PPE Training for COVID-19 Protocols

Problem: Frontline Health Care Workers Need Access to Consistent PPE Training Without Wasting Equipment

A global challenge during the COVID-19 crisis has been keeping our frontline workers safe and preventing further spread of the virus in healthcare settings. Personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages are widespread. Healthcare workers are having to remember complex procedures that can suddenly change based on available PPE and evolving COVID-19 guidelines. Making sure workers are properly trained can save lives.

Training Goals and KPIs

• Increase access to efficient PPE training while reducing the number of on-site trainers needed.
• Provide accurate and up-to-date information at all times as PPE protocols for COVID-19 evolve.
• Increase training efficacy. Leverage trainee engagement and muscle-memory gained through fully immersive VR training.
• Decrease equipment waste. Using actual PPE equipment for training leads to disposal of much-needed equipment that is in short supply.
• Reach audiences and locations where workers generally do not have access to high quality training, such as remote sites without training facilities and dedicated training staff.

Process: Motive and Accenture Partner to Deliver a Solution in Record Time.

In partnership with Accenture, the team from Motive worked quickly to establish PPE donning and doffing procedures for various risk levels and medical situations.

The creative team quickly got to work modeling the PPE equipment. The earning design team determined the procedure storyboards and tested and iterated on the user experience that best replicated the donning and doffing of equipment.

The first procedure prototypes were ready for 8 weeks after project kick-off. After revisions and sign-off from the infectious disease team at Women’s Hospital, an open-world “test mode” simulation was created to allow trainees to test their skills without guidance. Finally, in-headset onboarding was developed to allow for seamless uptake by trainees. Training staff at the hospital took part in “Train the Trainer” training prior to wide-scale roll-out.

Project Highlights

• Partially funded by Accenture’s Social Innovator program.
• The Motive team worked closely with a Talent & Organization/Human Potential team from Accenture.
• The Accenture team went from never having used the Storyflow authoring tool to creating full procedural scenarios in less than 2 weeks.
• Project was completed and in the hands of hospital educators in less than 12 weeks.
• When new information about PPE protocols was released after initial approval, the Motive team was able to incorporate and roll out changes in 24 hours

Rollout

• Initial learning audience is 250 nurses, medical students and practicing physicians.
• Training is being used on-site at B.C .Women’s Hospital and at the University of British Columbia medical school.
• Learning is being tracked in the Provincial Health Services Association Learning Hub.
• Efficacy study is being conducted that tests knowledge retention 6 weeks after training. Training modalities being compared are in-person, video and VR. They are still in process at the time of writing.

Up Next: Scale Up

Plans are underway for distribution of the training throughout the province. The need for robust training for healthcare providers and also cleaning crew and service professionals is acute. By Q2 of 2021 we anticipate the PPE training modules being used in a minimum of 5 health regions and by over 2000 trainees.

In the News:

Read more about the project here: Accenture and Motive.io develop virtual reality PPE training for healthcare workers.