Table 5 Top themes and illustrative comments derived from the thematic analysis of participant comments about the STRENGTHS of the MCIVR simulation
Theme | Counts | Illustrative Comment(s) |
|---|---|---|
Realistic | N = 99 | “Gives you the real-life experience of an MCI without the actual emergency. This also give you real-time decision-making skills.” “It's hard to actually recreate a mass casualty. This is a pretty good replacement.” “I thought the patient responses/panic even when they were “minimal” was a realistic portrayal of the emotional influence that patients have on providers despite the severity of injuries. I also thought the injuries like the amputation were pretty realistic.” “Realistic situation including dim lighting and background noise, patients with a variety of injuries and levels of responsiveness.” “It was good as it is. Nice to have something that is close to real life and have to do things and not just verbalize the treatments.” |
Practice with triage and treatment skills | N = 32 | “Good practice without needing real people for the scenario.” “Being able to use equipment and having patients respond.” “Able to make mistakes without hurting real people.” “You really get the feel of what it's like to have the pressure of deciding what to do first.” “This was a good refresher and helped remember what equipment is needed.” |
Triage Decision Making | N = 30 | “Having to assess each patient for myself, having to sort patients and move around to them.” “Helpful to go through triage tags and get a feel for the actions needed.” “The practice of following the algorithm in real time as a kinestheic learner. Also being able to review after.” “Doing the steps of the triage and making me perform critical thinking.” “How to manage an overwhelming situation and critically think while staying focused.” |
Interactivity of the Simulator | N = 20 | “The physical aspect of interacting with patient, treating and assigning them tags was really helpful.” “Speaking to clear the walking wounded out of the way. Made me remember to take a pulse on every victim.” “Patients followed commands and all conditions responded to treatment.” “Communicating with patients and seeing the wounds.” “The patient responsiveness to verbal commands was impressive.” |
Managing Multiple Patients | N = 13 | “I enjoyed having to manage multiple patients in rapid sequence. This gave me the ability to go from one patient to the next. Other trainings like this present you with one standardized patient at a time and those patients may not be trained to act or behave appropriately when injured in that manner.” “Rapid triaging of multiple patients with varying injuries.” “The number of obviously injured patients. It’s good to feel overwhelmed.” “Several different patients needing attention necessitating triage.” “The number of patients and they were all calling for help.” |