Using simulation to enhance safety, quality and education

The practice of simulation continues to grow nationally and globally as one aspect of education among a wide variety of health and social care providers, and paramedics are no exception.

Simulation is a teaching tool that allows healthcare workers to offer risk free, safe and effective care, as well as enabling organizations to improve their systems of care and reduce costs. Modelling and simulation has the potential to decrease healthcare error and cost as a result.

There are several variations of simulation and the use of a computer to model real world situations is but one. Simulation can be time-based and considers all the resources and constraints involved, including the way these things interact with each other as time passes.

The interaction also includes the way paramedics interact in the simulation with others. Potentially, with commitment and understanding of simulation, real life actions and omissions can be built into the simulation. Replication can match reality and proficient and competent managers can make changes to the simulation, providing examples of exactly how the system would behave in a real life situation. Importantly, Guba (2004) notes that simulation is a technique, and not a technology—it is used to replace or develop real experiences with guided experiences that encourage or reproduce significant elements of the real world in a fully interactive manner.