Innovative use of virtual reality simulation technology for pet health care education: a hybrid system for cardiopulmonary resuscitation training

Purpose This study is a pilot study exploring the usefulness and ease of use of a prototype VR PetCPR system and discusses the possibility of using it to facilitate pet healthcare skills acquisition. The designed VR PetCPR training system aims to provide pet healthcare professionals with an inexpensive, accessible and reliable CPR training tool and refine their skills in a controlled and simulated environment. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in a one-day workshop. The workshop consisted of the morning section (Section A) and the afternoon section (Section B). Section A was the knowledge acquisition stage. Section B is the VR PetCPR stage. Trainees were then given 30 min to experience the VR PetCPR set. When trainees were ready, they were required to complete two trials of dog CPR practice. After the practice, trainees completed the questionnaire and reported their attitudes toward VR PetCPR practice. Findings Overall, trainees held positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and usefulness of the VR PetCPR. After practicing skills via VR CPR, over half of the trainees responded that the system is effective in helping them understand the essential knowledge (e.g. operation status, operation positions, etc.) of performing CPR skills on a 30-pound dog. A significantly positive attitude was reported on trainees’ perceptions toward the ease of use of practicing their chest compression skills with the PetCPR. The positive attitudes significantly outnumbered the negative attitudes on explicit instruction and guidance, accessibility, convenience in practice and straightforward interface. Originality/value From data collected from 16 animal hospitals in the United States, Europe and Australia with 709 cases, 147 dogs (28%) and 58 cats (30%) temporarily attained ROSC during CPR, and 14 dogs (3%) and four cats (2%) survived to hospital discharge. Training veterinary CPR techniques and implementing RECOVER guidelines still have a long way to go. However, recent virtual reality simulations for CPR training were mainly designed for human patients CPR (Issleib et al ., 2021; Liu et al ., 2022; Almousa et al ., 2019; Wong et al ., 2018). The VR PetCPR remains a missing puzzle in the current VR training designs.