Recently the Aeromedical Society of Australia had their annual conference up in Darwin. This is the first of a few posts arising from people who got there – Dr Sam Bendall with a report from sim land. 

I love the way simulation brings people together. All aeromedical services use simulation as a training tool and that familiarity allows fun to be had and challenges to be set in the form of the 3^rd annual ASA & FNA Simulation Cup.

The Getting Ready

It’s quite tricky putting together scenarios that will work for different team configurations and will be fun but enough of a challenge. We also had to be super careful to keep everything under wraps to keep it fair, so only 4 of us from NSW knew anything about it. I have enormous respect for my predecessor in organizing the Simulation Cup – Ben Meadley from Ambulance Victoria. He was unfortunately unable to make it this year but he was always on hand to provide guidance and advice in putting together this challenge. Thanks a million Ben! Kate Smith, the conference organiser, and her team were incredibly flexible and happy to work around the simulation craziness…. you want to what…. where ….. and with THAT??? allllrrriiight 🙂

Our logistics team was once again truly awesome – they are completely unflappable. Despite doing 3 training events in 2 weeks in different states, they not only transported several tonnes of gear to and from Darwin, but also helped in the scenarios and sorted out transporting it all back! Legends (and a double 🙂 for that).

We do a great deal of simulation at CareFlight and we are lucky enough to have some pretty cool toys, dreamed up and provided by our amazing Logistic and Events team. The newest addition to the stable is the NT crash car simulator. We have had version 1 and 2 in NSW for some time, but this one is new to the NT team so it had to have an outing.

The Teams

Three teams competed in the heats – Cheah and his team from Malaysia (who did their scenario in English AND their native tongue), MedSTAR and CareFlight NT. The CareFlight NT and MedSTAR teams went through to the finals that were held at the end of the conference on Friday. Spectators grabbed a cold beverage and most of the delegates came down to support the two teams – a fantastic audience turnout.

Four members of the Northern Territory Emergency Service came to help out and add fidelity to the final scenarios. Gary and his team were happy to help out and be the rescue service in both scenarios. Many of the NTES folks have done the CareFlight Trauma Care Workshops so it was great to have another opportunity to train together.

Game Time

The first scenario saw the CareFlight NT team managing two patients in a Motor Vehicle crash. Their CRM was awesome and they were so calm it was amazing. They even found Chelsea, the puppy!

The second scenario saw the MedSTAR team managing a patient who was impaled on a construction site and bleeding heavily, and another injured construction worker. They too had great communication skills and did a good job of managing their patients. At the end of the day, the scores were close but the MedSTAR team was the winner on the day – NICE WORK TEAM 🙂

It takes an enormous amount of courage to get up in front of your peers and compete in a simulation challenge. It tests your CRM skills, your ability to function under pressure and your ability to treat patients as a team. Thank you to all three teams to stepped up to the plate. You are all incredible and it was a privilege to see you all in action.

Till next time …… bring on Queenstown (which btw, is my FAVOURITE place on earth!)…

It Takes a Team

This entry could not pass without a big thanks to the following people who helped us out enormously with the Simulation Cup:

• Kate Smith and her team – for everything!
• Ben Meadley – for all his support and advice
• Melinda Riall from Limbs and Things – provided the Suture Tutor prize for the Simulation Cup Final
• Anthony Lewis – for providing an iSimulate unit for use in the scenarios
• Stacey Williams from Zoll – for providing a defibrillator for use in the scenarios
• NTES – Mark Fishlock, Gary and their team
• The judges (some of whom were co-opted at very short notice – thank you J:
  • Mary Morgan – Hunter & New England Retrieval Service
  • Anthony De Wit – Ambulance Victoria
  • Paul Gallagher – NET
  • Andrew Pearce – MedSTAR
  • Emmeline Finn – CareFlight QLD
  • Andrew Duma – RFDS Sydney
  • Lachlan Beattie – NSW Ambulance
  • Lindsay Court – NSW Ambulance
• Martin Dal Santo – CareFlight Logistics Team – he made EVERYTHING work!
• Don Kemble – Manager Facilities and Logistics CareFlight – Enormously helpful with planning and logistics.
• Ken Harrison – outstanding confederate performances – thank you
• Richard Potts – AV guru from Kate’s team
• Kellie Robertson, Danny Hickey and the AV team from the Darwin Convention Centre
• Sarah and Ursula – fabulous coordinators from the DCC
• Justin Treble, Elwyn Poynter and the rest of our fabulous education team – for all your help at the last minute making technology work and packing up!