Vienna’s new simulation centre trains health workers for emergencies

Hochschule Campus Wien has opened a high-tech training centre where future nurses and midwives can practise handling medical emergencies. ORF reports that its digitally controlled scenarios include birth complications, strokes and heart attacks.

The SimLab has nine rooms covering different scenarios across about 3,000 square metres, plus 16 specialised skills and function rooms. The training is intended to supplement practical education in hospitals run by the Vienna Health Association.

Nursing student Dominika Kolodziej said the simulations felt so realistic that she could forget she was in a wired room where everything was safe. Midwifery student Christina Breuer said real emergencies involved a different level of stress, but practising the procedures in advance helped.

Vienna health councillor Peter Hacker said trainees should be able to make mistakes during simulations so they can review what happened, including how the team worked under pressure. All training sessions are scientifically monitored and evaluated, with the findings fed back into the education programme.

Hochschule Campus Wien says the centre is among the largest of its kind in Europe. It was developed over two years with educators from 10 of the university’s degree programmes.