Simulation Product Aims to Improve Anesthetic Emergency Response

CHICAGO — The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and CAE Healthcare announced a collaborative agreement to design and develop an interactive, screen-based simulation product that will allow ASA members and other interested learners to supplement their continuing medical education (CME) and improve their management performance during anesthetic emergencies.

The ASA screen-based simulation product will allow flexible, asynchronous, self-paced, and just-in-time training. Users will interact with simulated patients, surgeons, and equipment within 3-D virtual clinical settings, including the operating room and post-anesthesia care unit, progressing through medical scenarios at their own pace, on their own time, and in a setting of their choosing.

“This new ASA simulation product will give users an opportunity to immerse themselves in a learning environment in the comfort of their own home, using their own computer, where they will be challenged by various medical scenarios to make the right decisions at critical junctures in a medical situation,” said Dr. Adam Levine, chair of the ASA ad hoc committee on screen-based simulation. “The product will use a gaming method where learners can enhance their medical abilities and decision making as well as see how they score among their peers.”

Historical data has shown the need for improved training for management of anesthetic emergencies. The ASA identified that more active learning modalities, like interactive, screen-based simulation, are desirable for CME. In order to advance its mission, ASA selected CAE Healthcare and SimTabs to be its educational partners and deliver the benefits of accessible and engaging simulation-based anesthesia education in a virtual online environment.

The ASA screen-based simulation product will include five medical scenarios with realistic medical diagnostic and monitoring equipment, medical instruments, and virtual patients with varied symptoms and conditions receiving various medications, who will respond to the actions learners take. The product will monitor and record member progress and performance throughout the scenarios. Performance feedback will be made available to individual users at either the completion of the scenario or at critical times during the scenario should that option be selected.

“ASA’s education should be interesting, engaging, and even fun,” said Dr. Beverly Philip, ASA vice president for Scientific Affairs. “This exciting, innovative, screen-based simulation program will allow users to explore high-stakes practice scenarios in a realistic, immersive environment, at their choice of location and time. This will be a fabulous addition to the ASA education products already available, allowing learners to take what they learned and apply it in the screen-based scenario.”

The product will be available for purchase through ASA with a projected launch date of January 2017.