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| Residents practicing in the Simulator Suite |
Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School have very active, state-of-the-art, high-fidelity simulator programs. Children's Simulator Suite is an exact reproduction of an intensive care unit bed space. The suite is outfitted with gas outlets, medical equipment, and both pediatric and infant patient simulators. Adjacent to the simulated patient room is a video control room linked to a conference room through closed circuit cameras for video-based debriefing sessions. An example of residents being trained in the suite is shown here. Additionally, the Program to Enhance Relational and Communication Skills (PERCS) has been developed to train critical care clinicians in communication skills by simulating difficult end-of-life discussions with standardized actors who play the roles of patients and parents. The simulator suite is used on a regular basis during the ICU rotation. There are weekly mock codes with the residents, fellows, nurses, and respiratory therapists. In addition, there are frequent procedure sessions led by the ICU fellows to practice procedures such as intubation, central line placement, and chest tube placement. There are also mock codes on a regular basis during all three years of residency. They are scheduled as part of all of the inpatient rotations as well as during intern, junior, and senior rounds. The focus during intern year is on basics of resuscitation such as bag-mask ventilation, effective chest compressions, and PALS algorithms. The focus moves on to how to lead a resuscitation team as residents progress to their junior and senior years. In addition to the simulation curriculum at Childrens, BMC also has regularly scheduled mock codes in the ER, ward, NICU, and PICU.
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