This is a low-fidelity, multi-disciplinary, table-top simulation ‘game’ designed to practice various scenarios in YOUR environment during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We encourage you to use this simulation to mimic the environment and team members you will be dealing with. Consider the stage in the pandemic response that your setting is currently in.

If you are currently saving paper, or want to minimize arts and crafts, you may play by simply talking through the Case Cards as a team. If your scissors are up to it, we recommend cutting out the cards and using them to mimic your environment and enhance your simulation. Active play increases team engagement from passive to active learning and planning.

This is intended to be utilized by healthcare providers in any setting. We encourage you to play with the people and resources you have on your shift at that time to promote maximum fidelity. One case is anticipated to take about 5-10 minutes, depending on the depth of the conversation you end up having. This game can and should be adapted based on your local resources, protocols, time allotted, and team members available.

Share your learning! This game is intended to stimulate discussion among teams, departments, and leadership throughout the hospital to enhance preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Download the Game Instructions

Case 1: Practice Round

Learn basic gameplay, practice donning and doffing PPE, triage protocols.

Case 2: Comorbidities

Management of COVID-19 infections with respiratory comorbidities.

Case 3: Moderate Severity of Disease/Moderate Complexity

Practice COVID-19 intubation protocols.

Case 4: ‘COVID, not COVID’

Remember that all the rest of Emergency Medicine is still going to happen, but given appropriate context, suspicion for COVID-19 should remain high.

Case 5: Severe Disease/Severe Complexity

Emergent and Rapid Intubation in COVID-19 Case… or Not.

Case Template

Write your own case! Simulate a real life situation or something from your imagination in YOUR Emergency Department! Submit your case.

Download All Cases

Card Deck Set

The card desk set includes team, PPE, equipment cards & information documents

• Cards are best printed single-sided on card stock (when possible)
• There are blank cards so you can customize to your site’s needs
• Information sheets, maps, etc can be printed on plain white paper (8 1/2 x 11)

Sample Patient Room

5 Steps to Don (put on) Personal protective equipment (PPE)

6 Steps to Doff (take off) Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Scoresheet (optional)

The game in play

We have created a few cases that we hope will stimulate some local conversations and local planning. However, we’d love to release additional cases through ‘Expansion Packs’ to the COVID Wars Simulation Game and would love YOUR input.

Please consider sharing your ideas for cases, based either on situations you’ve experienced, or situations that your team has imagined. The goal is to Let’s share thinking globally to stimulate teams at centres of all sizes to get ‘ahead of the curve.’

Anyone submitting a case will be recognized as a ‘Content Contributor’ on the BC Emergency Medicine Network website. Please do not compromise patient privacy in sharing personally identifying details though your case submission.

Suggest a COVID-19 SIM Case

We’d love to hear YOUR input. Tell us how we can improve this resource.

Send us your feedback on the COVID-19 Emergency Sim Game