May 6, 2020By Lance Baily

Latest & Most Helpful Healthcare Simulation Training Tools for COVID-19

Healthcare Simulation has never been needed as much as during the global COVID-19 pandemic, and our community and industry has been answering the call. Over the past six weeks HealthySimulation.com has scoured the internet, looking for the latest clinical simulation tools to combat the Coronavirus. Unfortunately as every 2020 healthcare simulation conference from March through August has been either cancelled, postponed, or transitioned to an online event, the need for online resources to network, engage, and learn from the global community couldn’t be more important right now. Here then, is some of the newest medical simulation resources we have found, as well as a brief recap of some of the most helpful tools clinical educators can grab now to support education, training, and patient safety outcomes during COVID-19.

Latest Tools for COVID-19 Simulation Training

Incorporation of Assessments into Simulations to Develop Communication Skills, Education Management Solutions Webinar: Taking place today May 6th at 2pm EST, this presentation will provide examples of how simulation activities promote communication skill development and how assessment approaches that provide feedback enhance learning experiences. The presentation will also review plans to further enhance these experiences for students. Learn more about SimulationIQ webinars taking place monthly, or watch their previously recorded ones too!


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Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence COVID-19 Simulation Resource Center: The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence is dedicated to supporting the nursing workforce in Colorado (and beyond). During these extraordinary times, they want you to have easy access to the latest news, information about the impact on the nursing workforce, inspiring stories and more. Lots of additional simulation specific resources here!

SIPPS: Simulation to Improve Infection Prevention and Patient Safety Powerpoint Presentations: Review the knowledge and skills needed to protect oneself and others from COVID- 19 using PPE, from Columbia School of Nursing and Hackensack Meridian Health.

New CAE Healthcare COVID-19 Resources: In response to the current global pandemic of a 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the potential for increased global spread, CAE Healthcare helping with Ventilation Re-skilling Course, Ultrasound Training Suite, Cares Act Grant list, complimentary webinars, simulation scenarios, and outreach toolkit to assist educators. These items have been authored by the CAE Healthcare Academy and CAE Healthcare’s Chief Medical Officer.

Free Downloadable COVID-19 Geriatric Female Patient Case Scenario From Echo Healthcare: In response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Echo Healthcare has created a free downloadable scenario which works with iSimulate’s Realiti and Lifecast Body Simulation’s Vivien manikin, both learning tools distributed by the company. The free patient case scenario is designed to assess the critical thinking skills of the care provider, providing them with decision-making opportunities via the care of the elderly female patient.


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New COVID-19 Simulation Scenarios From EM SIM CASES: EM SIM CASES, which provides peer-reviewed simulation cases for Emergency Medicine programs available in FOAMed spirit, has been consistently creating and sharing COVID-19 medical simulation scenarios from the global community. Here are all the COVID-19 Simulation Scenarios from the group.

Downeast Emergency Medicine’s COVID-19 Training Videos: This group is committed to providing high quality education to improve the care of the emergency patient in Maine, northern New England and beyond.

Simulab Supports Clinical Educators During COVID-19:

SimTutor and SIMTICS Infection Prevention Procedures Training for COVID-19: SimTutor and SIMTICS have created a series of free healthcare simulations of infection prevention procedures for you to view, and learn by doing with topics covering hand hygiene and PPE.

Additional New Resources for Clinical Educators:

Some More of the Most Helpful Healthcare Simulation Training Tools for COVID-19

Here is a handful of some of the best resources we have seen for simulation in healthcare champions who are training the frontlines against the Coronavirus:

COVID-19 Contingency Planning from Education Management Solutions: Schools are in the process of preparing for short and long-term closures—and addressing the urgent need for remote education learning plans. Colleges and universities across the world have announced immediate closures or are enacting emergency contingencies which allow their student populations to complete the semester remotely. This has left administrators and educators scrambling for tools to help them seamlessly make the switch to live online or video-based learning. As a committed partner in the clinical training and education space, EMS is proud to provide ongoing support, live trainings, and practice seminars throughout the duration of the outbreak. Also, be sure to check out their Education Management Solutions (EMS) Innovation in Technology (iTEC) Education Grant Program.

INACSL’s COVID-19 and Virtual Learning Resource List: The International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning launched its own dedicated resource page this week to help those using nursing simulation education and training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lots of great tools here updated frequently!

Overcoming Disruptions to Nursing Education During the COVID-19 Crisis From Healthcare Learning Innovations: Colleges and universities around the world are transitioning to remote learning, and most of them are looking to online learning platforms to keep their students progressing toward the end of the school year. For students in pre-licensure (ADN, 4-year BSN), post-licensure (RN-BSN) and various other nursing programs that require completing clinical hours, this presents a big problem. How can students complete their course requirements when their schools are closed—and even if they are open, how can they do so if the area where they live is requiring everyone to maintain distance from one another?

Free Access to Oxford Medical Simulation Distance Simulation Platform: The OMS virtual simulation platform runs both in immersive virtual reality (using a VR headset) and as a screen-based simulation using the learner’s own PC or laptop (where no VR equipment required). It is, in fact, one platform delivered in two unique ways. Scenarios are just as dynamic and interactive whether in VR or on screen. Where VR offers immersion, on screen access provides immediate scale and simplicity during social distancing. There is then the ability to switch to fully immersive VR as required. OMS has hundreds of cases across medicine and nursing, dynamic scenarios, fully-automated feedback and debriefing tools, embedded blended learning resources and simple methods of integrating with curriculum requirements. All of this is now being offered for free, with no ongoing commitment, until May 31, 2020.

Simulation Canada Coronavirus Resource Page, Scenario & Webinar: With their webinar planned for April 3, hear from Canadian simulation leaders on how they are using simulations to test and improve their hospital’s readiness and lessons learned, and take this back to your own hospital. Hospitals and students need to be prepared to face the virus, protect themselves, and prepare for potentially huge surges in ICU and ventilation requirements. Many simulationists are working on strategies and scenarios to prepare and test systems and educate providers and students.

COVID-19 Crisis Course for Educators: Rapid Transition to Online Learning From AALAS: Thanks to the Academy of Active Learning Arts and Sciences, you can now immediately gain access to the emergency course “Rapid Transition to Online Learning” to mutate your educational plans due to the Coronavirus. Rapid Transition to Online Learning (RTOL) is a free emergency roadmap for making a rapid transition to remote learning during forced school closures. This quick-start guide will walk you through a simplified step-by-step process to maintain your continuity of teaching and learning in a crisis.

UbiSim’s New Virtual Simulation Recorder Built to Support Nursing Learners From Home During COVID-19: With UbiSim, nursing educators can immerse their students around lifelike patients and maximize their engagement while they develop clinical reasoning, decision making and communication skills. Using UbiSim’s pre-built clinical scenarios or customize them to fit your unique healthcare educator needs. And now, with their just launched ‘Virtual Simulation Recorder’ solution, clinical faculty can easily start a clinical simulation using virtual reality, record the entire session in a video and share it with nursing students through the platform of your choice. You only need a laptop and a virtual reality headset to start the nursing simulation. And learners can do it from anywhere – especially from home!

Ramp Up Staff During COVID-19 with ACLS Desktop Simulation Training, and $15M Surge Grant from Health Scholars: The challenge for Surge Providers will be quickly acquiring or re-acquiring key clinical skills related to emergency situations that require immediate action – such as encountering an unstable dysrhythmia or a code event.



During this time of unprecedented need Health Scholars are offering $1M in grant funding for surge provider training to help combat COVID-19. This grant will provide up to 14,000 providers screen based ACLS simulation training to assist health systems with preparedness training. It will enable hospitals to quickly deploy training to surge providers—providing the real-to-life reference experience needed to handle inpatient emergencies while on the frontlines of this pandemic.

Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education COVID-19 Clinician CE Resources: This ACCME dedicated page includes a list of accredited continuing education (CE) activities and additional resources that can help the CE provider and clinician community respond to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency. They encourage accredited providers to circulate this link to their CE learners and community.

Intelligent Ultrasound BodyWorks PoCUS Training Simulator COVID-19 Lung Module: In order to contribute to the fight against the global pandemic, we have developed a COVID-19 lung ultrasound module to help frontline clinical staff to practice and train in the use of lung ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in the identification and monitoring of respiratory related COVID-19 disease. The module includes four new cases for live scanning on the ultra realistic Eve manikin: increased B-lines and thickened irregular pleura, small bilateral consolidation, large consolidation in the right lung, and new improved normal lung example. In the video below, John Shields, professor at Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia has graciously produced a training video on lung ultrasound for those front line clinicians fighting the COVID-19 virus. Using the BodyWorks-EVE ultrasound simulation platform with the specific COVID-19 Lung training module, this video provides a base for understanding how lung ultrasound can be used as a front line tool to access patients at the earliest stage.

Simbionix (3D Systems) Offers Free Access to MentorLearn Cloud Platform with Ultrasound COVID-19 Module Coming Shortly: As institutions migrate to a remote learning approach, 3D Systems vowed to support medical educators so that they could continue to provide a quality educational experience. During the pandemic, videos, curricula, and other materials for self-study and remote learning are available free of charge for three months. Access them here. Specifically regarding COVID-19 education, 3D Systems dropped everything to develop a module to train Simbionix U/S Mentor customers on how to best utilize lung ultrasound. This module is provided at no charge to anyone who has the U/S Mentor. Please contact us here to learn more. Since COVID-19 knowledge is ever-changing, we have gathered the latest clinical recommendations from professional associations. We will continue to share the experience of medical experts for the benefit of caregivers worldwide.

COVID-19 Airway Management Tools From “Life in the Fastlane”: Here Dr. Chris Nickson FANZCA, FHKCA, FHKAM (Anaesthesiology) Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Clinical Simulation Committee, Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists, shared some key research highlights, core requirements and prebriefing, simulation scenario and debriefing rubic guides, along with this absolutely amazing COVID-19 Airway Management infographic from Albert Chan, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong.

For a Comprehensive List of All Known Resources
See Our COVID-19 Healthcare Simulation Page!


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