Draw & Doodle Simulation: A colorful strategy to prepare medical teams for electronic dance music festival emergencies

Abstract

Educational challenge Electronic dance music (EDM) festivals – crowded, loud, low-resource environments – pose unique challenges to event medical teams. Simulation can prepare teams to manage clinical presentations in this unconventional context. Without access to simulation infrastructure, a low-technological, low-fidelity simulation modality is warranted. Solution Draw & Doodle Simulation (D&D SIM) is a low-fidelity simulation where patients are hand-drawn (i.e. on paper, whiteboard, or digitally) instead of utilizing manikins or live actors. Facilitators draw all patient findings, while participants doodle any possible interventions. Solution implementation Two D&D SIM cases (serotonin toxicity and refractory anaphylaxis) were piloted in classrooms. Participants included paramedics, medical students, lifeguards, and first aiders. Facilitators conducted simulations using chart paper, with each participant doodling contributions using differently colored markers. Lessons learned Participants responded positively, rating the serotonin toxicity case 4.31/5 (n = 13) and refractory anaphylaxis case 4.53/5 (n = 15). Participants appreciated the ‘low-stakes’, useful ‘visual’ representation of progress, ‘fun and [interactivity]’, and appropriate ‘[realism]’ of D&D SIM. However, D&D SIM was perceived as ‘less life threatening’, would not be appropriate for physical skills (e.g. CPR), required everyone to be ‘oriented in the same direction to see the drawing’, and the chart paper risked becoming cluttered. Next steps Next steps include writing new cases, implementing D&D SIM in other teaching contexts, exploring its use in digital platforms, and studying its effectiveness against higher-fidelity simulation.