Getting Ahead of the Curve

CORONA WARS: An Emergency Simulation Game for COVID-19

Authors (alphabetical): Andrew Chang, Kerrie Lewis, Emily Lostchuck, Adam Lund (MD, FRCPC) 

The pandemic is here. Every emergency department is going to be affected. We need to practice for what is coming. We also have little time and don’t want to waste precious PPE in a practice environment.

We want to help. We decided to put together a low-fi simulation game to promote planning conversations for best-known practices for both predicted and novel situations during the Pandemic.

The goal of our simulation game is to allow healthcare providers to simulate the novel situations encountered during the COVID-19 Pandemic while mimicking their working environment. Given the limited availability of resources and PPE, this low-barrier simulation allows teams to rehearse individual safety best practices and resource allocation in a wide variety of situations related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Through simulation, we hope to stimulate conversation about protocols and best practices at your local site to increase pandemic preparedness.

This game is meant to be adapted to your unique environment. The game can be customized based on the number of team members available to play, as well as the equipment and PPE available at your site. Cases can be worked through in as little as 10-15 minutes, or longer depending on the amount of discussion.

Try the game out now

 Acknowledgements: Thank you to the BC Emergency Medicine Network for hosting this project. Thank you to the teams at Royal Columbian and Eagle Ridge Hospitals for their inspiration during a challenging time.