Determining the educational impact of virtual patients on trauma team training during a multinational, large-scale civil military simulation exercise

BACKGROUND: With asymmetrical conflicts ongoing, many countries have an increasing number of major trauma events but limited capacity to cope with these events. Training for such events comprises primarily of simulations requiring significant resources and that are time-consuming and expensive. Virtual patients are defined as computer-based programs presenting authentic cases support training in trauma management. HYPOTHESIS: Assisted learning technologies augment simulated trauma team training and can improve trauma team competencies. The aim was to investigate if virtual patients increased competencies in decision making required and to identify deficiencies in care for the management of trauma patients during a multinational civil military trauma exercise. METHODS: A prospective educational intervention study with mixed methods, measuring the effects of a novel virtual patient model on trauma teams, was performed. The population consisted of surgeons, anesthesiologists, emergency department physicians, nurses, and paramedics (n = 30) and constituted six trauma teams from eight countries; three trauma teams formed the participating group, and three were allocated as control group. The participating group was exposed to virtual patients before, during, and after the live simulation exercise. Data sources were derived from individual preassessments and postassessments, evaluations made by experts in trauma, and video recordings of performance during the live simulation exercise and analyzed by the thematic analysis method. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrated advantages using virtual patients during a major civil military trauma live simulation exercise and appear to be supportive especially for teams who are not as experienced. (J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2023;95: S99-S105. Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.) LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic/Care Management; Level IV.