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Coronavirus In Colorado: Virtual Reality Helps Nurses, Doctors Respond To Emergencies

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - As health care workers get assigned to duties they're not used to, a Westminster company is hoping to help train doctors and nurses in the most serious situations. Health Scholars took its virtual reality scenario and is using it to help nurses and doctors so they're not caught off guard with someone's life in their hands.

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"High stakes, low occurrence clinical encounters are very difficult to train on because you don't encounter them enough. So we provide training solutions that allow health care providers go through an actual real-to-life reference experience to practice a simulation environment," said Dr. Brian Gillett, an emergency room doctor and the Chief Medical Officer of Health Scholars.

The program has doctors and nurses train in advanced cardiac life-support training. The company is offering $1 million in grants to get their software in front of as many people as possible. It's already been sent to hospitals in New York City and Michigan.

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"They're having to call upon outpatient providers, folks who don't routinely practice inpatient care.  There's a real need to get these folks ready to respond to inpatient emergencies. We feel that there's an imperative to make it more available and get this out to as many folks as we can to help combat this COVID crisis," Gillett said. "We can help prepare some of these folks in a meaningful way so when they step into the inpatient care units, they had some practice and at least an opportunity to drill the types of experiences they might encounter when they're working in acute care areas."

He's even seen it work in his own home. Gillett's wife, an internist, used the software to brush up on her acute care skills.

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"She's had a real reference experience in a simulated environment that she can draw upon when she experiences that in real life," Gillet said.

Thousands of health care providers could benefit from the program. The company has more information on it's website.

RELATED: Latest Updates On The Coronavirus Outbreak In Colorado 

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