Ten (+1) lessons from conducting a mass casualty in situ simulation exercise in a Canadian academic hospital setting

Providing care in a twenty-first century urban emergency department (ED) and trauma center is a complex high-pressure practice environment. The pressure is intensified during patient surge scenarios commonly seen during mass casualty incidents, such that response must be practiced regularly. Beyond clinical mastery of individual patient trauma care, a coordinated system-level response is essential to optimize patient care during these relatively infrequent events. This paper highlights the need to perform exercises in hospitals while providing practical advice on how to utilize in situ simulation for mass casualty testing. Eleven lessons are presented to assist other emergency management professionals, hospital administrators, or clinical staff to achieve success with in situ simulation. Based upon our experience designing and executing an in situ mass casualty simulation within an ED, we offer lessons applicable to any type of disaster exercise. Simulation offers a powerful tool for the conduct of disaster preparedness exercises for staff across multiple hospital departments and professions.

Simulation-based training programme and preparedness testing for COVID-19 using system integration methodology

BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic is presenting serious challenges to the world’s healthcare systems. The high communicability of the COVID-19 necessitates robust medical preparedness and vigilance.ObjectiveTo report on the simulation-based training and test preparedness activities to prepare healthcare workers (HCWs) for effective and safe handling of patients with COVID-19.MethodologyTwo activities were conducted: simulation-based training to all HCWs and a full-scale unannounced simulation-based disaster exercise at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC). The online module was designed to enhance the knowledge on COVID-19. This module was available to all KFMC staff. The five hands-on practical part of the course was available to frontliner HCWs. The unannounced undercover simulated patients’ full-scale COVID-19 simulation-based disaster exercise took place in the emergency department over 3 hours. Six scenarios were executed to test the existing plan in providing care of suspected COVID-19 cases.Results2620 HCWs took the online module, 17 courses were conducted and 337 frontliner HCWs were trained. 94% of learners were satisfied and recommended the activity to others. The overall compliance rate of the full-scale COVID-19 disaster drill with infection control guidelines was 90%. Post-drill debriefing sessions recommended reinforcing PPE training, ensuring availability of different sizes of PPEs and developing an algorithm to transfer patients to designated quarantine areas.ConclusionSimulation-based training and preparedness testing activities are vital in identifying gaps to apply corrective actions immediately. In the presence of a highly hazardous contagious disease like COVID-19, such exercises are a necessity to any healthcare institution.

UPAYA MEWUJUDKAN KAMPUS SIAGA BENCANA MELALUI PENINGKATAN KESIAPSIAGAAN MAHASISWA KEPERAWATAN DENGAN PENERAPAN METODE TABLETOP DISASTER EXERCISE (TDE)

AbstrakPada saat ini, kesiapsiagaan masyarakat khususnya yang tinggal di kawasan rawan bencana masih tergolong rendah. Dari beberapa hasil studi menyatakan bahwa keadaan tersebut dikarenakan minimnya pendidikan bencana. Kampus dianggap sebagai tempat yang paling potensial untuk memulai pendidikan bencana. Salah satu media untuk mempermudah pendidikan bencana di lingkungan kampus adalah Tabletop Disaster Exercise (TDE). Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisa peningkataan kesiapsiagaan dalam menghadapi bencana melalui penerapan media Tabletop Disaster Exercise (TDE). Metode penelitian yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah pra-experiment dengan menggunakan desain penelitian one grup pre-post test design. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah semua mahasiswa tingkat IV STIKes Hafshawaty Pesantren Zainul Hasan Kabupaten Probolinggo sejumlah 60 responden. Teknik sampling yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah simple random sampling. Jumlah sampel yang akan digunakan disesuaikan dengan kriteria inklusi dan randomisasi adalah sejumlah 52 responden. Hasil yang didapatkan dari penelitian ini adalah terdapat perbedaan skor kesiapsiagaan sebelum dan sesudah diberikan intervensi TDE dengan nilai signifikansi (ρ = 0,000). Kata kunci: Kesiapsiagaan, Metode Tabletop Disaster Exercise (TDE), Kampus Siaga Bencana ABSTRACTToday, community preparedness, especially those living in disaster-prone areas is still relatively low. From the results of several studies stated that the situation was due to the lack of disaster education. Campus is considered as the most potential place to start disaster education. One of the media to facilitate disaster education in the campus environment is Tabletop Disaster Exercise (TDE). The purpose of this study was to analyze the improvement of preparedness in the face of disasters through the application of Tabletop Disaster Exercise (TDE) media. The research method used in this study was pre-experiment using the one group pre-post test design research design. The population in this study were all level IV students of STIKes, Hafshawaty, Pesantren Zainul Hasan, Probolinggo, with 60 respondents. The sampling technique used in this study was simple random sampling. The number of samples that will be used adjusted to the inclusion and randomization criteria were a number of 52 respondents. The results obtained from this study were that there were differences in preparedness scores before and after the TDE intervention was given with a significance value (ρ = 0,000). Keywords: Preparedness, Tabletop Disaster Exercise Method (TDE), Disaster Preparedness Campus