DVDS – News – National Capital Region Simulation Consortium Earns New Accreditation

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) recently re-accredited the National Capital Region Simulation Consortium, which consists of the simulation centers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Uniformed Services University, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, and Malcolm Groe Medical Center in Joint Peace Andrews, Maryland. Re-accreditation, which is achieved in October 2022, and lasts for five years.
The state-of-the-art Simulation Center (SIM Center) at WRNMMC provides users with real-world education and training in patient care and emergency medicine. The 5,000-square-foot facility includes technology and protocols for real operating and exam rooms, as well as a skills lab, emergency room/ICU, classroom hands-on tools, and an advanced audiovisual system.
Patient simulators (full-body computerized high-resolution medical analogues) at the Simulation Center, have realistic human anatomy and physiology with the ability to blink, sweat, bleed, experience heartache, stop breathing, and simulate childbirth to provide teaching of clinical skills in a professional healthcare setting. Virtual reality technology allows users to practice endoscopy, bronchoscopy, arthroscopy, and other surgical procedures.
Training is also available at the center for ultrasound-guided central line placement, lumbar puncture, suturing, and biopsy. The center also has training capabilities to perform thoracentesis, paracentesis, peripheral vein ultrasound therapy, joint injection therapy for rheumatic diseases (knee, shoulder, elbow and wrist), and ultrasound-guided amniocentesis procedures.
Some of the areas and courses supported by the Simulation Center include Pulmonary Critical Care Mock Codes, Internal Medicine Resident Ultrasound Course, Mock General Surgery, Nursing Skills Fair, Neonatology Fellows, Structured Objective Clinical Examination, Presenter Course, Basic Trauma Nursing, and Advanced Traumatology . Life Support Course, Simulation Training for Operational Medicine Physicians, Orthopedic Arthroscopy Course, Neonatal Resuscitation Program Course, and Critical Care Support Obstetrics Course.
The SIM Center also supported WRNMMC’s Code Green Mass Casualty Exercise during the fall, providing simulators to patients as mock victims of the event.
The goal of the SIM Center is “to develop faculty and staff, graduate undergraduate medical education, and improve overall patient safety and outcomes,” according to department chair, Dr. Jennifer Geracht.
Accreditation of simulation centers is comparable to a Joint Hospital Commission survey. It involves meeting ACS standards for SIM centers; Submission of documentation by the center to ACS regarding how the center seeking accreditation meets ACS standards; Retired Marine Capt. (Dr.) Joseph Lopriato, Associate Dean for Simulation Education at USU who led the consortium, explained a video-site visit by a team of experts representing the ACS to ensure the center adheres to ACS standards.
Lobriato added that the NCR SIM Consortium is also accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), and could be re-certified by the community for another five years in 2024. SSH also seeks to advance the application of medical simulation in healthcare. The consortium’s dual accreditation by ACS and SSH makes it “one of the select few in the world” to achieve the distinction of being certified by both organizations to an “extreme level,” according to Lobriato.
He explained that the consortium is “an integrated unit, shared resources, space and people between [NCR SIM centers] To fulfill the mission of providing high-quality simulation experiences to all of our experience owners. [Our] The vision is to replicate this model throughout the Defense Health Agency establishment.”
Lopreiato added the simulation federation NCR and its centers have been re-accredited several times, which is an indication of the quality of the services they provide. “We were the first to receive accreditation in the Department of Defense, and now there are many other military simulation centers.” He noted that being one of only a handful of all SIM centers to achieve ACS and SSH accreditation assures the simulation center learners, as well as center management and stakeholders, that the center follows best practices in establishing, developing, maintaining, and expanding simulation-related organizations in the healthcare field. .