Simulation as a suitable education approach for medical training in marine and off-shore industries: theoretical underpinning

Abstract

Healthcare providers in marine and offshore industries must often perform high-risk procedures outside of their usual scope of practice, frequently using novel, complex telemedical technologies to perform an already unfamiliar task--often while multitasking, and sometimes in extreme environmental conditions. Given all the novelty occurring at once, the probability of medical error increases. This increase can be explained by the Cognitive Load Theory, which states that too much demand on the working memory can tax the ability of the long-term memory. This article will show that one solution to this situation is to use simulation in the medical training of offshore and marine medical practitioners. Contextualised simulation practice creates automatic schemas that reside in the long-term memory, minimising strain on the working memory--and, in a marine medical context, also minimising the risk of medical error.