“Simulation has been used for decades for intraprofessional simulations, building practice within a profession. It’s time now for us to think about examples where we can be collaborative with each other in an interprofessional model, which is how patients are holistically cared for.” 

– Jennifer McCarthy, MAS, NRP, CHSE-A

Director of Clinical Simulation at Seton Hall University 
President/Founder of 579 Solutions 
Former Paramedic Science Program Director 

During high-acuity emergencies like out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), seamless coordination among clinicians is critical to maintaining strong links in the chain of survival. Yet, teams often train in silos. 

Interprofessional healthcare simulation training is a form of interprofessional education in healthcare (IPE). Interprofessional education in healthcare (IPE) is commonly described as “health professionals from two or more backgrounds learning with, from, and about each other.”¹ Interprofessional cardiac arrest simulation training provides a risk-free opportunity for teams to come together to train for OHCA emergencies. 

In this article, we discuss three powerful benefits you can reap from using interprofessional cardiac arrest simulation training to ensure your teams are prepared to effectively respond to OHCA emergencies. 

1. Strengthening Teamwork During Hand-Offs

An efficient hand-off from EMS to the Emergency Department (ED) is especially critical during an emergency like OHCA, where every second is critical.⁴ Patients experiencing OHCA have a higher chance of survival if there is a strong link between prehospital care and in-hospital care.⁵ 

Yet hand-offs are often disorganized and chaotic, riddled with interruptions like noise and repeated questions.⁶ In many cases, there is no standardization for hand-off reports from EMS to the ED for OHCA patients, and communication is variable.⁷ One study found that key information doesn’t get communicated in up to 86% of OHCA hand-offs.⁸  

A 2023 study involving over 13,000 patients found that initiatives to improve teamwork in multidisciplinary healthcare teams can reduce patient mortality by 28%.⁹ Simulation-based team training has been found to help create stronger teams by improving communication, teamwork, and leadership.¹⁰  

“It’s all well and good to talk about how to use different team dynamics like closed loop communication and shared mental models and stuff like that. But until you actually practice it in a clinical setting or in a setting similar to how you would do it, you just don’t get it. That’s the one thing in our program that we see the most often.”

– Sarah L. Beebe, PhD, APRN, CNM, WHNPr, CHSE

Graduate Medical Education Simulation Lab Program Manager  
Bayhealth Medical Center 

2. Building Mutual Respect and Understanding

A 2023 report looked at the factors impacting treatment of OHCA. They gathered the perspectives of emergency responders, including 911 telecommunicators, law enforcement, firefighters, and EMS personnel.¹¹  

The respondents agreed that relationships between different stakeholders within the response system have a major impact on teamwork in an OHCA.¹² They suggested that improving understanding of different roles could help improve these relationships.¹³ 

In the report, one EMS provider expressed that, “Many nurses and doctors say, ‘How come you guys didn’t do this?’ [I say] ‘Do you realize the size of the room we work in? In an ambulance and/or the environment, leaning up against the wall?’ I think there’s a disconnect there … we are not a lot of hands and in some very precarious environments. I wish there was a way to get that education to some of the people that we work closely with.”¹⁴ 

When teams come together for cardiac arrest simulation scenarios instead of training in silos, they can better understand each other’s realities. Simulation provides the perfect opportunity to do this in a safe, risk-free environment. 

“By being side-by-side in simulation … [we’re] slowing down to actually honor everybody’s role in that rushed environment,” explains Jennifer McCarthy, MAS, NRP, CHSE-A, Director of Clinical Simulation at Seton Hall University, President/Founder of 579 Solutions, and former Paramedic Science Program Director. 

Winona Health, a healthcare system in Winona, Minnesota, regularly brings in the local EMS, paramedics, and fire departments for interprofessional simulation training.  

"It’s a great way to start to integrate different kinds of caregivers and begin to understand the perspective of someone else," explains Karla Eppler, ME-PD, NRP, former Director of Learning and Development at Winona Health. 

“Oftentimes, we get focused on ‘What’s important for me?’ And the reality is, the next person that’s going to care for that patient has maybe a different priority or different skills. It’s good for others to see a bigger scope than just their smaller world.”

– Karla Eppler, ME-PD, NRP

Former Director of Learning and Development at Winona Health 

3. Testing and Improving New CPR Protocols 

Simulation has been shown to help healthcare systems effectively test and refine new resuscitation protocols before using them on actual patients.¹⁶  

In 2024, the city of Boston, Massachusetts created a city-wide initiative for Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR). ECPR involves the initiation of venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients experiencing cardiac arrest.¹⁷  

They brought together EMS personnel and two hospital-based teams (emergency medicine and ECMO) for a high-fidelity in situ simulation (or simulation occurring in the actual work environment). They focused on uncovering systems issues and opportunities where they could improve the new protocol. 

To maximize the cardiac arrest simulation scenario’s fidelity for the participants, they chose to use the MegaCode Kelly™  manikin. The manikin allowed for endotracheal intubation, defibrillation, intravenous and intraosseous medication administration, and the application of a mechanical chest compression device. 

By bringing these teams together for an interdisciplinary in situ simulation with a structured debriefing, they were able to uncover numerous latent safety threats (or accidents waiting to happen) – in areas including: 

Key Takeaways 

Interprofessional simulation training isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s a must for building the type of collaborative culture that saves lives. Simulation offers a rare chance to break down silos, sharpen team performance, and ultimately, make a positive impact on outcomes from OHCA. 

Whether you’re planning your first interprofessional simulation or expanding your program, keep one thing in focus: the best care happens when disciplines train – and grow – together.