The use of simulation to prepare and improve responses to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19: practical tips and resources from Norway, Denmark, and the UK

Peter Dieckmann; Kjetil Torgeirsen; Sigrun Anna Qvindesland; Libby Thomas; Verity Bushell; Hege Langli Ersdal

doi:10.1186/s41077-020-00121-5

The use of simulation to prepare and improve responses to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19: practical tips and resources from Norway, Denmark, and the UK

Adv Simul (Lond). 2020 Apr 16:5:3. doi: 10.1186/s41077-020-00121-5. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Peter Dieckmann^{1

2

3}, Kjetil Torgeirsen⁴, Sigrun Anna Qvindesland^{4

5}, Libby Thomas^{6

7}, Verity Bushell⁸, Hege Langli Ersdal^{1

9}

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Quality and Health Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
² 2Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation (CAMES), Center for Human Resources and Education, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, Borgmester Ib Juuls Vej 1, Opg. 1 - 25th floor, DK-2730 Herlev, Capital Region of Denmark Denmark.
³ 3Department of Clinical Medicine, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁴ 4Stavanger Acute Medicine Foundation for Education and Research (SAFER), Stavanger, Norway.
⁵ 5Department of Research, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
⁶ 6Emergency Department, Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁷ 7The Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University, London, UK.
⁸ 8Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education Department, Kings College London, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
⁹ 9Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the potential of simulation to improve hospital responses to the COVID-19 crisis. We provide tools which can be used to analyse the current needs of the situation, explain how simulation can help to improve responses to the crisis, what the key issues are with integrating simulation into organisations, and what to focus on when conducting simulations. We provide an overview of helpful resources and a collection of scenarios and support for centre-based and in situ simulations.