First course to use Second Life

A new training system has just been implemented for paramedic students in London, which allows them to treat online avatars of patients.
A new approach to paramedic training in the UK, which uses the latest in e-health applications, will see paramedic students in London being taught how to deal with emergency situations using the internet-based virtual world of Second Life.

The Second Life training system uses online avatars of patients, in a series of different scenarios, to teach future paramedics how to respond to different situations.
The use of Second Life, to provide the paramedics of tomorrow with a chance to work in a small team to treat a virtual patient, has just been introduced at the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, which is a partnership between St George’s, the University of London and Kingston University.
Students will work in groups of three or four. Using their own paramedic avatar, students will be able to respond to a 999 call and treat ‘patients’.
h4. Access a toolkit
For example, one of these ‘calls’ concerns a young woman slumped outside a nightclub. Students can assess and treat the female patient by doing things such as checking her pulse, dressing wounds and administering drugs.
They can also access a toolkit, including all the equipment typically found in an ambulance, such as oxygen masks and an electrocardiogram.
After assessing the patient and giving emergency first responder treatment, the students decide how to get the patient into the ambulance and set a GPS device to take them to the hospital.
Once they have reached the hospital, they submit handover notes on the patients, which are emailed to their real-life tutor for feedback.
h4. Work placements
Emily Conradi, e-Projects Manager, said: “Paramedic students spend a lot of time in work placements, which can be based anywhere in the country, so it can be hard for the students to meet face-to-face with each other and with their tutors.
“The advantage of Second Life is that it feels more real. Students get a sense of being there together and can decide what to do from what they can see in front of them.”
The drunken clubber is just one of five scenarios paramedic students will be faced with from this month on, on the first paramedic course to use Second Life.
Each week, students on the course will be emailed a SLURL (Second Life URL), which will take them directly to a scene where they will encounter an avatar mannequin who needs their help.
The Paramedic Science degree has a strong practical focus, and solving problems based on real-life scenarios forms a crucial part of the course.
The application has been developed by St George’s, University of London’s e-learning unit as part of the PREVIEW project, which is funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee. It has been tested by both tutors and students before being implemented.
Fiona Cropp, a second-year paramedic student who has tested the Second Life application, said: “It’s a really useful tool. It’s much better to be able to actually perform treatments rather than just talk about it.
“Everyone is online at the same time, so you can bounce ideas off each other and then you can make an informed decision.”