Emergency Department Presentation of a Patient with a Severe Upper Gastrointestinal Bleed: A Simulation Case for Training Emergency Medicine Residents

Abstract

Emergency medicine practitioners frequently encounter acute presentations requiring quick, directed treatment to ensure the best patient outcome. Training residents in the appropriate clinical and procedural skills often proves difficult when treating the patient who is critically unwell. Simulation-based medical education is an effective modality that enables teaching around life-threatening medical conditions in a safe space for learners while avoiding adverse complications for patients. Severe gastrointestinal bleeding is one such condition that emergency medicine practitioners would benefit from encountering first in a simulation environment due to its high rate of morbidity and mortality if not quickly managed appropriately. This report describes a simulated scenario of an undifferentiated patient who is acutely unwell and then becomes hemodynamically unstable secondary to a severe gastrointestinal bleed. Delivery of the case is facilitated by the detailed technical report herein. It contains a stepwise, detailed summary of appropriate learners' actions and suggestions for learning objectives relating to the case.