INTEGRATED PATIENT SIMULATION TRAINING FOR THE ASTRONAUT CREW MEDICAL OFFICERS (CMO) AND FLIGHT SURGEONS OF STS-118 CONDUCTED BY THE MEDICAL OPERATION SUPPORT TEAM (MOST) -A PRELIMINARY EXERCISE

Introduction: The Medical Operation Support Team (MOST) has been working with the NASA Flight Surgeon (FS) Office and the NASA Astronaut Office to use medical patient simulation to expand the use of telemedicine techniques for managing medical events during space flight. The MOST was tasked by the lead CMO and lead flight surgeons of the STS-118 shuttle mission to develop an experimental training session examining team resource management between CMOs and their flight surgeons in preparation for their space flight mission in August 2007. Methods: The MOST, with input from the lead CMO and lead FS' for STS-118, developed space-relevant patient models and scenarios that were presented on a high-fidelity medical patient simulator in the mid-deck of a space shuttle mock-up used for astronaut training. The strategies to mitigate the medical conditions were evaluated by the STS-118 CMOs and FS' eight weeks prior to their mission. Each FS was tasked to remotely guide the CMOs through three medical scenarios. Medical equipment specific to the Space Shuttle was used for each scenario. All participants were debriefed following the scenarios to collect feedback. Results: Observational data plus feedback from post-scenario debriefs indicated that performance of medical tasks by the CMOs while being remotely guided by the FS was sufficient for mitigating the medical scenarios presented. All flight surgeon and astronaut participants indicated a positive experience for all scenarios presented. Comments included all participants suggesting that this training be considered for future space flight crews. Discussion: Preliminary discussion with the NASA FS Office, the NASA Astronaut Offices, and the Medical Training Group (at Wyle Laboratories) has begun for the MOST to continue development of its medical patient simulator-based CMO training with another Space Shuttle crew. It is has yet to be determined whether this type of training will be implemented for all future space flight missions.