About Us
History
Established in 2001, the Cincinnati Children’s Center for Simulation and Research (CCCSR) was the first pediatric simulation center in the United States. Early work centered on interprofessional patient safety courses within Cincinnati Children’s acute care departments, as well as a collaboration with the Air Force CSTARS program, and offering EMS continuing education.
In 2011, the CCCSR became the first simulation center in Ohio and the first pediatric simulation center in the United States to receive accreditation by the Society of Simulation in Healthcare in the areas of Teaching/Education and Systems Integration/Patient Safety.
The CCCSR gained accreditation again in 2016 by the Society of Simulation in Healthcare within the areas of CORE, Teaching/Education, Systems Integration, and Research. The Center’s work has grown to offer cutting edge pediatric healthcare simulation across a multitude of Cincinnati Children’s facilities in collaboration with facilitators and content experts from numerous divisions and subspecialties, as well as serving the community through outreach simulation programs.
How CCCSR changes the outcome
The Center for Simulation and Research provides education opportunities for the patient, caregiver, and healthcare professional in order to advance clinical competency, communication, patient safety, and process improvement. Clinical scenarios are designed utilizing a wide variety of modalities, including human patient simulators, digital experience (VR, AR, AI), task trainers, and complex medical equipment in order to offer a realistic learning experience.
Courses at the Center range from Continuous Renal Replacement (CRRT) University, a course offered in collaboration with the Acute Care Nephrology Department at Cincinnati Children's to increase working knowledge and enhance communication centered on CRRT, to Transitional Care (TCC) Patient and Caregiver Training; a course designed to train complex airway patients and families on emergency recognition and care before transitioning home. Each course ensures a safe learning environment for all learners, allowing for an immediate debriefing after each simulation to strengthen performance gaps and reinforce key learning points identified during the debriefing.
Leveraging Simulation
The Center for Simulation and Research provides simulation at a number of different locations within the medical center, offering both in lab and in-situ (in the actual clinical environment) simulation experiences. By offering in lab courses, departments and content experts can proactively train learners on previously identified latent safety threats and practice effective teamwork and communication skills. In-situ simulation is unique at Cincinnati Children's. Medical center leadership promotes impromptu in-situ simulations, where on-duty clinical providers can practice teamwork and technical skills in their actual environment, helping to identify systems issues and latent safety threats that may jeopardize patient safety. One such example of this is the Center’s ED in-situ course.
The emergency department staff dash to the trauma bay after receiving a page for an emergency medical team. Once arriving, they find a 5 year old Gaumard simulator on the bed, struggling to breath and with audible stridor. The team races into action, providing life saving measures using their everyday equipment and medications; thus, giving individuals as well as the interprofessional team an opportunity to improve their clinical and communication skills, as well as reflect on their actions through a focused debriefing led by a trained facilitator.
Digital Simulation
The Center for Simulation and Research is committed to constantly moving education forward through various innovative modalities. One such modality we offer is through digital simulation. Training is available through Virtual Reality Simulation and Screen Based Simulation. For more information or to inquire about topics offered through this modality, please email digitalsimulation@cchmc.org.
