Pandemic-Proofing Simulation-based Education

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: COVID 19

Treatments: Other: Traditional Theatre-based simulation; Device: VR Headset

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05931679

20210197-01H

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal is to develop and evaluate two VR simulations (interactive VR, 3600 video) applied to the context of Emergency Medicine. The aim of this pilot study is to develop two VR simulations, and to compare their effectiveness with traditional theatre-based simulations.

Primary Objectives: to compare knowledge retention and application of knowledge during emergency crisis scenarios following VR-360, interactive VR and theatre-based simulation sessions.

Secondary Objectives: to assess the usability and feasibility (resources), as well as the emotional engagement, of the above three modalities.

Full description

Phase 1: Creation of Content: A software engineer with expertise in video-game development will be hired to develop the computer-generated emergency department in collaboration with the educators and clinicians on the team. A theatre-based trauma scenario from the current uOttawa Emergency Department curriculum will be adapted to the VR platform. This virtual environment will allow a team of students to manage a patient simultaneously through their avatars, from a first-person perspective. In parallel, the same scenario will be scripted, in all its permutations, and recorded using a 360-degree HD video camera. The recording will be made using the investigators as actors, with additional interprofessional volunteers recruited as needed. These videos will be edited and then converted to an application that can be uploaded to the Oculus platform. Both platforms will undergo piloting for content and usability. The amount of time, money and other resources required to develop each of these scenarios will be calculated.

Phase 2: Evaluating the intervention:

Pre-test: Prior to participating in one of the 3 educational interventions, participants will complete a pre-test of their content-specific knowledge and knowledge application with respect to trauma resuscitation. As well, they will participate in a video-recorded in-situ simulation of a trauma resuscitation. Team performance will be recorded for subsequent scoring (see measures and analysis section below). During the in-situ sessions, the investigators will measure the learners' heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) with the use of a Polar H10 chest belt linked with a commercial capture and analysis software program on an iPad. This will allow us to measure both arousal and stress responses, as physiological indication of the learners' emotional engagement.

Intervention: Following the pre-test, residents will either participate in the interactive VR, the 360o video or the in-person theatre-based simulation sessions.

Post-test. Two weeks after the education session, all participants will complete a post-test of their knowledge and knowledge application (matched in difficulty with pre-test), as well as lead an in-situ simulated trauma resuscitation. The sessions will be videotaped for subsequent rating of clinical and team performance.

Enrollment: 45 estimated patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Participants will be residents or medical students

Exclusion criteria

Anyone who is not a resident or medical student

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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45 participants in 3 patient groups

Interactive VR

Active Comparator group

Description:

a virtual classroom - learners wearing VR headsets in the safety of their home are immersed in a computer-generated simulation centre. Through their avatars, they can interact from a first-person perspective with their environment, colleagues and instructors. The virtual patient has been in a car accident and the learners, by interacting with the virtual trauma bay environment, must work together to perform a primary trauma survey and resuscitate the patient. The interactive VR environment provides the team with real time information (e.g. oxygen saturation levels, heart rate) in a realistic environment that includes the uncertainty, noise, and time pressures of a real case.

Treatment:

Device: VR Headset

360 degree video

Active Comparator group

Description:

An immersive environment based on high-definition 360o video obtained from our simulation centre. Single learners, wearing a VR headset, find themselves in the resuscitation room, at the foot of the bed, leading a trauma team through the assessment and resuscitation of a patient in a virtual choose-your-own-adventure scenario. At several key points in the videos, learners are presented with interactive decision points, and their choices determine how the rest of the video unfolds.

Treatment:

Device: VR Headset

Theatre-based education

Active Comparator group

Description:

Traditional theatre-based simulation sessions require the physical presence of interdisciplinary groups of learners caring for a physical mannequin-based patient, where social distancing is challenging.

Treatment:

Other: Traditional Theatre-based simulation