Enhancing Mass Casualty Triage Through Virtual Reality Simulation

Training Clinical Trial

— VR-MCI-RCT  

Official title:

To Evaluate Whether Virtual Reality Compared to Standard Education Improves Nursing Students' Ability to Triage in a Simulated Mass Casualty Incident- a RCT

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06034184
• Other study ID #: EPM:2023-02154-02
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 8, 2023
• Est. completion date: June 30, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: December 2023
• Source: Sophiahemmet University
• Contact: Veronica AC Lindström, RN, PhD
• Phone: +46703428157
• Email: veronica.lindstrom[@]shh.se
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This interventional study aims to investigate whether Virtual Reality (VR) compared to traditional education and training, can enhance the correct triage abilities of nursing students in simulated mass casualty incidents (MCI). The primary research question seeks to answer if VR compared to Standard education supports students' ability to triage correctly in a simulated MCI situation. Additionally, this study aims to address the following secondary questions: Does VR compared to standard education have an effect on the time to triage in a simulated MCI situation? And, does VR compared to Standard education have an effect on theoretical knowledge retention concerning triage in MCI situations? In the interventional group, participants will utilize VR for MCI training and learning, while the control group will undergo standard education, including lectures and paper exercises. The researchers will compare the two groups of nursing students to assess whether VR yields better outcomes in MCI triage education.

Description:

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving nursing students from a university in Stockholm, Sweden. The students are randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to either VR (intervention) or standard training in triaging during a mass casualty Incident. Both groups of participants will receive the same lecture on disaster events and triage using the same method before undergoing triage training either with VR support or traditional paper-based training. To achieve a power of 0.80 and a p-value of 0.05, a total of 60 participants are required (control n=30, intervention n=30). However, all students (approximately 100) will be invited to participate in the study to avoid excluding those who wish to take part in the study. The primary outcome measure is the students' ability to triage correctly. Secondary outcome measures include knowledge and knowledge retention, as well as the time taken to triage correctly. Knowledge tests will be conducted approximately one week after training and again 3-6 months after completing the training. The knowledge test consists of a questionnaire with 20 multiple-choice questions used in previous studies.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: June 30, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: June 30, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Nursing students registered for a course in disaster medicine/emergency care that is conducted during their fifth semester (out of 6) in the nursing program.

Exclusion Criteria:

Does not meet inclusion criteria

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Learning
• Mass Casualty Incident
• Training
• Triage

Intervention

Other:
• Virtual Reality
The nursing students use glasses and handcontrollers (High Fidelity Simulation) in the VR scenario for training and learning mass casualty incidents.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Sweden	Sophiahemmet University, Lindstedtvägen 8	Stockholm

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Sophiahemmet University	CrashCourse AB, Falck Ambulance A/S

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Sweden, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Number of participants with correct answers in theoretical tests	To measure if VR compared to Standard education has an effect on theoretical knowledge retention	From enrollment, the training on mass casualty incidents with or without Virtual Reality and measuring nursing students theoretical knowledge retention on triage 1 week- 3-6 months after training.
Primary	Number of participants performing correct triage	Measuring if VR compared to Standard education has an effect on the frequency of correctly triage	From enrollment, theoretical education and performing training on mass casualty incidents with or without Virtual Reality
Secondary	Time range on performing correct triage on 10 injured	Measuring if VR compared to Standard education has an effect on the time to triage correctly (10 patients) in a simulated MCI situation	From enrollment, theoretical education and performing training on mass casualty incidents with or without Virtual Reality