TEACHING
PAEDIATRIC AND NEONATAL RETRIEVAL SKILLS WITH SIMULATORS: COURSE
DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS
Scott E 1, Lennon R2, Morris R1,
Watterson L1, Wulf S1, Webber C3
1
Sydney Medical Simulation Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney,
Australia
2 Royal
North Shore and Manly Hospitals, Sydney, Australia
3 N.E.T.S.
N.S.W. Australia
Objective: Transporting
the critically sick child or neonate by helicopter, fixed wing aircraft or
road is a challenge to emergency retrieval personnel. In Sydney, regionalised
tertiary centres provide specialised care for specific illnesses and
specific age groups. Often, it is imperative to transport a sick child or
neonate to one of these centres where specialised medical and nursing care
plus technical and diagnostic facilities are provided. The need for rapid
transport to these facilities has resulted in a well developed service
N.E.T.S. (N.S.W. newborn and paediatric emergency transport service). Each team consists of medical
and nursing staff trained in retrieval medicine. Our objective for this
program is to provide hands on training for paediatric and neonatal
retrieval staff using realistic case scenarios.
Method:
The concept of simulation
based training has long been recognised in the aviation world. The Sydney
Medical Simulation Centre was opened in 1997 and equipped with a full
patient simulator. Our anaesthetic colleagues have established courses in
specialty areas with a focus on crisis resource management including
anaesthetic Crisis Resource Management (A.C.R.M), Intensive Care, and
Emergency Medicine. This crisis resource management technique utilising
simulation technology has contributed to the success of a recently
developed “in house” paediatric resuscitation course P.E.T.A.L.S.
(Paediatric Emergency Training in Advanced Life Support). Following this we
have since identified the possibility of developing a tailor made
curriculum for training the staff of the N.S.W. based Paediatric and
Neonatal retrieval teams. For this purpose the Laerdal megacode kid and ALS
baby have been modified and used as an adjunct to the adult system. The pilot program for this course consists of an
eight-hour day with a total of four sessions (two neonatal and two
paediatric scenarios) in the simulated environment of a referring hospital.
Debriefing utilising video play back follows each session. There is a focus
on teamwork, communication, and how to deal with emergencies effectively.
Results:
The result of this
simulation-based training program enhances the educational devices required
to meet the needs of Paediatric and Neonatal retrieval teams. It is our
belief with further development and critical appraisal from both the
faculty and participants retrieval staff will be more prepared for the
unexpected and scary circumstances unique to the retrieval environment.
Conclusion:
Details of this course,
evaluation and data will be discussed in the presentation.