Abstract
Patients presenting with hypothermia in a rural emergency department can be quite challenging to manage without significant mortality and morbidity. Standard medical school curricula do not fully prepare trainees for the unique aspects of practice in northern rural and remote communities. Training opportunities on site may provide a solution to this lack of experience. However, these communities often have limited simulation-based resources and expertise for conducting and developing simulation scenarios. In this technical report, we outline a hypothermia simulation that utilizes only basic resources and is, thus, practical for rural and remote facilities. The aim of this report is to better equip trainees, clinicians, and emergency department staff who may encounter such a scenario in their practice. While the simulation is specifically designed for medical students, resident doctors, and emergency department staff, it could also be applicable in other low-resource settings, such as military bases, search and rescue stations, and arctic travel and tourism infirmaries.
Highlights
Exposure to harsh winter conditions can present a significant risk to the inhabitants of northern rural and remote communities
While the simulation is designed for medical students, resident doctors, and emergency department staff, it could be applicable in other low-resource settings, such as military bases, search and rescue stations, and arctic travel and tourism infirmaries
Simulation can help fill the gaps in the undergraduate curriculum for northern rural and remote practice as well as provide a refresher for trained physicians who may be new to rural and remote care in the North
Summary
Exposure to harsh winter conditions can present a significant risk to the inhabitants of northern rural and remote communities. Accidental hypothermia is associated with significant morbidity and mortality [1]. In a single tertiary center, there were 14 different rewarming strategies used for roughly 80 cases of hypothermia [3]. This suggests a lack of consistency in the management of hypothermia and could lead to uncertainty and delayed decision-making for medical professional trainees. Because of the relatively rare occurrence and high morbidity and mortality of hypothermia, emergency department staff need to be able to appropriately treat it in a timely manner.
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