St Mary's Hospital No Dummy When It Comes To Training For Critical Paediatric Care

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 12 Sep 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Advanced infant simulation techniques are now helping teams of junior paediatric doctors and nurses train more effectively to deal with the first hours of critical care for sick babies.

St Mary's Hospital, part of Imperial College NHS Trust in London, has developed a unique mobile infant simulation system which is being used to replicate actual conditions and problems faced by paediatric teams by taking the training out of a conventional simulation centre onto the wards.

"I bring the simulator to places where people actually work, so the situations are immediate and in context," said Dr Claudine De Munter, consultant in paediatric intensive care and programme co-ordinator. Each training exercise lasts about 40 minutes during which the doctors are observed by Dr De Munter as they treat their 'patient' and feedback is given about what they did right and where they might have improved.

"Historically, simulators have been used in the airline industry & we know there are lots of benefits to simulation. If this type of training is compulsory for pilots, then it ought to be so in paediatric medicine, where the first hour of care is critical," Dr De Munter said.

She believes that if the medical team had been asked to write a dissertation about what to do in these circumstances, they would have done it quite easily but the real thing, in testing conditions, can be a different matter. "This is about orienting the problem, quick thinking in delivering the right treatment, working as a team, showing leadership and improving on communication skills in stressful situations," she emphasised.

So while simulation is progressing to paediatrics, it is not yet compulsory, but is proving to be an increasingly important tool for doctors in learning how to manage critically ill children. Dr De Munter is now undertaking an initial study to prove the tangible benefits of the training, aiming to secure a grant to implement a much wider study in the near future. She says, "My team and I hope to push the programme forward, beyond St Mary's Hospital."

The advanced infant simulator, affectionately named Gertrude after the ward clerk who helped set up the original simulation programme, replicates an eight month old baby girl and is used in the training exercises.

Notes

St Mary's is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and is a general hospital that diagnoses and treats a range of adult and paediatric conditions. The Hospital has had a Paediatric Teaching by Simulation Group in place since 2005 and now runs a highly evolved and sophisticated teaching programme for Junior Paediatricians and Paediatric Nurses, in which they must do at least two scenarios each during their stay at St Mary's. Most choose to do more because they find the simulations both testing and helpful.

The paediatric service includes a dedicated children's A&E department and north-west London's paediatric haematology service.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust