Simulation Education for Ebola Healthcare Team Competency

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Project Summary Ebola and other deadly viral diseases represent a major threat to the nation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have called for SBIR projects that focus on support for Ebola Safety with a focus on virus transmission, disease prevention and control, and public health preparedness. This SBIR addresses this need with the educational product named Medical Unit Specialized Simulation Training (MUSST.) MUSST contains 1) internet based self-study of the scientific background for high stakes infectious disease with special emphasis on the diagnosis, infectivity, transmission of the Ebola 2) a rapidly learned train the trainer internet self-administered component for hospital instructors to teach the course, 3) CDC and NIOSH guideline based safe practice protocols for 15 common simulated tasks for nurses, physicians and other unit workers, and 4) an automated scoring and data acquisition system that immediately grades and ranks performance of learners so that hospital leaders and administrators can insure their staff have learned and mastered the common tasks in a high risk unit. MUSST will standardize education and safe practices across the country keeping our healthcare workers safe and helping in the containment of deadly infectious disease. In Phase I there are 2 distinct aims. Aim 1 is to create a comprehensive digital learning system based on current medical science, CDC and OSHA guidelines that teach teachers to educate their workforce in 15 common tasks and duties and provides automated scoring and ranking of performance of learner staff. A scientific advisory board with Ebola Viral Disease teaching and Mastery Education expertise will validate the content in Aim 1. Aim 2, using pilot testing of hospital worker volunteers, investigates the validity, effectiveness and reliability of the training modules learning system. The pilot studies test the discrimination validity, inter- rater reliability, and effectiveness of MUSST components. Phase II is essential to product development insuring that: 1) that the validity, reliability and effectiveness of MUSST are perfected and tested using power estimates learned in Phase I; 2) the software can run on the commonly available platforms at most hospitals; 3) that MUSST can be successfully used by workers at other hospitals and; 4) learn the decay of mastery learning – determine how often workers have to undergo the simulation to stay safe. Many forces in the market assure the success of this unrivaled educational product. Many hospitals cannot develop their own course and must purchase a valid product. Hospital regulatory agencies like OSHA and The Joint Commission have made the protection of workers and containment of Ebola a requirement. These forces along with product promotion by the firmly established corporate alliances of SimTunes with the largest high fidelity simulation manufacturer (Laerdal), the largest hospital educational content provider (HealthStream), and prior product success of SimTunes products all promise to insure success of MUSST.