On-site and distance education of emergency medicine personnel with a human patient simulator.

BACKGROUND: Infrequent use of emergency medical skills eventually leads to skill degradation. Even during residency training, certain skills may be infrequently encountered. The use of human patient simulators (HPS) is one means by which these skills may be practiced with sufficient numbers to learn and maintain emergency skills.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and feasibility of training isolated emergency medical personnel with a HPS.

DESIGN/METHODS: A sophisticated HPS was placed at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Hospital, Puerto Rico. A convenience sample of emergency naval personnel enrolled in a training program consisting of five HPS-based scenarios. Both on-site (instructor in the room) and off-site (instructor in the United States) training was provided. A pre/post-test design was used to assess the efficacy of HPS training using a survey with a Likert scale measuring participant-perceived preparedness, self-efficacy, and perceptions of HPS training.

RESULTS: Eighteen emergency medical personnel participated in the educational program. Eight were physicians, and the remainder were emergency medical technicians and U.S. Navy medical corpsmen. Perceived preparedness and self-efficacy improved overall and for each individual scenario. Participants rated the training highly and felt that it was better than conventional noninteractive mannequins. Off-site training was found to be feasible despite the low-bandwidth services available: Internet (56 K) and telephone service. Participants readily accepted off-site training.

CONCLUSIONS: HPS education improves perceived preparedness and self-efficacy in U.S. Navy emergency medical personnel. This type of training may be an important adjunct for emergency medical providers who infrequently have the opportunity to apply learned emergency medical care skills. The use of HPS with distant interactive education capability allows isolated medical personnel the opportunity to practice skills unconstrained by time or distance.