Sharing is caring: A multidisciplinary first aid program

Medical emergencies can occur anywhere. Children and youth are vulnerable to accidents requiring first aid assistance, despite caregivers are often untrained. An efficient way to teach first aid is through medical simulation so that trainees can familiarize with procedures in a riskless environment. Research studies showed that simulation is more effective if it takes place in a realistic environment. Within this framework, the Center of Advanced Simulation of the University of Genoa, Italy takes part in a multidisciplinary project aimed at promoting first aid awareness among students and teachers of European compulsory schools. The project which includes training activities and research lead to a mixed-reality first aid training application which combines a manikin with a virtual reality application, allowing trainees to perform lifesaving tasks in an immersive scenario. Specifically, it can be effective to learn manual and communicative skills during a first aid emergency, being also suitable for debriefing and assessment. Altogether this work aimed at defining an applicable and way to teach first aid skills, particularly focusing on European schoolteachers and students, with the ultimate goal to increase the rate of people with first aid training.