Using Simulation in Disaster Preparedness
Project Overview
Disasters occur world wide almost on a daily basis. According to the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF), California has a 99.7% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake during the next 30 years. Healthcare providers at hospitals are the front line to receive and treat victims of a disaster. The best way to handle a disaster is to plan, prepare and practice. The overall goal of this project is to develop a curriculum for disaster medicine using various forms of simulation.
This year we are seeking funding to help purchase equipment to make simulations more realistic by training with equipment used in a real disaster. This equipment can be re-used with each group that trains on the simulator and also helps the participants become facile with these tools. While developing this curriculum, the grant we are seeking would facilitate multiple parts of the disaster medicine curriculum.
Stanford currently holds 1-2 disaster drills a year using live actor-patients as victims. Traditionally, the actor-patients are volunteers or students. Their medical knowledge, training and enthusiasm for the drill can vary significantly, resulting in a disparity of represented injuries and effective suspension of disbelief. Simulation is underutilized in disaster medicine and Stanford does not currently have a curriculum utilizing the simulation center for disaster training. Using the simulators to create a disaster drill can create more realistic incidents where health care providers would have to care for multiple injured patients and perform disaster specific procedures with real-time stressors under limited resources.
Ultimately, large scale disaster scenarios could be developed for the disaster curriculum. Some would utilize the computerized mannequins as well as live-actors in the drill, while others may just use virtual reality. Learning to handle the aftermaths of an earthquake is one of the most pressing disasters Stanford will be faced with. A drill that teaches health care providers how to coordinate a mass casualty event, prioritize limited resources and treat earthquake specific injuries with the equipment they will have in a disaster, will better prepare Stanford hospital for the next major earthquake. An example of a simulated earthquake disaster could include victims with crush, blast, burn and inhalational injuries. These injuries are not commonly encountered in health care professionals’ daily practice and need to be taught and practiced prior to treating real patients. We currently do not run such a drill and do not have all the equipment to practice the necessary procedures to treat these injuries. The scenarios can also be expanded to include other natural and man-made disasters, such as a gas explosion from terrorist attacks.
Project Team
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