SGS Feature: 'Pulse!! First Person Healthcare System Simulation'

Today's main feature written for Gamasutra sister site Serious Games Source, which deals with games created for training, health, government, military, educational and other uses, continues the site's coverage of the recent Games for Health conference in Baltimore. The feature covers a discussion by Doug Whatley, CEO of Breakaway Games, and Dr. Claudia Johnston of Texas A&M on their serious game Pulse!! project, a comprehensive medical simulator. In this excerpt, writer Erin Hoffman covers what was stated in the presentation as the potential benefits afforded by Pulse!!, which is able to simulate virtually every aspect of the surgical process. “The principle of Pulse!! centers around a quotation that Dr. Johnston reiterated: “You can kill as many people as you need in virtual reality in order to harm no one in real life.” In it, individuals, usually medical students, take on the role of a physician or nurse and play through scenarios as one would in an MMOG. In addressing the medical community, Dr. Johnston said that they were “trying to move people to use word ‘learning platform’ than ‘game’. When you speak of funding, it resonates more to speak of ‘learning platforms’ than ‘games’.” Pulse!!’s strength centers in its ability to provide case-based learning and training. In its final iteration, the developers intend that clinicians should be able to set up a case in the simulator in a matter of minutes, enabling a medical team to run through emergency surgery while the patient is being transferred to the hospital. A principle that Dr. Johnston described as “see one, practice many, do one, teach one” would thus yield decreased death rates.” You can now read the full Serious Games Source feature on the subject, including more regarding Pulse!! and its possible benefits to the medical industry. (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).