Scenarios

Educational Tool for Emergency Medical Services Training

Why Use Scenarios?

Creating and running scenarios will help you as a facilitator identify and measure learner mastery of the following key learning goals:

Foundational knowledge: does the learner have the basic knowledge needed for the scenario?
Application: can the learner use the knowledge and apply it to the scenario?
Integration: can the learner use knowledge to address similar problems that arise in the scenario in order to problem solve?

Creating EMS Scenarios

Scaffolding Scenarios

When using scenarios in an EMS course, it is important to scale the complexity to match the level of the learner.

Static Practice

When first beginning, it is important to give the learners time to practice skills in an isolated setting so that they can learn the basics of each skill.

Dynamic Practice

Once they have the foundation, you can start to integrate dynamic elements to the practice- this could be "mini-scenarios" or combining multiple static skills to push the learners to make connections.

Integrated Scenarios

Fully realized scenarios can be used once the learners have adequate knowledge and practice. These should be as realistic as possible, working towards a specific goal/objective. Use of high fidelity components (mannequins, monitors, IV arms) should be used to enhance the realism.