Taking Simulation to New Heights: Designing a Flight Simulation Center

Air medical transport requires that the practitioner develop clinical and diagnostic reasoning abilities and manage the dynamic needs of the patient in unstructured, uncertain, and often unforgiving environments. High-fidelity simulation can be instrumental in training interprofessional flight teams to improve competency through quality and safe patient care during medical transport that may otherwise take years to learn because of the inconsistency in real-life experience. Because of the particularly unfavorable conditions in critical care air transport, a helicopter simulator designed to replicate the phases of flight and train teams in critical care transport scenarios is being developed for the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing in Cleveland, Ohio. The goal is to provide quality nursing and medical instruction in a simulated flight center while also presenting relevant clinical experiences for biomedical engineering students. These simulation experiences will prepare interdisciplinary teams of students for collaborative practice, research, and leadership.