High Impact, Low Tech: A Creative Approach to Healthcare Simulation

So many educators often face limitations, things like time, funding, space, and equipment, and or equipment, I guess.

You've demonstrated very well here that impactful simulation can happen almost anywhere.

What advice would you give to fellow educators who want to innovate but may feel some constraints around these resources?

I think just start low tech because low tech doesn't mean low educational quality, doesn't mean low engagement, low participation, low fun, and low effective learning.

So start low tech.

The simplest simulation would be like a verbal simulation.

You can easily go online.

zoom or go one one-on-one and just no paper no pen just verbally talk out a case and I mean they do this in real life so when we do board certifications of emergency medicine or even family medicine we just have verbal simulations one person's the patient the other person's talking through their mental model or if there's no actor as the patient we can just simulate a case one-on-one Then the next step on top of that would be, okay, grab a piece of paper, do something like draw on DoodleSim, draw out the mannequin, then you want some visuals.

The next step after that, you could use cutouts of papers and magazines and things just on papers to layer them on top of like a bigger poster.

After that would be adding some props.

So you could just find like a stuffed animal sometimes I use and... just props to make her sim.

And then finally, you can use the typical computerized mannequin in the simulation theater.

Two resources that I may suggest if you're looking for somewhere to start just to, without the technology, would be a website called resusmonitor.com.

So that's R-E-S-U-S, so resus, monitor, as in the monitor, .com.

And this is what I use to use like my laptop as a monitor.

It can then hook up onto your cell phone and you can put in some vitals on your cell phone that will be displayed on the monitor.

And it's completely free.

So when you're out and about, just say, hey, let's do a sim, sit down, put up recessmonitor.com and they can actively control live vitals and spit out that monitor.

So that's one tip.

And then the other one is if you're looking to do something as a virtual option, there's virtual recessroom.com that just uses Google Slides and people can manipulate props, graphics, like online live together.

So those are some tips.

aspects, some ideas on how you can, without funding and space and equipment, just to do some low tech things to start off and, and be creative with it.

That's a great, thank you for sharing those resources.

I think the creativity piece sometimes can be tough coming up with some ideas.

But from what you've shared today, I think could get a lot of folks started and taking it in their own direction.