Use of simulated patients in disaster medicine training
Citation: Ingrassia PL, Pigozzi L, Bono M, et al. Use of simulated patients in disaster medicine training: a systematic review. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 2021;15(1):99-104.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Nothing noted.
What is this? Being ready and responsive to health emergencies are key factors for a resilient health system. Simulation is an effective teaching tool, and simulated patients (SPs) are frequently used in disaster medicine education.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for articles reporting the use of SPs in disaster medicine education. They restricted their search to articles published in English, French and Italian between January 2006 and December 2017. They included 9 case reports, 6 randomised controlled trials and 3 prospective observational studies from 5 countries.
What was found: Disaster simulations provide complex scenarios with the involvement of huge resources and good training of actors. They may also be able to judge the skills acquired by the beneficiaries, helping the instructors to evaluate the skills improvement of participants. It could reduce the number of observers during the simulations and decrease the realism in the drill.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that there is a persistent lack of uniformity in the use of SPs in disaster medicine simulations. The use of trained actors can be useful to assess the performance of participants during the final debriefing.
Other considerations: The authors of the review did not discuss their findings in the context of issues relating to health equity.
This summary was prepared by Catherine Haynes, checked by Sneha Bhadti, and finalized by Helen Worthington.