COVID Chronicles #009 | Marjorie Lee White & Andres Viles: PPE Practice to Build Safe Systems

Marjorie Lee White and Andres Viles, an Emergency Physician and Emergency Nurse from the University of Alabama-Birmingham join us to discuss how their organization has worked to integrate simulation into the health system at every level and in every program. The story begins when the simulation program was put in charge of the response to the 2017 Ebola outbreak. Now people say “we need to simulate first” when new issues emerge. We discuss how the simulated run-through of complex plans can show the flaws in systems before they can potentially harm patients. We also talk about how preparing for Ebola management through simulation gave expertise in donning and doffing and other PPE measures, including the technique of creating a remote doffing expert who helps tired providers stay safe at the end of procedures. Andres Viles is a Simulation Coordinator, Senior and Director of Immersive Simulation in the Office of Inter-professional Simulation for Innovative Clinical Practice at UAB in Birmingham. He also holds the title of Training Coordinator for the UAB Serious Infectious Disease (SID) Team. Marjorie Lee White MD, MPPM, MA serves as Vice President for Clinical Simulation UAB Health System, the Director of the Office of Interprofessional Simulation for Innovative Clinical Practice within the Center for Interprofessional Education and Simulation at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and Assistant Dean for Clinical Simulation for UAB School of Medicine. She is professor in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Medical Education in the School of Medicine and the Department of Health Services Administration in the School of Health Professions and practices clinically in the emergency department at Children’s of Alabama. Learn more at www.harvardmedsim.org.