EES Educational Gaming Product Wins Prestigious Award
By Gerald Sonnenberg
EES Marketing and Communication
ORLANDO, Fla. – An educational health care game-based learning product called Difficult Airway Algorithm and Rescue Cricothyrotomy or DAARC, was named winner of the 2018 International Serious Games Showcase and Challenge award for Best Game in the Government category. The award was presented Nov. 29 during the Industry/Interservice Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando. The annual competition brings together learning professionals from industry, academia, the military and government to compete for the prestigious award. The games are evaluated by an international cadre of game industry experts and learning professionals.
DAARC was developed specifically by the VHA Employee Education System’s (EES) eLearning Division in conjunction with subject matter experts from specialty care in anesthesiology and emergency medicine for anesthesiologists and emergency physicians. The learning product is designed to train them to safely practice decision-making and step-by-step procedures necessary in the event of a difficult airway scenario in an operating or emergency room. Learners who ‘play’ the game on their PC or as an iPad or iPhone application receive continuing medical education credits.
VHA staff contributed significantly to the development of the difficult airway game as subject matter experts. They include Jessica Feinleib, MD, Ph.D., medical director of simulation and staff anesthesiologist at the VA Connecticut Health Care System, as well as Assistant Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology; and Dr. Arthur French, emergency physician, at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, Washington.
According to Leslie Dubow, associate director for eLearning, "This exceptional game-based learning product is the result of a wonderful collaboration between providers and educational specialists in eLearning - the perfect team for providing VHA learners with the right tools to safely hone their skills for unique and life-threatening situations."
To access the course, you can select it via the TMS link, iTunes link or via VHA TRAIN. General information about DAARC is also available on myEES.
