In a revolutionary approach to medical simulation a centre, that uses a bespoke digital video solution to closely monitor medical teams under stress, has been installed at a Munich university. Anna Mitchell explores the unique facility. Simulation in medicine has a tradition that dates back thousands of years,” explains Christian Hinske, a medical doctor and MIT graduate. “Most simulation is used to practice medical procedures but what we’re doing here is very different." Hinske is talking about the Human Simulation Centre at The Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich, Germany. The centre was designed and built to monitor medical teams’ reactions in stressful situations. Marc Lazarovici, medical doctor and an informatics graduate, leads the centre that is situated within the university’s Institute of Emergency Medicine. He explains the centre’s purpose is two-fold. Firstly emergency medicine teams, mostly from Germany, pay to train at the centre. They particularly focus on the stressful handovers that occur as any emergency is dealt with. This could be the transfer of a patient from the scene of an accident to an ambulance or their admittance to the emergency ward in a hospital. The centre is also used for research.The individuals taking part in the simulations are carefully monitored not only for their own development, but in an effort to pinpoint problematic areas that could have an impact on how medical response is carried out. Training is for experienced medical professionals and both Dr Lazarovici and Dr Hinske stress the importance of training teams that usually work together to avoid people “playing roles”. Teams are usually made up of between three and five people. Three teams usually rotate during any one simulation with two watching. Dr Hinske says: “We’re looking at team interfaces and interaction in emergencies. In an emergency you have a tight timescale. Classical simulation focuses on static situations. You’ll have a patient in an operating theatre and you’ll monitor their life signs as you perform a procedure. Source: Inavate
