XR, the participant enters the virtual world via a headset and controllers. Learners immerse themselves fully into the virtual clinical environment, where they experience the sights, sounds, and intensity of a real emergency. XR is an effective modality that is invaluable for health and public safety professionals. This immersive training is not possible without the myriad of technological advances and healthcare simulationists at the forefront.
An example of the XR platform is Acadicus. Healthcare simulationist professionals trained in the creation of realistic environments can customize simulations from a wide library of digital assets, patient avatars, and emergency equipment. The platform provides numerous backgrounds, patients, and props—known as assets. The assets originate from the development team and reside in a vast library of items that can be uploaded into a lab to craft individualized clinical simulation experiences or enable the capability to edit simulations from the shared library to fit training needs. Acadicus works with the Technical College System in Wisconsin, where Open Educational Resources (OER) remain at the forefront of this tool.
Open Educational Resources for Healthcare Simulation
For the mass casualty clinical simulation, the XR training platform was created in conjunction with EMS educators and published in an educational resource known as Multiple Casualty. Since this resource exists as an OER, that allows other schools, programs, and EMS services to have access to the XR clinical simulation for training and educational purposes. At Western Technical College in LaCrosse, WI, the Paramedic program requested this virtual reality simulation for their students. The healthcare simulationists at the college evaluated the scenario to ensure the XR clinical simulation met program objectives. In the review process, the simulationist adjusted the virtual space to make the clinical simulation more realistic for the environment that their students work in.
The medical simulationists added a couple of patients to the atmosphere so that after students triaged fifteen simulated patients with the help of preloaded triage boards, they encountered two additional patients that were to be completed without the aided assessment. Here, students applied their knowledge and clinical judgment independently to assign these patients to triage categories based on their observations. Their assessment skills enabled them to place the two additional patients into the appropriate triage categories prior to transport.
Throughout the activity, instructors and simulationists noticed that students were fully engaged and used their skills in a physically safe, controlled environment. XR participants can navigate complex clinical scenarios that would be difficult or costly to recreate in real life. XR facilitates secure emergency simulations in unpredictable settings, equipping trainees for unforeseen events. Upon completion, the students debrief the psychological components of mass casualty-type scenarios that reinforce the importance of psychological safety in simulation and practice. The students highlighted how invaluable the experience proved for them and their future practice as paramedics.
XR platforms make significant strides in the health professions education of students and communities with the capabilities to meet the critical needs of programs. XR training platforms and their partners help close inequity gaps so students gain experience with a variety of scenarios that might otherwise be impossible, regardless of location. As XR platforms bridge educational gaps, EMS providers everywhere receive hands-on experience in larger-scale or multi-faceted scenarios—an investment in the health and safety of communities nationwide.
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Benefits of XR Simulation in Healthcare Education
Healthcare costs are consistently on the rise, and traditional healthcare simulations often require substantial investments in equipment, medical devices, and consumable supplies. These costs can strain budgets and limit access to state-of-the-art tools. Selection of XR by programs finds that the cost related to those materials can be significantly reduced due to the virtual nature of the platform.
The items do not need to be purchased or stocked. Students or participants in the environment can manipulate the products and assets virtually. Furthermore, XR empowers programs to introduce high-cost or rare resources that would be inaccessible in traditional high-fidelity healthcare simulation environments. This capability not only enriches the experience but also ensures students are better prepared for the complexities of healthcare.
Students have expressed XR is a beneficial tool for exploring patient conditions that are difficult to replicate in traditional high-fidelity simulation or clinical environments. For example, XR enables learners to observe and differentiate skin color and tone changes associated with conditions like cyanosis. Additionally, health and public safety students can interact with scenarios such as a client experiencing delirium tremens during alcohol withdrawal, complete with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diaphoresis. These immersive opportunities enhance the experience and prepare prehospital students for complex, real-world situations they may not encounter in their clinical rotations.
From the evaluation of mass casualty victims to the ability to recognize nuanced patient conditions, XR empowers students and professionals alike to refine their clinical judgment, technical skills, and performance capabilities in ways that are innovative and inclusive to the needs of the populations that they serve.
