Training medical staff to make the right, life-saving, decisions at the scene of a major emergency is not straightforward. Ultimately the most valuable training is usually gained in a real-life situation – which can obviously be very stressful for trainees and staff – or to organise major exercises with volunteer casualties. These can take up huge amounts of staff time and organisation.

Until now...

Blitz Games Studios, one of the world’s leading video games studios, is heading up a project to use video gaming as a training tool for doctors, nurses and the emergency services. The Serious Games project is developing training tools, based on Blitz Games technology, that engage and motivate learners.

The prototype Triage Trainer helps to develop life-saving skills in trainees by presenting them with highly realistic simulated casualties and working through how to prioritise each patient for treatment. Controlled trials have shown that the game is a more effective training tool than a traditional learning method. Triage Trainer uses triage protocols from Advanced Life Support Group, the medical education charity that advises NATO.

The Triage Trainer also showcases Blitz Games Studios’ technology developed under the EU Framework Programme 6 grant SALERO, www.salero.eu.

So far the Trainer has generated a lot of interest globally – with enquiries coming from the oil and gas industry, the defence medicine sector as well as emergency services and medical training schools.

Two further prototypes are in development, the first to tackle infection control in hospitals and the second to ensure doctors identify and act upon the signs of patient deterioration.

Two further prototypes are in development, the first to tackle infection control in hospitals and the second to ensure doctors identify and act upon the signs of patient deterioration.