Authors: Bradford H. Ralston, MD, Renee C. Willett, MD, Srihari Namperumal, MD, Nina M. Brown, MD. Heather Walsh, MSN, RN, PCNS-BC, CHSE, Ricardo A. Muñoz, MD, Sylvia del Castillo, MD, Todd P. Chang, MD, MAeD,  Gregory K. Yurasek, MD

Simulation training is vital in pediatric cardiac intensive care units (CICU), but traditional mannequin maintenance is costly and logistically challenging. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of virtual reality (VR) simulation for managing complex pediatric CICU emergencies.

Six attending pediatric cardiac critical care physicians navigated two virtual clinical scenarios created on the SimX platform: junctional ectopic tachycardia/low cardiac output syndrome (JET/LCOS) and an acute COVID-19 respiratory failure intubation. Without prior VR experience, all six physicians successfully navigated the virtual environment and achieved the critical clinical endpoints in both scenarios.

Post-simulation surveys showed that 100% of participants enjoyed the experience, 83.3% agreed the VR environment was realistic, and 83.3% endorsed VR as a valuable educational tool for pediatric cardiac critical care. Researchers concluded that VR provides sufficient fidelity for complex medical decision-making and offers an efficient, highly adaptable alternative to traditional mannequin-based simulation.

The full research article can be found here.

Children’s National has used the SimX platform in its simulation training.