Dark Slope and American College of Chest Physicians Prepare a Virtual Reality Training Program on Intubation

Physicians and critical care workers will soon have a virtual reality training program available to learn intubation techniques and best practices. This innovative learning tool will be developed by Toronto-based XR company Dark Slope in partnership with the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST). The developers believe that cutting edge technologies are the answer to training frontline responders faster, more effectively, and remotely.

What Will Trainees Experience in the Virtual Reality Training Program?

According to a press release sent to ARPost, the Canadian developer company will use the CHEST curriculum to create the VR intubation training program. Trainees will be able to access it via Dark Slope’s proprietary immersive learning platform, Involve XR.

Thus, the trainees will enter a virtual ICU environment and interact in a life-like dynamic teamwork to perform intubation on patients. Of course, team members will be able to collaborate remotely. Also, they will receive real-time guidance and advice from instructors, in order to improve their technique.

Virtual Reality Training – an Effective Solution for This Period 

Dark Slope is a firm believer in teaching through direct, immersive experiences. Their current list of clients and partners include names such as AT&T, Magic Leap, Intel, Epic Games, Nickelodeon, and Ogilvy.

Their immersive learning platform, Involve XR is already used for training licensed healthcare personnel and first responders, skilled labor employees working in field service and operations, as well as management staff for developing soft skills.

For Robert Musacchio, CEO and EVP of CHEST, virtual reality training on the Involve XR platform is the most efficient solution for the present circumstances.

“COVID-19 has underlined the need to train pulmonary and critical care workers effectively on proper intubation techniques. VR allows trainees to practice a range of patient scenarios, visualize aerosolization and train without the need to travel to a simulation center or conference,” he stated in the press release.

Simulation Training Increases Skill Learning and Retention Rate

For the CEO of Dark Slope, Raja Khanna, virtual reality training is the solution to reaching a uniform level of skill for the global workforce. Even when they do not meet in person, trainees can still learn together and get hands-on practice, under the supervision of instructors.

“Dark Slope’s approach to virtual learning is to partner with subject matter experts like CHEST to develop science-backed and accredited training programs that can be built once and then made available to learners globally,” Khanna explained in the press release. “Spatial skills are best learned through practice and live simulation training, both of which are enabled in virtual and augmented reality by our Involve XR platform”.

When Will First Responders Start Using Dark Slope’s Virtual Reality Training Program?

The first trainees to enjoy VR learning on intubation techniques will start the training sometime this autumn. There is no definite date known at the present. “We see virtual simulation as a key pillar of the future of health care training for our more than 20,000 members and for the broader domestic and international clinical community,” said Musacchio.