526 - Pediatric Hypothermic Drowning: A Telesimulation for United States Wilderness Search and Rescue Teams
Sunday, April 30, 2023
3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
Poster Number: 526 Publication Number: 526.327
Erica L. Iafelice, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; Amy L. Drendel, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; Kelly Bailey, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital & Health Center, Tacoma, WA, United States; Rachel Whitney, Mount Sinai Hospital, Richmond, VA, United States; Jean Pearce, Medical College of Wisconsin, Delafield, WI, United States
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Background: Search and Rescue (SAR) teams medically manage individuals injured in the United States (US) wilderness. Training for these teams typically focuses on adults, though they care for many children. The unique needs of children require pediatric training. To increase pediatric training, a novel 1-hour virtual telesimulation for a pediatric hypothermic drowning victim was developed. Objective: The objective included a pre-posttest design to assess knowledge gained. It was hypothesized that after completion of this novel telesimulation, there would be an increase in the medical knowledge of SAR members on how to care for a pediatric hypothermic drowning victim and that participants would want more training sessions. Design/Methods: The novel telesimulation session content was created by two wilderness medicine experts, six pediatric emergency medicine experts, and one medical education content expert. Sessions included a demographics questionnaire, a pretest to assess baseline knowledge, a 1-hour virtual telesimulation with video contenton a pediatric hypothermic drowning victim, a posttest to assess for knowledge gained, and an evaluation on the session. The knowledge assessment consisted of six multiple choice questions. REDCap ® (Research Electronic Data Capture) was utilized for collecting data and allowed for participant anonymity. Descriptive statistics and McNemar's test were performed to assess statistically significant changes. Results: Participants included twenty SAR members that provide care to six continental US states.Most participants were male (80%), had wilderness EMT training (40%), and have been working in SAR for 5-10 years (45%). The pretest showed a mean correct of 50%. The posttest correct was 85%, with a difference of 35% (p < 0.01). Overall, 89% of participants stated they would recommend this telesimulation to others and that more telesimulation training would be valuable to them.Comments from participants included but were not limited to; “remarkably effective” and “quick, easy, and beneficial training.”
Conclusion(s): This novel telesimulation, with pre-posttest design, increased the knowledge of participants about pediatric hypothermic drowning, indicating that it is an effective means of delivering educational content for this learner group. This telesimulation served as an educational tool that removed travel costs and distance as a barrier and allowed for interinstitutional collaboration with content experts that these teams did not previously have access to. It was well liked by many participants who indicated more telesimulation training would be valuable to them.
