Child and Adolescent Mass Casualty Simulations Filmed in 360- Healthcare Practitioners Working Together.

Abstract

Objective: To provide realistic scenarios, experienced in real time and filmed using 360-degree videos, so that students feel more confident when qualifying.   Methods: First and third year paramedic students took part in mass casualty scenarios filmed at our student's union building. They worked with Critical Care Practitioners, Academics, and the National Ambulance Resilience Unit to create handover videos involving assessing casualties and providing handovers to other health care practitioners. Follow up 360 videos were created involving mental health and children’s nursing students assessing the casualties and making clinical decisions. Students could view the 360 videos using virtual reality headsets (Googlecardboard and Oculus Quest). Data was collected via online survey and focus group discussions (FGDs) and was thematically analysed (Braun and Clarke 2006). Ethical Clearance was obtained from our University committee. Results: Thirty-two students completed the survey, and eight students took part in FGDs. Eighty percent of participants thought that the learning resources will be either quite or extremely useful for student’s learning. One student commented that “it will make assessment of mental health patients a lot easier for students.” Another viewed the experience as “very useful, realistic and beneficial… It brought a lot of clarity to the previous weeks learning”. Finally, one student suggested that the video learning resources could be used as “an interacting activity followed by a discussion during the lecture…. The lecturer will be able to pause a video and focus on a selected episode of nursing care.”   Conclusions: ​Students found the simulations useful as a compliment to traditional learning approaches. These videos as an additional resource widens student access to these vital learning experiences usually limited by staffing and equipment/room capacity limitations. This research project brought together academics and practitioners from across the hospital and university. Future work should build on this collaborative approach to produce teaching aids and experiences, in particular providing opportunities for students to communicate with and help to deescalate patients experiencing mental health episodes.