Virtual Reality Triage Training Can Provide Comparable Simulation Efficacy for Paramedicine Students Compared to Live...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Emergency Medicine
• Simulation Technology

Background:

• Mass-casualty incidents (MCIs) present significant challenges for emergency response personnel.
• Traditional training methods like lectures and tabletop exercises lack practical application and immersive learning.
• Large-scale live simulations are resource-intensive, logistically complex, and expensive to replicate.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the simulation efficacy of a virtual reality (VR) mass-casualty incident (MCI) simulation with a live simulation.
• To evaluate student immersion, task difficulty, clinical decision-making, learning satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness.
• To determine if VR training is a viable alternative to traditional live simulations for paramedicine students.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-nine second-year paramedicine students participated in both VR and live MCI simulations.
• Simulations involved ten simulated casualties from a police car chase and shooting scenario.
• Training efficacy was assessed via immersion, task difficulty, triage accuracy and timeliness, satisfaction, and cost.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in mental demand, temporal demand, performance, effort, or frustration between VR and live simulations.
• Participants demonstrated similar accuracy in triage card allocation across both platforms.
• VR simulations were significantly faster for triage card allocation and approximately 13 times more cost-effective than live simulations.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality (VR) simulation offers comparable efficacy to live simulations for mass-casualty incident (MCI) training.
• VR provides a cost-effective and authentic educational resource for paramedicine students.
• VR represents a promising direction for medical professional training in emergency response.