A Simulation-based Randomized Controlled Study of Factors Influencing Chest Compression Depth.

Introduction: Current resuscitation guidelines emphasize a systems approach with a strong emphasis on quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Despite the American Heart Association (AHA) emphasis on quality CPR for over 10 years, resuscitation teams do not consistently meet recommended CPR standards. The objective is to assess the impact on chest compression depth of factors including bed height, step stool utilization, position of the rescuer's arms and shoulders relative to the point of chest compression, and rescuer characteristics including height, weight, and gender.

Effect of a backboard on compression depth during cardiac arrest in the ED: a simulation study.

Research Purpose: We evaluated the impact of a backboard on chest compression depth during cardiac arrest practice sessions conducted using a high-fidelity mannequin on a standard emergency department stretcher.

Methods: Forty-three health care trainees completed cardiac resuscitation simulations requiring 2 minutes of uninterrupted chest compressions. Twenty-one were randomly allocated to the intervention group in which a backboard was concealed by placement between the stretcher mattress and a top sheet and, 22 were allocated to the control group in which no backboard was placed.

Gearing up for milestones in surgery: Will simulation play a role?

Background: The Consortium of American College of Surgeons-Accredited Education Institutes was created to promote patient safety through the use of simulation, develop new education and technologies, identify best practices, and encourage research and collaboration.

Methods: During the 7th Annual Meeting of the Consortium, leaders from a variety of specialties discussed how simulation is playing a role in the assessment of resident performance within the context of the Milestones of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education as part of the Next Accreditation System.

Conclusion: This report presents experiences from several viewpoints and supports the utility of simulation for this purpose.

Simulation in medical student education: survey of clerkship directors in emergency medicine.

Introduction: The objective of this study is to identify (1) the current role of simulation in medical student emergency medicine (EM) education; (2) the challenges to initiating and sustaining simulation-based programs; and (3) educational advances to meet these challenges.

Methods: We solicited members of the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM) e-mail list to complete a Web-based survey addressing the use of simulation in both EM clerkships and preclinical EM curricula. Survey elements addressed the nature of the undergraduate EM clerkship and utilization of simulation, types of technology, and barriers to increased use in each setting.

Simulation in emergency medicine training.

Simulation provides a range of educational tools that have increasingly been incorporated into emergency medicine (EM) curricula. Standardized patients and some partial task trainers, such as intubation heads, have been used for decades. More recently, a growing number of computer-screen simulations, high-fidelity mannequins, and virtual-reality simulators have expanded the number of procedures and conditions, which can be effectively simulated.

Improved fourth-year medical student clinical decision-making performance as a resuscitation team leader after a simulation-based curriculum.

Objective: To determine the impact of simulation-based instruction on student performance in the role of emergency department resuscitation team leader.

Methods: A randomized, single-blinded, controlled study using an intention to treat analysis. Eighty-three fourth-year medical students enrolled in an emergency medicine clerkship were randomly allocated to two groups differing only by instructional format.

Improved medical student satisfaction and test performance with a simulation-based emergency medicine curriculum: a randomized controlled trial.

Study Objective: We determine the effect of a simulation-based curriculum on fourth-year medical student test performance and satisfaction during an emergency medicine clerkship.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled study using a crossover design for curriculum format and an anonymous end-of-rotation satisfaction survey. Students were randomized into 2 groups.

Medical malpractice: utilization of layered simulation for resident education.

Objectives: The authors present a novel approach to the use of simulation in medical education with a two-event layered simulation. A patient care simulation with an adverse outcome was followed by a simulated deposition.

Methods: Senior residents in an academic emergency medicine (EM) program were solicited as simulation research volunteers.

Ability of regional hospitals to meet projected avian flu pandemic surge capacity requirements.

Introduction: Hospital surge capacity is a crucial part of community disaster preparedness planning, which focuses on the requirements for additional beds, equipment, personnel, and special capabilities. The scope and urgency of these requirements must be balanced with a practical approach addressing cost and space concerns. Renewed concerns for infectious disease threats, particularly from a potential avian flu pandemic perspective, have emphasized the need to be prepared for a prolonged surge that could last six to eight weeks.