Dr John Iliff1,2,3,4, Ms Breeanna Spring1,5,6, Mr San Kumaradevan1, Dr David Cosford9, Dr Jenny Vance2, Prof Alice Richardson7, Prof Fergus Gardiner1,7,8
1Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia , 2Emergency Department, Royal Perth Hospital, 3Emergency Department, St John of God’s Hospital, 4School of Medicine, Curtin University, 5Townsville Institute of Health Research and Innovation, Townsville Hospital and Health Service, Queensland Health, 6Molly Wardaguga Institute for First Nations Birth Rights, Faculty of Health, Charles Darwin University, 7Australian National University, 8The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, The University of Western Australia, 9Emergency Department, Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital
Biography:
Biographies to come
Abstract:
Background
Emergency preparedness training in healthcare improves patient outcomes. For critically unwell patients outside the hospital setting, aeromedical helicopter hospital landings expedite emergency healthcare access. However, little is known of interagency staff experiences during this multifaceted healthcare provision.
Purpose
We aimed to understand staff experiences and confidence in care provided during an interagency aeromedical helicopter landing simulation exercise between the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia and Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia.
Methods
The simulation exercise yielded 21 participants (hospital and aeromedical clinicians, logisticians and pilots) and 8 simulation facilitators who consented to provide data between June – October 2023. Data was collected by phone interviews and surveys and analysed descriptively and qualitatively.
Results
Facilitators reported that conducting successful interagency helicopter retrieval simulations requires extensive planning and preparation. Following simulation, participants reported increased clinical confidence in their specific role, with a desire for greater immersion into diverse simulation training to optimize their future performances for real scenarios. Simulation debriefs allow for further participant clarification surrounding overall process and provides a medium for valuable feedback for Health Service Providers in process refinement in the management of the critically unwell enhancing a culture of safety.
Conclusions
This study highlighted that interagency simulations are a valuable exercise when multiple health service providers are involved in the management of individual patients who are critically unwell. Such collaboration is fundamental to improving staff confidence surrounding their role and awareness of the role of others in managing the critically unwell. The significant effort to organize and co-ordinate to create high fidelity scenarios by facilitators is rewarded with significant benefit found by the participants in their ability to be prepared for the real-life scenario. Such findings have important implications for ongoing interagency collaboration as well as ongoing healthcare and educational strategy.
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