Virtual Heroes Offers Free Sedation and Airway Management Training

HumanSim: Sedation and Airway, a 3D virtual trainer for administering emergency anesthesia and managing breathing for critically-injured or ill patients, is now available for free from Virtual Heroes to support healthcare workers as they adapt to unprecedented requirements in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

HumanSim: Sedation and Airway is designed to help medicalstaff gain experience and improve quality of care, by coupling an immersivetraining environment with an advanced real-time physiology engine. The onlinesoftware training program allows physicians, nurses, medics and other emergencypersonnel to practice Rapid Sequence Induction (RSI) and Moderate Sedation,techniques for quickly sedating and intubating patients.

Many patients who become critically ill with COVID-19require airway management in response to acute respiratory distress syndrome, acondition in which fluid collects in the lungs' air sacs and deprives thebody's organs of oxygen. Those who develop acute respiratory distress syndromeoften require intubation and support from a ventilator.

The virtual human technology software simulates realpatients, enabling users to sharpen their assessment and decision-making skillsthrough observation of the physiological effects of their actions. Trainees arechallenged by 10 separate scenarios that cover a wide variety of patients.Workers can replay the scenarios in normal and expert modes as well as select arandom scenario challenge. Reference documentation for all procedures is alsoavailable for download.

"Healthcare workers are on the front lines of thebattle with the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. This immersive trainingenvironment offers valuable skills such as intubation – experience with aprocedure healthcare workers might need for the first time in real-worldCovid-19 scenarios," said Randy Brown, vice president of Applied ResearchAssociates, Inc. (ARA) and division manager of Virtual Heroes. "Our goalis to get this training tool in the hands of as many healthcare workers aspossible to help develop the 'muscle memory' they need to perform thesecritical tasks."

HumanSim: Sedation and Airway was funded by the Army'sTelemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) and developed bythe Virtual Heroes Division of Applied Research Associates, Inc. in conjunctionwith the Duke Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center.

The software was built on the Epic Games Unreal Engine. This educational outreach is being coordinated between ARA, the Serious Play Conference, and the National Center for Simulation, all in Orlando, Florida.