Simulation in cardiac critical care

Medical simulation is a broad topic but at its core is defined as any effort to realistically reproduce a clinical procedure, team, or situation. Its goal is to allow risk-free practice-until-perfect, and in doing so, augment performance, efficiency, and safety. In medicine, even complex clinical situations can be dissected into reproducible parts that may be repeated and mastered, and these iterative improvements can add up to major gains. With our modern cardiac intensive care units treating a growing number of medically complex patients, the need for well-trained personnel, streamlined care pathways, and quality teamwork is imperative for improved patient outcomes. Simulation is therefore a potentially life-saving tool relevant to anyone working in cardiac intensive care. Accordingly, we believe that simulation is a priority for cardiac intensive care, not just a luxury. We offer the following primer on simulation in the cardiac intensive care environment.