NCT04521101

Can we Make a VAST Improvement? Promoting Anaesthetists' Non-technical Skills Through the Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training Course in a Low-resource Setting

Completed NA Last updated 21 August 2020

What this trial tests

NA trial testing VAST Course in To Determine the Change in Demonstrated Anesthesia Non-technical Skills After Delivery of the VAST Course in 32 participants. Completed in 30 June 2019.

Timeline

24 August 2018

Primary endpoint
30 January 2019

30 June 2019

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Dalhousie University
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	na
Design	single group
Masking	none
Primary purpose	health services research
Enrollment	32
Start date	24 August 2018
Primary completion	30 January 2019
Estimated completion	30 June 2019
Sites	2 locations across Rwanda

Drugs / interventions tested

• VAST Course

Conditions studied

• To Determine the Change in Demonstrated Anesthesia Non-technical Skills After Delivery of the VAST Course — all drugs for To Determine the Change in Demonstrated Anesthesia Non-technical Skills After Delivery of the VAST Course →

Sponsor

Dalhousie University

Who can join

Eligibility, any sex, with To Determine the Change in Demonstrated Anesthesia Non-technical Skills After Delivery of the VAST Course. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Rationale: The World Health Assembly resolution 68.15 identified surgical and anesthesia care as core components of universal health coverage. However, about 5 billion people worldwide lack access to essential surgical and anesthesia services. Of the 313 million procedures undertaken each year only 6% occur in the poorest countries with an estimated 30% of all deaths globally associated with common surgical conditions. Patient safety in low-resource settings is hindered by severe workforce shortages, lack of essential resources, hierarchical culture and few opportunities for professional development.

Non-technical skills (NTS), such as communication, team working, and task coordination, are vital to patient safety. Up to 70-80% of untoward events in health care are associated with errors in NTS8. The Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills framework (ANTS) describes behaviour markers for NTS in anesthesia. This framework has been found applicable in low-resource settings.

Simulation-based education is widespread for NTS training in well-resourced countries. Traditionally, high costs have prohibited this modality in low-resource settings. Foundational work in Rwanda and at Dalhousie University has demonstrated that effective training in ANTS can be achieved through simple low-cost simulation. The Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training (VAST) Course is a three-day simulation-based program designed de-novo to focus on core clinical practices and NTS that promote safe perioperative care in low-resource settings. The course uses low-cost materials in an immersive simulated environment to replicate common cases managed in district hospitals in low-resource settings. Realism is created with simple mannequins, iPads with the SimMon App functioning as monitoring, basic props (e.g., airway equipment, syringes, drapes), photographs of pathology, and briefing cards for scenario role-play.

Purpose: To assess the impact of the VAST Course on ANTS and explore factors that influence long-term retention of ANTS amongst anesthesia providers in a low-resource setting.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.