New Virtual Reality Training from Health Scholars and the American Academy of Pediatrics Aims to Help EMS Save Children’s Lives
Pediatric Emergency Care™ will deliver paramedics the immersive practice needed to manage pediatric emergencies in the field more effectively.
Health Scholars has launched Pediatric Emergency Care™, a VR training application specifically designed for EMS providers and developed in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
In 2020 Health Scholars and AAP announced their partnership to leverage VR technology to deliver more engaging and impactful training opportunities. AAP and Health Scholars recognized a substantive gap in preparing EMS providers for pediatric emergencies. VR is an affordable and sustainable solution for educators and administrators who face ongoing budget issues and social distancing requirements due to the impact of Covid-19 and the new Delta variant.
Pediatric Emergency Care™ for EMS is the only VR training solution that enables EMS providers to see, assess, and care for various disease states, including respiratory distress, respiratory failure, shock, and cardiopulmonary failure across a diverse set of pediatric patients. The on-demand training has providers complete 4 different in-home scenarios with a virtual EMS team. Each scenario is scored and provides an in-application debrief. Providers are asked to repeat scenarios until they reach a passing score indicating competency. Jonathan Epstein MEMS, NRP, Health Scholars Director of Product and Strategy, notes “We know that recognizing severe illness in infants and children is challenging, and it’s further compounded by limited exposure to pediatric emergencies. Unless EMS providers are frequently practicing, the nuanced skills needed to assess and treat children effectively decline over time, leading to significant readiness challenges. Today’s options fall short, but VR provides organizations a way to scale standardized and immersive pediatric competency training affordably.”
Pediatric Emergency Care™ also includes breakthrough VR technology. Health Scholars is the only VR training provider using AI-enabled voice technology to replicate real-time team and patient interaction. Instead of traditional point and click activities, providers can realistically practice critical cognitive skills like communication, teamwork, critical thinking and decision-making.
“We expect providers to perform at super-human levels 24/7 with mostly hands-off training delivered once a year,” explains Scott Johnson, CEO of Health Scholars. “VR training will completely transform status quo training, giving providers the competency and confidence they need to deliver the very best care possible. Pediatric Emergency Care™ is just the beginning of this transformation, and we are thrilled to have AAP’s support and expertise.”
“The AAP is delighted to partner with Health Scholars on such innovative and engaging continuing education solutions for EMS providers. The release of the Pediatric Emergency Care™ application fills gaps seen with in-person training courses and allows for sustained high-quality pediatric care through low dose, high frequency experiential learning,” said Janna Patterson, MD, FAAP, AAPs Senior Vice President, Global Child Health and Life Support.
Pediatric Emergency Care™ for EMS is now available along with Pediatric Emergency Assessment™. Health Scholars is also developing Pediatric Emergency Care for the hospital setting.
