Introduction: Successful decontamination of chemically contaminated casualties requires staff to be well-trained and familiar with complex processes and workflows. The task is made more challenging with space and time constraints, with each drill lasting 4 hours. Virtual reality (VR) has been proposed as a tool in disaster and decontamination training due to the realism and cost advantages over large-scale real-life exercises. This study aims to compare the usefulness of a novel VR training tool against conventional live decontamination training in a single-centre emergency department (ED) in Singapore. Methods: This study was a collaborative effort between Tan Tock Seng Hospital Emergency Department and Singapore Institute of Technology research professors, engineers, and interns. Healthcare workers with no prior experience first underwent mass casualty decontamination training using an innovative VR training tool in a 2-hour session. Knowledge of workflows and processes was then assessed on a 15-point test. This was also administered to other healthcare workers who had undergone conventional training. The primary outcome was the test scores for each group of healthcare workers. Secondary outcomes included scores for technical quality of the software and qualitative feedback provided by VR trainees. Results: Forty healthcare workers have been scheduled to complete their VR training sessions over the next two months. From the conventional group, 45 healthcare workers had a mean test score of 75.4%. Full results, including analysis of primary and secondary outcomes across both the VR and conventional groups, are expected by January 2025. Conclusion: The results of this study will be useful in validating the use of VR in decontamination training as an effective training tool. Lessons learned from developing the VR tool can also be applied to other VR applications in the future.
Hamid et al. (Sun,) studied this question.