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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Disaster Emerg. Med.
Sec. Disaster Medicine
Volume 2 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/femer.2024.1389656
This article is part of the Research Topic Disaster Medicine Education and Simulation View all articles

Virtual Simulation of Mass Casualty Drills: Using Breakout Rooms to Simulate Physical Locations

Provisionally accepted
Amit S. Padaki Amit S. Padaki 1*Joshua R. Rudner Joshua R. Rudner 2Lara L. Phillips Lara L. Phillips 3
  • 1 Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, United States
  • 2 Valley Regional Hospital, Claremont, New Hampshire, United States
  • 3 Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The spread of COVID-19 has posed a significant challenge to educators in the disaster medicine community. While lectures can often be given remotely with little revision, simulations and other workshops can prove more challenging to adapt. Here, we describe our framework for conducting multi-site mass casualty simulations via video conference.The authors of this paper adapted a mass casualty scenario from an in-person format to a virtual format delivered via the video conference software Zoom. Key physical locations of the simulated incident were mapped onto separate video conference breakout rooms. With this geographic framework established, rules were created to govern movement, communication, treatment, and transportation.Results: Three separate virtual MCI drills were conducted. Both students and instructors were able to grasp the new format quickly. Students reported the drills to be informative and engaging, and instructors felt the drills mimicked the real-world experience well. This format had the added benefit of allowing multiple rounds of simulation to occur in rapid succession.Discussion: Using breakout rooms to simulate physical locations can be a simple and intuitive framework for adapting disaster scenarios for remote delivery. We believe other instructors can utilize this framework to increase the availability of their educational content.

    Keywords: Disaster Medicine, Medical Education, Mass casualty incident, Video conference, simulation

    Received: 21 Feb 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Padaki, Rudner and Phillips. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Amit S. Padaki, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.