Development of a realistic simulation program for the treatment of extremely low birth weight infants

Premature babies are extremely vulnerable. The care they receive after birth is critical to their survival. Professor Shigeo Iijima, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Japan, is a specialist neonatologist devoted to improving the care that premature babies receive. As short‐ and long term prognosis are affected by the resuscitation procedures at birth and the management of sudden deterioration in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants, accurate situational assessment, rapid decision-making and prompt and reliable skills for interventions during birth and in emergencies are crucial. Iijima believes that outcomes can be improved through the development of a robust standard neonatal resuscitation program tailored to ELBW infants. There is no standardised national training programme for ELBW neonates in Japan and the standard neonatal resuscitation programme currently in place is designed for term infants. Iijima wishes to develop a programme that simulates real-life scenarios of resuscitation at birth to train young doctors responsible for ELBW babies. This will include scenario-based training for emergencies that may occur during the NICU stays of ELBW infants. The goal is to provide invaluable tools to develop the skills needed to assess each situation and determine and carry out a suitable management strategy. The scenario-based training utilises real equipment such as cardiorespiratory monitors and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitors and clinically realistic training scenarios.